- Ottawa Jewish Archives
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- An address about her grandparents; Mrs. Gittel Cohen Agulnik.
An address about her grandparents; Mrs. Gittel Cohen Agulnik.
Description only — contact the archiveO0045
- Held by
- Ottawa Jewish Archives via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)
- Dates
- July 15, 1987 (indexed as 1987)
- Level
- item
- Scope & content
- 1. The first Jewish caterer in Ottawa and her husband George Goldberg who was the first Jewish hairdresser in Ottawa. 2. AV 1004. Subject: Gittel Cohen Agulnik and George Goldberg Interviewer: Mac Lipson Date: July 16th Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 57:46 -Gittel Cohen Agulnik was the first jewish caterer in Ottawa. Mary Goldberg, her granddaughter, recounts her memories of her grandmother. She has fond memories of her grandmother taking her to Sunday school, living with her, and calls Gittel the heart of the family. -Mary’s first memories of her grandmother are from around 1920 when Mary was 7 years old. She recalls her grandmother cooking through the night on Fridays because there were no freezers so all the food for catering had to be done the day before. -Mary went to sunday school when she was young, she remembers learning jewish history and recalls some of her teachers. -Mary was born in Ottawa in 1911. At the time they lived in a house on St. Patrick. Gittel was a marvelous cook and Mary talks of watching her cook and the smells of her favorite dishes. -Mary also recalls a time when her sister got Scarlet Fever and the family was quarantined for 6 weeks.Gittel spent the whole time with Mary's sister taking care of her. She also speaks of a time in 1918 when the whole family got pneumonia and Gittel cared for them. -Mary described her grandmother and her personality. She remembers her as a small woman who was kind, helpful, humorous, and warm. -Mary’s prized possession is a piano her grandmother got for her. She recalls her grandmother picking out the piano for her and paying for it. Mary has kept this piano her entire life and treasures it. -Gittel was a natural cook, she never had to taste anything and it was always perfect. Mary recalls one of her first jobs with Mrs. Florence. Gittel would go over on Friday morning, cook various meals, and get paid $5 and bus fare. Gittel was also very kind and helpful; she would often help new mothers in the community when they had a new baby and she would help with the cooking. -Mary believes one of her grandmother’s first big catering jobs was the Finklestein’s wedding 1920. Mary recalls the smell of the soup and chicken from the wedding. She remembers her grandmother having women who helped her with the prep but Gittel always did all the cooking herself. Mary also touches on the challenges of cooking on a large scale in 1920. -Once Gittel remarried in her 70’s she retired from catering and Eva Goldfield took over. While she was retired Gittel still cooked for her family and Mary recalls her sister Ruth going to Gittels every week for Sabbath dinner. -Mary never learnt her grandmother’s recipes and recalls memories of her grandmother standing up for her when she did not eat meat as a child. -Gittel never had teeth and Mary regrets never taking the time to get dentures made for her. -Mary discusses changes in Jewish cooking, catering, and lifestyles now from when she was growing up. The recipes now are much healthier, all the fat and grease is removed. She speaks of how distractions have changed the lifestyle in the community and how her neighbourhood of Sandy Hill no longer has a Jewish presence. Mary also touches on how uncommon intermarriage was and how it is much more accepted now. -Mary then talks about her late husband, George Goldberg. He was a hairstylist from England and the first jewish hairdresser in Ottawa. -George and Mary met at a social hall across the street from Freiman’s Store. Mary was performing there and George asked her if she would like to accompany him as he was a violin player. The two began playing together when she was 15 and he was 21. -Mary then details the beginning of their relationship and their disapproving families due to the age difference. The two were engaged when she was 18 and were married in Montreal. They were happily married for 55 years. -When George first arrived in Canada he worked in a barber shop and cut hair for the men in the House of Commons. He wanted to expand into women's hair and began working at a salon on Bank Street. He then went to Freiman’s Department Store and pitched an in house salon to Mr. Freiman. Mary recalls George cutting Lillian Freimans hair and her loving it so much A.J. Freiman gave him a salon chair in the store. -When George’s salon opened in the store there was a line around the block. George worked in Freiman’s for many years and Mary talks about the expansion of the business. -Following this George opened his own salon on Sparks Street which he ran for 20 years. -Mary and Mac (interviewer) then look at an engagement scroll Mary was given on her engagement. It is signed by Reverend Mirsky and is very unique to the era. -Mary then talks further about the social hall she met George at. She discusses entertainers, singers, musicians, and dancing.She also talks about how it was a place newcomers to Ottawa came to meet people. -Mary then talks about some old photographs of her family. -Mary went to school on Kent street growing up, and then transferred school to Elgin. She studied for 2 years at Lisgar Collegiate and then went to business college to study stenography. -Mary discusses her career as a stenographer and later on working in the salon with George. -Mary discusses the 1930’s in the salon. She recalls the machines, the hairstyles, and her husband's techniques. -Mary discusses George’s clients at the shop who included the dancers from the Gatineau Country Club and Sir Arther Meighen. -George passed away at the age of 80. END OF TAPE
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- 2026-10-17T20:12:50Z · source datestamp n/a · cjhn