Author: IDA

Actor and Printer

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James Hendrickson, born c. 1898, actor-manager, typographer, printer.

James Hendrickson
James Hendrickson as Macbeth. Gold and Black, Birmingham-Southern College, February 28, 1930.

“When I couldn’t decide which road to take, I decided to travel both,”1McCarthy, Julia, “Hamlet in Wintertime Is Printer in Summer,” The Daily News, June 20, 1938, p. p7. James Hendrickson told a reporter. And, a gratuitously snarky report in the New York Times notwithstanding,2Crisler, Ben, “Hamlet Hops the 6:45: James Hendrickson, Actor and Master Printer, Is One Who Knows a Hawk From a Handpress,” New York Times, July 22, 1934, sect. 9, p. 1. he did just that. Hendrickson (with his old-school repertory company, The Shakespeare Players) did “a world of good in keeping alive throughout the country the traditions of the legitimate stage through their interpretation of the works of the master dramatist.”3“Shakespeare Still Has Strong Appeal,” Plattsburgh Daily Press, October 28, 1933, p.4 And, when not on the road (from October to May), Hendrickson worked for and alongside some of the finest printers in America.

Hendrickson began printing as a kid. He bought his first equipment for $5 and set it up in his mother’s kitchen, making flyers for local shops. As the presses got bigger, the size of the kitchen unfortunately remained the same. “My bedroom, right over the kitchen, was my composing room. I would rush down the stairs with a chase full of type to the press room, where my mother was trying to bake pies. I had to dash upstairs again to make corrections. Back and forth, back and forth. Figure the excitement when I printed a 100-page cookbook.”4McCarthy, Julia, The Daily News, June 20, 1938, p. p7. Hendrickson was among the young printers who “apprenticed”5Loxley, Simon, “Frederic Warde, Crosby Gaige, and the Watch Hill Press,” Printing History, Summer 2008. at the prestigious press of William Edwin Rudge. He went on to succeed Frederick Warde at Crosby Gaige’s Watch Hill Press and was, for a few years, in charge of production at Alfred A. Knopf.6Bluementhal, Joseph, Typographic years : a printer’s journey through a half century, 1925-1975, printed for the members of the Grolier Club, 1982, p.79. In 1943, Hendrickson performed an invaluable service to printing history with his Paragraphs on Printing. Elicited from conversations with Bruce Rogers, as the subtitle explains, it is the only lengthy compilation of the design philosophy of a designer famously reticent to give it. When Joseph Blumenthal established a printing workshop for the AIGA in 1948, the shop director was Hendrickson.7Bluementhal, Typographic years, p.79.

But the stage was irresistible and Hendrickson ambitious. No less than film star William Powell had encouraged him to be an actor, back when both were members of a Shakespeare Club in Kansas.8McCarthy, The Daily News, June 20, 1938, p. p7. This led to acting school after the First World War, then a decade as a journeyman performer, including two years traveling with Fritz Lieber and his troupe. In 1927, Hendrickson founded his own touring company with his wife, Claire Bruce, herself a veteran of a company lead by Robert B. Mantell. She played Ophelia to Hendrickson’s Hamlet and Lady Macbeth to his Scottish thane as they barnstormed colleges and high school auditoriums by bus, enduring all manner of catastrophe due to weather and road conditions.9“Shakespeare Cast Has Bus Accident; Cancels Date Here,” The Evening Times [Sayre Pennsylvania], February 9, 1935, p. 5. After the couple disbanded the Players in 1942, they ran a printing and design service out of their hotel apartment.10“Claire Bruce, Artist and Actress, Was 63,” The New York Times, April 6, 1959, p.27.

Claire Bruce died of a heart attack in April of 1959. A year later, Hendrickson printed an unusual tribute volume. It contains a reproduction of a spirit, or automatic, drawing. In this case, it is a colored-pencil sketch, depicting Sister Mary Cecilia holding little James Francis Weiss, “by Claire Bruce Hendrickson through the mediumship of Lillian Dee Johnson” in a totally darkened séance room on August 3, 1959. Ismar David did the lettering for the binding. When the book was finished in the spring of 1961, Hendrickson sent David a copy. In his note, Hendrickson refers to David’s most recent New Year’s card, which indirectly acknowledged the recent death of Hortense Mendel.

