THE PARTNERSHIP Dora Shooster - Mr. Ginsberg came to the house to see Frank. He said he lives with my brother in Chester. His wife was still in Europe. He says he would like to open up a cleaning and tailoring store in Chester, and my brother said it would be a good idea if he takes my husband in as a partner.’ Frank was the kind of a man, he never believed you could work for somebody else, or that you can get ahead if you work for somebody. ‘You got to be for yourself,’ Frank said. He used to teach the children like that. Frank comes into the kitchen, and he says, ‘What did you send him for, we haven’t got two pennies to rub. So how can I go to Ches- ter, with what? If the man has $200 and I have $100, so we go.’ I said, ‘Well, I have $200.’ Frank said, ‘WOW! I wanted to buy a coat; I had to go pawn a piece of material.’ I told him laughing, ‘The coat wasn’t important. Remember when we were supposed to go to a wedding? You made me a suit; it didn’t have no buttons, but I didn’t touch this $200. I saved it for a rainy day because I had nobody to give me anything, G-d forbid if something happened to you.’ Now, I said, ‘I’ll tell you something, Frank. I know a little bit about Chester. I used to go there very often to see my brother. You have more chances in a little town. In a big town, you just get swallowed in like in a big ocean. When you are in a little town, you can get more acquainted; you can set yourself a name, people will know you are Mr. Shooster. I have a feeling that maybe we can do something there. So, here is the $200 and go with that man. Rent a store, and you will see how it’s going to go.’ Chester was considered to be a prosperous town. They used to make the ammunition in that area during the war years. So, Frank was sick, [headaches and worry] and he didn’t want to work for somebody else either, so he went to Chester. They made a store at 1905 West 3rd Street, doing cleaning and alterations.
He started taking in orders for suits. The partners paid their rent, and they used to bring home a few dollars, so I was satisfied. ‘Soon,’ Frank said, ‘We have to move, but there are no houses to get in Chester, even if you give a million dollars nobody built.’ There was prosperity in Chester, every- body worked. It was wartime, and everybody worked on ammunition. Ford was there too, but all the houses were taken. I went to my brother, Boruch. He lived in Trainer, the next town over. On the way, I noticed that the railroad built a line of houses. I went to look at them. I met a Polish man, Mr. Stich. He had a little store. ‘Who’s going to own these houses?’ He told me, ‘They belong to the railroad.’ He told me where the agent was to learn more. They are $12 a month. At that time, $12 was a big amount. Well, I’ll rent one room to a roomer, I thought, ‘maybe they will rent me a house. To make the deal, I said, ‘I’ll keep your house so you wouldn’t have to have any sample house. I’ll be the sample house for you.’ I had the dining room furniture, but I didn’t have anything for the living room. I had a brass bed and a bureau for the bedroom. It was enough. I fixed it up, and instead of putting some porch chairs on the porch I put it in the living room, and I made covers. It was always nice when they came in. They never I didn’t have anything.
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