It All Started With a Deli. M. Hirsh Goldberg

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      It All Started With a Deli

      THE ATTMANS OF

      LOMBARD STREET

      A Remarkable Story of Business

      and Family Success

      M. Hirsh Goldberg

      Apprentice House

      Loyola University Maryland

      Baltimore, Maryland

      Copyright © 2013 by M. Hirsh Goldberg

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission from the publisher (except by reviewers who may quote brief passages).

      First Edition

      Printed in the United States of America

      Paperback ISBN: 978-1-934074-94-7

      Ebook ISBN: 978-1-934074-31-2

      Cover design by: Chelsea McGuckin

      Internal design by: Chelsea McGuckin & Carlos Palacios

      Cover Photo: Harry Attman, far right, behind the counter at his delicatessen, with his son Seymour, second from left, and two unidentified employees. Not shown: sons Edward and Leonard.

      Published by Apprentice House

      Apprentice House

      Loyola University Maryland

      4501 N. Charles Street

      Baltimore, MD 21210

      410.617.5265 • 410.617.2198 (fax)

      www.ApprenticeHouse.com

      [email protected]

      “Massachusetts has its Kennedys. Maryland has its Attmans.

      This family has created an impressive dynasty.”

      — Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt at Leonard and Phyllis Attman’s annual Chanukah party co-hosted with Maryland’s Governor

      in his official residence

      “Attman’s Delicatessen, now in its 95th year, is a Baltimore institution.”

      — Baltimore Business Journal, April, 2010

      To The Memory of

      Ida and Harry Attman

      for the example they set

      and the values they instilled

      of hard work, charity, and

      concern for others

      as seen in this history of

      five generations of Attmans

      &

      To My Wife, Gail,

      with love and appreciation

      for her valued assistance

      in the preparation

      of this book

      FOREWORD

      by Martin O’Malley

      Governor of Maryland

      It is rare, even in a great City like Baltimore, for a business to survive for 100 years. Yet, Attman’s Delicatessen is run by a very rare and special family. Few families have contributed so much to our City and State over these past four generations than the Attman family.

      The story of the Attmans of Lombard Street and the famed Attman’s Delicatessen is a fascinating one, and “It All Started With a Deli” captures the many facets of this intriguing tale.

      I have had the privilege of being friends with many of the Attmans for many years. During my time serving as Mayor of Baltimore, I had the opportunity to officially name a street near Attman’s Deli in memory of Seymour Attman soon after his untimely passing. Seymour was one of the three sons, along with Edward and Leonard, of Harry and Ida Attman, the founders and operators of Attman’s Delicatessen.

      Every year, Leonard Attman and his wife, Phyllis, and the extended Attman family are joint hosts with me and my wife for Chanukah parties in Government House.

      In my time in Annapolis, Leonard has generously agreed to serve on the Maryland Stadium Authority, and Edward’s son Gary has agreed to serve on the University of Maryland Board of Regents.

      As you will see in these pages, Harry and Ida Attman, starting married life as poor immigrants, operated a small deli that would eventually garner a national mouth-watering reputation. It has now thrived close to a century.

      Harry and Ida raised three sons and instilled them with the importance of education and the values of hard work, charity, faith, and giving back to the community. Those sons and their progeny would go on to build successful businesses that now employ thousands of people and serve the needs of a gamut of institutions, corporations, small and mid-size operations, and nonprofits. Their charitable endeavors help fund schools, hospitals, synagogues, non-denominational institutions, poverty programs, youth groups, and many other services touching many lives, here and abroad.

      Indeed, the Attman story is one worth telling and sharing. It reminds us of what America can be for those who can seize its opportunities.

      Chapter One

      LUNCHTIME ON

      LOMBARD STREET

      Selling is like shaving. If you don’t do it every day, you’re a bum.

      — Harry Attman

      “Next!” It is midday at Attman’s Delicatessen on Lombard Street in East Baltimore.

      “Next!”

      One after another, customers, squeezed into a narrow space the length of the store, call out their lunch orders as they pass single-file before a counter and display case filled with various deli meats. Amid the din, five employees work quickly behind the counter preparing and serving sandwiches and platters.

      Today is a bright but cool day in 2009 more than 94 years and four generations of Attmans since 23-year-old Harry opened in 1915 a small shop selling confections and deli sandwiches, joined soon by his young bride Ida in 1918. The store is now becoming so crowded that the line soon doubles back on itself and eventually spills onto the sidewalk.

      “Next! What’ll you have?” a tall, burly counterman calls to the person now first in line, a middle-aged man in a business suit. Among those waiting in line behind him are laborers in jeans, two young nattily-dressed women, an elderly couple, college-age students, several more business or lawyer types, and a mixture of whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians—all waiting for their deli fix.

      Upon entering Attman’s, patrons encounter a special atmosphere, not only the pungent aroma of delicatessen with its own salivating mix of steaming corned beef, hot pastrami, grilling hot dogs, spicy mustard, and savory pickles in brine. Customers also are enwrapped in the comforting sounds of friendly personnel bantering among themselves and with patrons. Plus there is the innovative humorous way the menu is featured here. The walls are filled with red, blue and white hand-lettered signs that tout such sandwiches as Tongue Fu, A Brisket A Basket, Hazza-Rye, the Gay Liveration, Ali and Tina Tuna, Turkey in the Straw, Lox O’Luck, and Cloak & Dagger (corned beef, coleslaw and of course Russian dressing).

      Some sandwiches have hidden references in their names to Attman family members, such as Jessica Special, Ava Sampler, Stu’s Kugel, Sara’s Dagger, Jillian’s Dessert, Ida’s Jewish Apple Cake and Seymour’s Original Fried Chicken.

      All in all, patrons of Attman’s can choose from 29 sandwiches, 32 combination sandwiches, 15 appetizers, 15 desserts and seven catering trays.

      The quirky nature of the store can also be seen