April 19, 1961

Dear Ismar

I am sending you one of the books under separate cover. Your contribution is beautiful and I thank you!

The date on the title page is really incorrect as the book is just now out of the bindery and you are among the first to see it.

I hope you may be able to give the story of Little Jimmy a measure of credence—your New Years card gives me reason for so hoping—and if so the implications of this episode are tremendous ones.

Faithfully,

James Hendrickson

Letter from James Hendrickson
Letter from James Hendrickson to Ismar David, 1961. Ismar David papers, Box 1, folder 2, Ismar David papers, Cary Graphic Arts Collection, RIT.
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Sometimes Nobody Wins

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Levant Brewery, incorporated November 21, 1941 with a capitalization of £P5000, divided into 5,000 shares of £P1 each,1The Palestine Gazette, April 30, 1942, p.541. subsidiary of Palestine Brewery Ltd.

Local beer production in Mandatory Palestine only began to gain traction when it received government support in the form of tax reduction in the mid-1930s, probably driven by the demand for beer from an increased British military presence.2Gillman, Gary, “imported Beer in Mandate Palestine, part 1, Beer et seq., July 8, 2020, accessed August 11, 1024. With the financial backing of French industrialists, led by banker and trained brewer René Gaston-Drefus, The Palestine Brewery opened in 1934 on the grounds of a Rishon LeZion winery3Walter, Rich, “Israel’s First Brewery Rolled With Tax Cut,” Atlanta Jewish Times, July 31, 2017, accessed August 11, 2024.
 and made rapid headway, spawning 2 companies: Cabeer Breweries Ltd. in 1937 and Levant Brewery Ltd. in 1942.

Levant took a page from its parent company and initiated competition for the label of its first product.4Gökatalay, Semih, The Formation of Industrial Brewing and the Transfer of Knowledge and Demand in Mandatory Palestine, De Gruyter, 2024 p. 54. The competition was open to anyone and entries had to be submitted by February 1, 1942. Artist Abel Pan headed the jury, which included S. Bensimon and Benjamin Lewensohn. First prize winner would be awarded £P15; second, £P10; and third, £P5. It was up to the contestants to invent a name for the new beer, specially made with extracts of American malt and hops “containing vital vitamins.”5Advertisement in the Palestine Post, January 12, 1942, p. 4. The strategy of having entrants suggest branding was intended to help the company determine the preferences of consumers.6Gökatalay, Semih, The Formation of Industrial Brewing, p. 54. The judges reserved the right to “cancel the competition if the standard of the entries [was] not considered satisfactory.”7 Palestine Post, January 12, 1942, p. 4. According to an announcement the following month, no first prize was awarded. Ze’ev Raban and Ismar David won second prize, with the prize money to be divided equally between them. Third prize went to Meir Gur-Arie, Hami [spelling uncertain] Klein and E. Coleman, a private in the M.E. Forces, who likewise split their prize money.”8 Palestine Post, February 11, 1942, p. 2. If only Levant had seen fit to share the brand names each entrant devised.

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From the Land of the Bible

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American Fund for Israel Institutions, founded in 1941 as the American Fund for Palestinian Institutions, now the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, dedicated to the support of cultural institutions in Israel.

Son of a vice president of Sears & Roebuck, Harvard-educated, Navy veteran Edward A. Norton made several trips to Palestine in the early 1930s and became interested in various cultural and educational institutions there. In 1941, he founded the American Fund for Israel (then Palestine) Institutions to consolidate the many small fundraising campaigns working on behalf of these groups. (By 1949, the Fund had 99 beneficiaries.)1“American Fund for Israel Institutions Reports on Its Activities in Jewish State,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Daily News Bulletin, December 2, 1949. The American Fund for Israel became a driving force not only for the support of the Israel Philharmonic, Inbal Ballet, Habimah Theatre and Tel Aviv Museum, to name a few, but also for cultural exchange between the United States and Israel.

One such endeavor was a traveling exhibition, “From the Land of the Bible,” which opened at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on June 14, 1953, before traveling to other cities in the United States and then on to The Hague and London. At the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC (January 10-27, 1954), it set a record for attendance at the time: over 30,000 visitors in 17 days.2 “Israel Exhibit sets Smithsonian Record,” American Jewish World, February 5, 1954, p. 5.

