Pioneer Entrepreneurs of Whiting’s First Department Stores
Gayle Faulkner Kosalko June 2025
When Standard Oil arrived, the majority of those living in Whiting were of German and Irish descent; many were Jewish. These men were among the first entrepreneurs to open stores in Whiting.
Now the idea of a store with many different “departments,” one place that carried everything one needed including ready made clothing started around the mid-19th century. In 1852 Marshall Fields opened its grand department store, followed not long after by Carson Pirie Scott and Company in 1899 in Chicago.
Though Front Street and Oklahoma had early on been considered Whiting’s retail area, it wasn’t long before our entrepreneurs decided that the real heart of Whiting business would be 119th Street. The very first store on 119th was The Fishcrup Brothers grocery business.
Before the turn of the 19th century the early businessmen opened their stores in the wooden buildings along 119th Street but soon a building boom ensued. One of those beautiful buildings is the corner of New York Avenue and 119th which would become home to a number of department stores.
The biggest problem facing these early business owners was the competing stores on the South Side and downtown Chicago itself. Many references to “why go to Chicago when you can buy it here” were made in local advertising and it helped that most of their customers found it an easy walk from their homes to shop the department stores on 119th Street.
HENRY DOOB’S FAIR - 1894
The earliest of the Whiting department stores was Henry Doob’s Fair. Henry who was born in 1861 in Germany, arrived in America in 1879. In 1890 he met Jennie Resser from John Street and the two married. And as a citizen of the town, Henry was also one of its first volunteer firefighters.
Doobs started his business in 1894 in “cramped quarters” in Oklahoma but soon realized, as with other businessmen, that 119th Street was going to be the main business thoroughfare for Whiting.
Not only did Doob’s Fair carry clothing but here one could purchase ice cream freezers, screen doors, ice boxes, oil cloth and gasoline stoves.
His advertising motto about his stock was “not how cheap but how good.” It was not long when Henry and his wife moved to Illinois. In 1910 Jennie passed away leaving Henry a widower with three young daughters. But under these new circumstances, he kept busy, coming up with new projects to do. In Forest Park he soon owned 30 apartments and in 1923 decided to open a new store there.
Henry passed on in 1939. He is buried in Prince Hill United Jewish Cemetery in Illinois.
MITGATZ and STIGLITZ - THE HUB - 1896
One of the first real department stores was owned by Whiting partners Nathan Mitgatz and Max Stiglitz. The two were related by marriage. In 1896 they would open The Hub at 102-104 – 119th in what was known as the Gill block. Today this is where Taco Dive is.
Their new type of store gained a lot of attention. Even the Whiting Sun wrote about them, noting that the Hub is “elegantly appointed throughout. Their stock embraces the newest, best and more stylish of tailor made, read-to-wear clothing.
The Hub carried dry goods, furnishings, carpets, crockery and tinware and the proprietors spoke directly to customers through their ads.
“In case of any dissatisfaction or error, don’t knock behind our back, meet us face to face,” they wrote.
Their full page ads looked as if they were right out of a catalogue with numerous drawings of items and description. The Hub owners were definitely fond of hyperbole. “For the biggest, the best, most startling, merciful Bon-a-fide sacrifice ever known…powerful reductions that ever met mortal man’s eye” may have been a bit over the
top, but their sale prices weren’t. You could buy a man’s shirt collar for 7 cents, youth’s shoes at 89 cents, men’s all velour wool suits for a mere $4.45 or “never rip” striped pants for only 69 cents.
In 1912 The Hub had a gigantic sale with this headline “$50,000 Stock Doomed!” In the ad, it said they were even hiring 50 more clerks to keep the pace moving. And along with the great buys, one would receive S and H savings stamps too.
(S and H Green Stamps which were created by Sperry and Hutchinson began in 1896 and many department and grocery stores used them as an incentive for customers to collect them.)
When not having a sale, the owners gave customers another good reason to come in. If you spent $5 on merchandise, you would receive a “Little Wonder Camera” and outfit for developing photos…and the camera was warranted too. They displayed wall medallions (stucco or iron art) in the window from which customers could chose as a free souvenir with purchase.
