In a message dated 12/4/02 7:59:57 AM Eastern Standard Time,
jonmac@ndirect.co.uk writes:
> In puzzling out this subject heading, it's abundantly clear the AH bit
> relates to Austin Healeys. This is patently obvious and meets an LBC
> criteria for posting!!!
> But Shlep?
> Ii occurs to me that 'shlep' (or possibly, schlepp) could have German
> Jewish
> origins? I've asked three Jewish friends in the UK for clarification and
> they're as non-plussed as I am. What does it mean and how is it used in
> this
> automotive context?
>
> Jonmac
>
>From Michael Fein's fine site... <A
>HREF="http://www.pass.to/glossary/gloz3.htm#lets";>Yiddishkeit (page four)</A>
Shlep - Drag, carry or haul, particularly unnecessary things, parcels or
baggage; to go somewhere unwillingly or where you may be unwanted.
In the current context 'schlep' boys is used to rhyme with Pep boys, who were
of course, Manny, Moe and Jack, (or Manny Moe and Izzy! read on!) and with
obviously Jewish surnames . From the Pepboys.com site: <A
HREF="http://www.pepboys.com/company/facts/history/exphist1.shtm";>Pep Boys -
Expanded
History</A>
The Early Years Emanuel "Manny" Rosenfeld, Maurice "Moe" Strauss, Moe
Radavitz and Graham "Jack" Jackson were the original Pep Boys. They were four
industrious young Philadelphians who pooled $200 each in 1921 to establish an
auto parts supply company that would become the $2.2 billion industry leader
it is today. While the Manny, Moe and Jack characters were modeled after
founders Rosenfeld, Strauss and Jackson, many people do not know there were
originally two Moes. Moe Radavitz left after only a few years in the
business. While the names and faces behind the founders draw immense
interest, so too does its serendipitous naming, which is now a legend. Before
his death in 1982, Moe Strauss recounted this story about the company's
humble beginnings: It was 1921, and Pep Auto Supplies was a new Philadelphia
business. "We were trying to think of a name for our store, but we needed a
name that was as short as possible. Our first storefront was only a few feet
across." The partners were sitting around the store drinking nickel sodas and
kicking around ideas for a name. Then, someone noticed a shipment of Pep
Valve Grinding Compound in the store, which inspired the name "Pep Auto
Supplies." The change to the name Pep Boys came from a Philadelphia policeman
who worked near the first store on 63rd and Market Streets. Every time he
stopped a car at night for not having an oil wick burning, he would tell the
driver to go see the "boys" at Pep for a replacement. Common usage gave rise
to the name Pep Boys. Moe Strauss' trip to California around 1923 brought
about the official name of "The Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack." Moe noticed
that many successful businesses there used first names. One of the dress
shops he noticed in particular was called Minnie, Maude and Mabel's. "When I
came back from California, I had a friend, Harry Moscovitz, create the three
big caricatures of Manny, Moe and Jack," Strauss said. Ironically, the three
faces that have become so recognizable around the world as Manny, Moe and
Jack, are not truly Manny, Moe and Jack. Jack's face appeared briefly when
the caricatures were first penned. However, after Mr. Jackson left Pep Boys,
his face was replaced with that of Moe's brother, Isaac (Izzy) Strauss. After
Izzy left the company, Manny Rosenfeld's brother, Murray, joined the team.
However, Izzy's face remained and continues to be a part of the company's
icon to this day.
So if you went to Pep boys or any other Jewish retail establishment whatever
you bought you'd have to schlep it home right? Unless of course they deliver
which is what my local Jewish grocery store does. We call, they deliver. Why
schlep!
Farshtaist?
Ray Antoky ..Brooklyn NY
59 TR3A
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