Two years of planning went into the exhibition, praised for “its absorbing interest, wide range, skillful presentation, and the manner in which it brings to life and makes plausible, by suggestive symbols and individual objects, the actuality of that distant past which we are prone to regard as stories in a Great Book.”3Berryman, Florence S., “Art News—Archaeological Exhibition, The Sunday Star, Washington D.C., January 10, 1954, p. 104 (E7). More than twenty shipments by air and sea4Silver, Martin, “Unique Exhibits From the Land of the Bible,” Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, July 17, 1953, p.5. carried over 1,500 objects5Berryman, The Sunday Star, January 10, 1954, p. 104 (E7). to New York from institutions and private collections in Israel, Turkey, England, Cyprus, Belgium, France, Canada and the United States. Arranged chronologically in nine showrooms, the exhibition included Neolithic artifacts, bronze weapons, Byzantine lamps, glassware, coins, mosaics and a recently discovered seven-ton headless statue of a Roman emperor. Examples from the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the oldest known Biblical scroll, the Book of Isaiah,6”Israel Archaeological Exhibition Opens at Metropolitan Museum, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Daily News Bulletin, June 15, 1953. were seen for the first time in the United States. Dr. S. Yeivin, director of the Department of Antiquities of the Israeli government’s Ministry of Education and Culture: “We of Israel wish to show our rich heritage—to demonstrate to America that the aid and support we have received from your country has been well used. These relics of the ages prove that our strength, distilled from the cultural glories of the past, is great and lasting.”7 Silver, The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, July 17, 1953, p 5.

Ismar David designed four panels for the exhibition. Three were typeset: an introductory title and acknowledgements at the start of the exhibition and the Ten Commandments in English for the Israelite or Iron Age room. The fourth panel was the Ten Commandments, hand-lettered in Hebrew, a rare example of large pen-written lettering by David.


From the Land of the Bible, presented by the American Fund for Israel Institutions. Photos of the exhibition in the Smithsonian Institution, 1954.Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 312, Box 35, Folder 8.
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Jerusalem Siege Stamps

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Prepared But Never Issued

by Moshe Spitzer
from the Palestine Post, March 20, 1949

The siege of Jerusalem almost presented philatelists with a set of unique postal stamps issued by the authorities of the city isolated from the rest of the country. Preparations for the printing of the stamps—the designs for which are published here for the first time—were practically complete when the siege was lifted and Israel postal stamps were sent to Jerusalem.

A set of revenue stamps, however, was actually printed and in use during the siege. Their production was more urgent than that of postal stamps, for while postal services with the rest of the country were interrupted during the siege and almost non-existent in Jerusalem itself, business continued as usual, though on a reduced scale, and the lack of revenue stamps would have meant a serious loss of income to the Ozar Ha’am or People’s Treasury, as the provisional financial authority was called.

On May 6, 1948 , only nine days before the State of Israel was to come into existence with the end of the Mandate, the publishing department of the Jewish Agency commissioned this writer to provide new revenue stamps with greatest dispatch. Within 24 hours the designs by the graphic artist Mr. I. David, who also designed the postal stamps, were ready for blockmaking, and after another three days and nights’ work, the Jerusalem revenue stamps were ready for issue to the public.

Rush Job

This rush job was done under extremely difficult conditions. The fight for Jerusalem was then at its height; Katamon had been occupied by Jewish forces only a few days earlier. Jerusalem’s manpower was fully mobilized, and all facilities for work extremely restricted. No really suitable coloured inks for the printing of stamps were available, and the perforation had to be done by hand. In spite of all these difficulties, Jerusalem’s revenue stamps were ready for issue in time, and turned out satisfactorily from both the technical and aesthetical point of view, owing to the untiring efforts both of the managements and the workers of the zincographer Mr. M. Pikowsky and the Hashiloah printing press, which cooperated in the job.

Postage Stamps

Encouraged by the success of the revenue stamps, the Jewish Agency ordered a set of Jerusalem postage stamps. By this time working conditions had become quite hopeless. It was almost impossible to get workers released from military service even for a few nights. There was no electric current most of the time, and kerosene was worth almost its weight in gold. A special cable had to be laid from a private electric plant to the zincography workshops to enable it to continue the work. Even so, much of the work of the artist in connection with the blockmaking had to be done by the light of a kitchen lamp.

