The Jew Store: A Family Memoir Book

What a delightful story, a memoir. I had a hard time putting it down. It takes place in Tennessee in the 1920s. A Jewish family leaves New York to come to the southern town of Concordia, TN. My first thought was, Why. I would have thought that it would have been better to have stayed in New York where the racism and bigotry may not have been as bad, where they would still have a synagogue, a Jewish population, and Jewish friends, but then I realized that the father, Aaron Bronson couldn’t find work in New York, so the move.

He opened up a dry goods store, which back then was called a Jew Store, not to be confused with other stores that the Jewish people ran or owned. In the 1950s where I grew up, there was a five and dime store that a Jewish couple owned. I used to walk in there when I was a kid, and the woman would follow me around. I hated being watched, but she was afraid of shop lifters. I know my friend Mary and I went in there together and used to giggle about it afterwards. Then when they left the store to go out for lunch or for whatever other reason, Mrs. Kramer, would walk several steps behind her husband. I then asked my older sister if she remembered them. “Yes, Ole Mean Kramer. She used to follow me around the store and would say, ‘Don’t touch the merchandise.’” How sad for kids to all remember her this way, and when I sister repeated her words, don’t touch the merchandise, I remembered that as well. We never knew anymore about them or what they were doing in our small California town. Did they feel as Mrs. Bronson had, lonely, or did they have a synagogue in San Luis Obispo where they could attend? I asked my friend Mary, but she only remembers that the store closed due to lack of business. She thought they could have had a son.

We had another dime store in town that I loved and used to frequent. I look back and wish that items were still in wooden trays on counters and not wrapped in plastic. Like Mrs. Kramer knew, people steal, so now the plastic. Now that I am old, I wonder who they were and how they felt. I called the Historic Society, and they said that they would look it up.

This story follows the Bronson’s lives and that of their children, just like the old Doris Day movie, On Moonlight Bay, or like Wind at my Back, the Canadian TV series that I loved so much I bought the complete set, including the Doris Day movie.

And while the town was racist, they finally fit in, but I could never tell if Mrs. Bronson ever had completely. They were racist and bigoted as well, and objected to one of their daughter’s wanting to marry a gentile, and my heart broke for the girl, because she was so much in love and he was such a nice man. I only hope that after moving back to New York, and after she married a Jewish man that she was happy. I don’t know if I could have ever forgiven my mother if she had done something like that. Some things you just don’t get over.

They also have dealings with the KKK. Mr. Bronson had hired a black man for a clerk, but the town wouldn’t allow it, and so he had to do as the town wished, but while he let him go, he found other work for him to do. This happens even today, and I hate it. Here where I live, blacks don’t own stores, and the black church can’t get a permit to build a better church. If a gay person owns a store, which they have done, they lose customers; the store folds. Such in American life in the South.

Notes: They need to make this book into a movie. I understand that back in 1999 Dolly Parton bought the rights to the movie, buy so much for her making the movie. It is at least a musical. I should ask our Playhouse here to find the script. You never know. Maybe they will have a play.



There is also a video on line about the author and her book: