- Ottawa Jewish Archives
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Interview with Esther Blostein
Interview with Esther Blostein
itemOctober 25, 2000O0045
Description only — contact the archiveView at source ↗
Where
- Held by
- Ottawa Jewish Archives via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)
- Dates
- October 25, 2000 (indexed as 2000)
- Level
- item
- Scope & content
- Subject: Esther Blostein Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: October 25, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 34:24 **RACIST LANGUAGE DISCLAIMER** DISCLAIMER: interview intended to be with Esther; however, Mervin is invited to join halfway through. -Esther’s family is from Romania. Her father was widowed by his first wife and remarried Esther’s mother. Esther has two half siblings and one full brother named Chuck. -Esther’s father worked at the control board in Ottawa until he fell ill, suffered a leg amputation and passed away when she was 12 years old. Her mother then became the sole parent and began working as an interior decorator. -Esther does not know much about her half siblings; she only knows her brother was in the airforce and her sister moved to Toronto. Chuck is semi retired and working at a clothing store. -Esther attended Osgoode School then York Street Public School followed by Commerce for High School. She recalls some of her teachers; Mr. Bill, Mr. Matthews, Mr. Ketcheson (?), Mr. Gillies. -In school Esther played Volleyball, basketball, hockey, and baseball. She also played tennis at the Tel Aviv Tennis Club. -When asked about stores and restaurants she remembers she talks about a confectionary store on Osgoode, a store called McCools (?) on Laurier avenue, Sherman’s where she would hangout after school, and the dances at the King Edward Shul. -She was very involved in the shul and was the president of the sisterhood at Murray Street Shul. -She did volunteer work at St. Vincent’s Hospital and in a local nursing home. -Esther talks about her trips she has taken in her life which include; Israel, Mallorca, Barcelona, Las Vegas, New Orleans. SHe discusses her favorite parts of the trips and where the best food was. ***Mervin rejoins the interview*** -Mervin and Esther grew up around the corner from each other in Sandy Hill. They did not know each other well because there was a 5 year age gap. -When Mervin was 21 years old he attended a dance at the King Edward Street Shul and asked Esther on a date. -The couple were married in 1951 and moved to an apartment on Frank Street. ***-Esther mentions her previous job and uses out of date racial terms -After their second son they moved to Vanier. They recall their neighbours and playing poker games in the hallway of the apartment building. -They then purchased a plot of land in Alta Vista and watched as their house was built for a year. -Their eldest son Barry married Arlene Gladman and their younger son Alan married Margo Copper. They have 5 grandchildren; 2 of them in Toronto and 3 in Ottawa. END OF TAPE
- Location
- York St · street · confidence 50% · street · found as “York Street”
- Murray St · street · confidence 50% · street · found as “Murray Street”
- King Edward Ave · street · confidence 50% · street · found as “King Edward Street”
- Frank Cres · street · confidence 50% · street · found as “Frank Street”
- Genre / form
- sound recording
- Format
- Audio
- Harvested
- 2026-10-17T20:12:50Z · source datestamp n/a · cjhn