Siege Lifted

The issue of the postal stamps was scheduled for Independence—May 15. But fate intervened, the battle of Jerusalem entered its climax, civilian work in the beleaguered city almost ceased with available men called for defence duties—and together with other affairs the postage stamps were shelved for the time being. When the battle was over and the new road to the coast opened, ending Jerusalem’s isolation from the rest of the country, it was ruled that the stamps issued by them in the meantime should also be used in Jerusalem. So the “Jerusalem Siege Stamps” were never printed, to the disappointment of those who had worked so hard to produce them and, it can be presumed, to the regret of philatelists the world over.

Since then, the battle of the road has been commemorated with a special Jerusalem stamp in two colours issued on the occasion of the first meeting of the Assembly in Jerusalem on February 16.

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The Last Silesian Indigo Printer

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Gerhard Stein, 1893–1972, graphic and textile artist, illustrator, caricaturist, animator, teacher.

Gerhard Stein
Gerhard Stein, working on printing blocks. From the magazine, Schlesien, November/December 1940. Śląska Biblioteka Cyfrowa

After studying at the art academies in Breslau and Dresden and his discharge from service at the end of World War I, Gerhard Stein made a multifaceted career as a commercial artist in Breslau. His work appeared regularly in Kunst und Volk, the magazine of the Breslau Folk Theater, and Schlesische Theater- u. Musik-Woche, among other publications. In April 1928, Gebrauchsgraphik, a magazine for commercial art, featured an 11-page spread of his caricatures, illustrations and commercial posters. The glowing description of the contrast between Stein’s ebullient, satirical outlook which exposed the “human weakness of the greats of the day,” and the weightier, bombastic style of earlier (but soon-to-come-back) tastes1Brucker, Peter, Der Graphiker Gerhard Stein, Grebrauchsgraphik, April 1928, p. 34–44. seems more than a little ironic. At any rate, whether Stein lost his teaching position at the Städtische Handwerker- und Kunstgewerbeschule Breslau, because the Nazi authorities didn’t appreciate his sense of humor2Überrück, Angelica, Chrstian Art and Symbolism, LIT Verlag Münster, 2008,p. 289. or, as he said, his non-Aryan-sounding name, he had to find a new means of living.3Kügler, Martin, Schlesischer Blaudruck aus Sachsen, Mitteilungen aus dem Schlesischen Museum zu Görlitz, Förderverein Schlesisches Museum zu Görlitz, No. 3, December 2003, p.1-2. He returned to his home town, where he rescued his uncle’s workshop from compulsory auction and took over a business that had been in his family’s hands since 1763.4„Was gut grünt, das tut gut blauen…“: Traditionsgebundene Lebensymbole und Figuren auf Stoff, Neue Zeit, February 19, 1952, No. 42 p 3.

Gerhard Stein had grown up in Steinau an der Oder, surrounded by blaudruck, the process of resist printing on textiles that are subsequently dyed with indigo. As a child, he had dreamed of what could be done with blaudruck patterns,5Kügler, Schlesischer Blaudruck aus Sachsen, p.1. but the family regarded him as too “art-besotted”6„Was gut grünt, das tut gut blauen…,“ Neue Zeit, p 3. for their very traditional enterprise, so he was sent to art school. In 1938, though, he came back to a business devastated by inflation and debt. But with a trove of traditional patterns, his own new designs and support from state and federal authorities, he managed to revive the operation. Despite the severity of wartime conditions, the business did well and Stein even became a nationally celebrated craftsman. Success was short-lived. In early 1945, Stein and his family fled the advancing Russian army and made their way to West Berlin.

With what must have been enormous resilience and dedication, Stein started over yet again. He knew of an abandoned fabric printing facility in East Germany and, while his family permanently settled in Berlin, he set about rebuilding his business in Pulsnitz. Once again, he restored a cultural treasure while, once again, painstakingly documenting his craft. During the early 1950s, Stein was able to visit Berlin often, his daughter occasionally worked with him, and he considered moving to the west. But although, or because of, his status as a Vorzeige-Handwerker (exemplary craftsman), he was watched. In 1961, with the erection of the Wall, any hope of resettling in Berlin, as well as visits to his family, ended.7 Kügler, Schlesischer Blaudruck aus Sachsen, p.2. As late as December 24, 1971, the 78 year-old craftsman was shown, promoting his wares, the last of his kind.8Alte Volkskunst, Berliner Zeitung, December 24, 1971, p. 2.

Gerhard Stein had been teaching at the municipal arts & crafts school in Breslau for only a year or so, when he instructed Ismar David in drawing for graphics and graded the 17-year-old’s classwork as “rather good,” with a “good” for effort.

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Fine Paper Importers

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Andrews/Nelson/Whitehead, importers and distributors of fine paper, based in New York.

Stevens-Nelson Specimens spine
Monumental sample book, Specimens, issued by Stevens-Nelson , 1953. Spine lettering by Freeman Craw.

Andrews/Nelson/Whitehead was the direct descendent of the Japan Paper Company, an enthusiastic champion of handmade paper and the book arts. Founded in 1901 in Manhattan by Richard Tracy Stevens to import tissue paper from Japan for use in teabags and Elizabeth Arden cosmetics, the company expanded to import handmade, mold-made and other high-quality papers from fifteen European and Asian countries. The JPC, later renamed Stevens-Nelson, commissioned some of the best designers and printers of the time to produce much-admired and still-treasured broadsides and sample books to promote its paper. The pinnacle of these endeavors came in 1953. Specimens: A Stevens-Nelson Paper Catalogue,  with an edition of 5000 and bound 109 sample sheets produced by more than 150 designers and printers, “has never been equaled”1Walsh, Judith, The Japan Paper Company. Handpapermaking, Summer 2001, vol 16, number 1, p. 20.

In 1957 Stevens-Nelson merged with Whitehead and Alliger to become Nelson-Whitehead. In 1962, the company merged yet again to become Andrews/Nelson/Whitehead. Under Vera Freeman, vice-president of the fine paper group at A/N/W, the company offered and ever-increasing array of printmaking papers. Freeman was instrumental in the development of new products, mold-made papers in rolls and in colors as well as archival printing papers.

Ismar David designed a greeting card for Andrews/Nelson/Whitehead in 1983. He owned a copy of the 1953 Specimens.

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Life is Beautiful

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John David, a chain of men’s clothing stores, founded in 1904, in business until 1964.

Registered Clothes tuxedo
Tuxedo, tailored by Registered Clothes for John David, worn by Ismar David at the Weizmann Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in 1947.

“I conceived the idea of a haberdashery shop, as attractive as the exclusive ones, where goods of real taste would be displayed with prices marked plainly so that passers-by would not be afraid to enter.”1John David Dead: Merchant Here. President of Large Chain of Clothing Stores is Stricken in Atlantic City. New York Times, November 16, 1937, p. 23. With this concept in mind and the savvy to recognize the potential of Times Square as a retail area, Pittsburgh-born John David (no relation) opened his first store on 42nd between the Sixth Avenue subway station and the forthcoming Times Square hub. His no less forward-thinking successor, Ralph E. Ladue bet on Fifth Avenue as “the best shopping area in the world”2 Men’s Store Goes Uptown on Fifth, New York Times, May 5, 1954, p. 47. and in time, there were three John David stores along Fifth, at 43rd, 49th and 56th Streets, as well as stores along Broadway at 32nd, Dey and 42nd Streets as well as a store in Brooklyn. Ladue saw the future of selling trademarked goods. By featuring brand names, he felt that customers got a twice the guarantee, one from the retail store and one from the manufacturer.3Boyo, Gene, John David Chief Began as a Buyer. New York Times, May 9, 1954, p. F1 and F10.

In the autumn of 1947, Ismar David had mixed feelings about attending the Weizmann Dinner. He wrote to Alisa Wirz, “Mr. Weisgal insists that I go to the Weizmann reception and dinner, which takes place on the 25th of the month. I think I will go. Unfortunately, I’ll have to dress for it (tuxedo required). My life here is very expensive. You’ll remember the saying, ‘Life is beautiful and expensive. It can be cheaper, but then it’s not so beautiful anymore.’ Apart from the beauty, I think I have to put myself out there.”4 Undated letter to Alisa Wirz, 1947. Translated from German. “Mr. Weißgal besteht darauf, daß ich zu dem Weizmann Empfang & Dinner komme, am 25. Dieses Monats findet es statt. Ich glaube ich gehe. Leider muß ich mich dafür verkleiden (Smoking Pflicht.) Mein Leben hier ist sehr kostspielig. Du erinnerst Dich an das Sprichwort ‘Das Lebe ist schön u. teuer, man kann‘s auch billiger haben aber dann ist es nicht mehr so schön.’ Abgesehen von der Schönheit glaube ich aber, daß ich ein bischen representieren muß.” He bought a tux from one of the John David stores on Fifth Avenue.

The suit was made by Registered Clothes and featured the generous proportions and quality materials that had been popular (and possible) before the war. Registered lived up to its promise of, “care lavished…stitch by stitch that culminates in a suit of clothes ready-to-wear—yet the nearest approach to individual tailoring.”5Advertisement in the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, September 20, 1946, p. 9. The fabric is sumptuous Melton wool. The double-breasted jacket has heavy weight (probably nylon) lining and faille lapels. The trousers are double pleated and have braided stripes, a watch pocket, double pleats and six buttons for suspenders, with a typical tiny v-shaped vent at the back of the waistband.

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American Debut

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Edith Piaf, 1915–1963, France’s little sparrow, legendary, iconic singer.

A street performer from the age of fourteen, Edith Piaf burst onto the Paris nightclub scene in 1935. The petite singer captivated French audiences with her unique renditions of chansons réalistes, songs of love, struggle and loss. International renown preceded her American debut at the Playhouse Theater on West 48th Street in Manhattan in 1947, where Piaf headlined a variety show that began its run on October 30. The opening act, Les Compangnons de la Chanson, whom Piaf herself had discovered, were “nine young Frenchmen in white shirs and blue slacks” who showed “how ‘Au Claire de la Lune’ sounds, 1, as played by and American hot band, 2, as sung by a Cossack chorus and, 3, as played by a symphony orchestra.”1Atkinson, Brooks, At the Theatre, Edith Piaf, Minstrel from Paris, and Les Companons de las Chanson in a Variety Show of Continental Entertainers. New York Times, October 31, 1947, p.26. The show was extended through Decemer 6th.2Calta, Louis, Edith Piaf’s Show Will Extend Run, French Variety Program Held Over at Playhouse a Week by Clifford C. Fischer. New York Times, November 25, 1947, p. 38.

Ismar David attended in November, well before the Weizmann Dinner on the twenty-fifth: “I went to the theater yesterday and it was unusually beautiful. Madame Piaf, a French singer, was the main part of the evening. She sang simple songs ravishingly beautifully and accompanied by fantastic facial expressions. In addition, an unbelievably funny French group of nine men appeared. They presented musical parodies for the most part, with a lot of humor and spirit. An athletic group, a dancing couple and an emcee also appeared. All were especially good.”3David, Ismar, Undated letter to Aliza Wirz, 1947. Translated from German. “Gestern war ich in einem Theater wo es ungewöhnlich schön war. Madame Piaff eine Französische Chancon [sic] Sängerin war der Hauptteil des Abends. Sie sang einfache Lieder hinreißend schön u. begleited [sic] von fantastischer Mimic. Außerdem trat eine unglaublich komische französische Gruppe von 9 Man auf die mit viel Humor u. Esprie [sic] hauptsächlich musikalische Parodien vortrugen. Ferner traten eine Athleten gruppe ein Tanzpaar & ein Conferancier [sic] auf. Alle besonders gut.”

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Dinner at the Waldorf

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Weizmann Dinner, a $250 a plate fund-raiser, celebrating Chaim Weizmann’s seventy-third birthday and the completion of the Institute of Physics and Physical Chemistry Building of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, that took place on November 25, 1947 at the Waldorf Astoria and was sponsored by the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute.

Weizmann Institute of Science
Rendering of the development plan of the Weizman Institute of Science from the Weizmann Dinner program, 1947.

Including a concert by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky, the Weizmann Reception and Dinner was “the type of tribute reserved for few mortals.”12,000 at Weismann Dinner Cheer ‘First President of Jewish State’, New York Times, November 26, 1947, p. 6. Or perhaps just the sort of acknowledgement Meyer Weisgal would devise for his esteemed friend and colleague, Chaim Weizmann. At Weisgal’s request, Kurt Weil made a special arrangement of the Hatikvah. The BSO also played The Star-Spangled Banner, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and his Third Symphony. Former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. spoke. Albert Einstein sent a message: “In these days of fateful decision you have presented our case before the world with a vision that no other among us could muster.”2Ibid. An estimated $500,000 was raised to finance construction and support the work of the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. Because the benefit took place 4 days before the United Nations General Assembly would vote on whether the British Mandate in Palestine should be terminated, excitement was palpable. When the chairman of the reception committee, Abraham Feinberg prematurely referred to Weizmann as “the first President of the new Jewish state,”3Ibid. the attendees cheered. Ismar David was among them.

In late October 1947, David was in New York for an extended stay to study printing methods.4David, Ismar, Brief biographical points provided to Cooper Union, 1954. He had arrived in Boston on a Transcontinental & Western flight from Paris on the 16th and would return to Jerusalem on January 12th. Helen Rossi facilitated a meeting with Robert Leslie. He met with Harper Brothers and other publishers and “a known commercial artist.”5David, Ismar, undated letter to Aliza Wirz, 1947. Translated from German. He had time to visit museums, see Edith Piaf in concert, and work diligently, too.6David, Ismar, undated letter to Alisa Wirz, 1947. Translated from German. “Inzwischen bin ich weiter sehr fleißig. Ob der Fleiß an einem Erfolg führen wird, weiß ich nocht nicht.” The work included a design for a book that Ellen Thorbecke wanted to publish.7David, Ismar, undated letter to Aliza Wirz, 1947. Translated from German. Abends Ballin [sic] Thorbecker u. andere neue Bekannte. Das Muster för ein Buch, das Mrs. Thorbecke schreiben u. heraugbringen möchte, ist inzwischen fast fertig geworden. (Did it also include the program for the Weizmann Dinner?) But the trip was otherwise eventful. While in New York, he received word that his mother would be arriving, first in San Francisco, then in New York, on her way to Palestine. It was “like a dream.” He had not seen her for 16 years.8David, Ismar, undated letter to Aliza Wirz, 1947. “Alles wie ein Traum hier nach jenen 16 Jahren.” And he attended the black-tie tribute to Weizmann in a tuxedo he bought from John David on Fifth Avenue. A few days later, he wrote to Alisa Wirz, “The Boston Symphony Orchestra played before and Morgenstern and Weizmann spoke. The Jewish State was the center of both speeches. Almost 4 days of excitement and tension followed. Yesterday, finally, ‘The votes.’”

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About the Weizmann Institute

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Weizmann Institute of Science, a leading multi-disciplinary research institution in Rehovot, Israel, with faculties in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, mathematics and computer science, and physics.

Weizmann Institute of Science
Entrance of the Weizmann Institute of Science, photographed c. 1959.

On October 17, 1944, the Zionist Organization of America passed a resolution calling for the establishment of the Weizmann Institute of Science as a “living tribute”1American Zionists will establish a “Weizmann Institute of Science,” JTA Daily News Bulletin, New York, NY: The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, October 17, 1944, p. 2. to scientist and revered Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann. The Institute would be a fulfillment of Weizmann’s dream and be located on the site of the Daniel Sieff Institute, which he founded in 1934. Due in no small part to the gargantuan fund-raising efforts of Meyer Weisgal, the cornerstone for the Biophysical and Chemistry Research Center was laid on June 3, 1946. At the ceremony, Weizmann famously said. “I hope science will be the angel of peace, and though it has been harnessed by the dark forces of mankind, it will overpower them and serve humanity’s higher ideals.” 2 Cornerstone of Weizmann Institute Laid at Rehovoth Before Distinguished Audience, JTA Daily News Bulletin, New York, NY: The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, June 4, 1946, p. 3. On November 2, 1949, the institute was dedicated and formally renamed.

It is likely Ismar David attended both events. He designed the scroll that was deposited in the cornerstone in 1946 and the key for the Institute’s dedication in 1949. He designed the program for the Weizmann Reception and Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in 1947 as well as the Golden Book that was a tribute to Chaim Weizmann in 1948. His influence, if not far more, can be seen in the lettering above the entrance of the Institute.

Ismar David holding photo of the Weizman Key
Ismar David and an unidentified woman, probably at the dedication of the Weizmann Institute of Science, November 2, 1949.
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