They even appealed to the new immigrants as a small part of the ad was written in Slovak as well as a reminder that “Cheap Mike” was at The Hub. “Pozor, Pozorne Citaj” it began… “Read carefully… that’s why we sell cheap because we have a lot of good stock.”
Another ad read “Remember, we will give you more goods for the same money and the When Standard Oil arrived, the majority of those living in Whiting were of German and Irish descent; many were Jewish. These men were among the first entrepreneurs to open stores in Whiting.
Now the idea of a store with many different “departments,” one place that carried everything one needed including ready made clothing started around the mid-19th century. In 1852 Marshall Fields opened its grand department store, followed not long after by Carson Pirie Scott and Company in 1899 in Chicago.
Though Front Street and Oklahoma had early on been considered Whiting’s retail area, it wasn’t long before our entrepreneurs decided that the real heart of Whiting business would be 119th Street. The very first store on 119th was The Fishcrupp Brothers grocery business.
Before the turn of the 19th century the early businessmen opened their stores in the wooden buildings along 119th Street but soon a building boom ensued. One of those beautiful buildings is the corner of New York Avenue and 119th which would become home to a number of department stores.
The biggest problem facing these early business owners was the competing stores on the South Side and downtown Chicago itself. Many references to “why go to Chicago when you can buy it here” were made in local advertising and it helped that most of their customers found it an easy walk from their homes to shop the department stores on 119th Street.
SOLOMON RECHT DEPARTMENT STORE - 1898
Whiting in 1898 was a big year for store openings. One of those was Solomon Recht’s Department Store.
There are not many buildings left on 11th Street that once housed these early department stores of Whiting. But you can stroll past Recht’s Department Store today, 127 years later. Today it’s our Sunrise Restaurant and, as you can see in the 1904 drawing, the upper part of the building looks much the same as it did at the turn of the century.
Solomon Recht, one of the earliest businessmen in Whiting, immigrated from Austria in 1882. He and his wife Dora were Whiting residents for over 45 years.
Like other department stores, Recht’s carried ladies dress goods, and a large line offurnishing goods. Shoes were a big seller at Recht’s as Sol advertised…we have the best line of children’s shoes and old people’s footwear that we have ever had.
He also promoted his place as the “Whiting Bargain Store.” His motto was “if you trade with us once, you will never trade anywhere else!”
Later Recht would carry Reids Perfectum Coffee, something no other business was doing. Customers could buy 15 pounds for $1. Along with the push in the ad, was the odd statement “Foregoing guarantee is made in good faith and with the intimate knowledge of existing evil.” No further explanation was given.
Perhaps the greatest hint into Sol’s personality is to look at the ads he took out in the Whiting Sun. One ad warns the buyer that there’s “no humbug” going on. My favorite is the large ad that reads “S. Recht will tell you next week what he has to sell.” I guess this may have brought a little anticipation to the reader as to what the next week would bring…hopefully a more specific advertisement.
But a 1906 ad told his buyers that Sol was “forced to retire….it has come but we couldn’t help it” it read.
The big sale was to be 27 cents on the dollar to cover Sol’s bankruptcy debts. To promote the sale, Recht’s would even pay your streetcar or railroad expense if you bought $5 worth of merchandise! You could buy a lot for 5 considering you could buy a boy’s suit for $1.29, children’s underwear for 9 cents, corsets for 35 cents or ladies union suits, heavy fleece for just 24 cents on sale.
The auctioning off of Recht’s goods went from 11am to 6pm in the evening and was attended by over 50 active buyers, among them Charles Pitzele who owned his own Whiting department store. He offered Sol $4,900 for the whole shebang. Sol’s bankruptcy liabilities were $35,000. Pitzele’s offer was refused. The sale of merchandise brought in $5,450 dollars.
The auctioneer who was well-known among the bankruptcy set, divided the items up in 600 individual parcels. This 5,000 Items was sold out in five and a half hours. Unlike his store, Recht’s auction proved to be a greater success. Later headlines read that Sol would appear in Federal Court…as detectives were looking for “goods which had been secreted.”
After his bankruptcy, Sol and Dora moved away. Three years later, The Sun reported that said it was rumored that Sol Recht was about to return to reopen his store with bigger and better stock. The reopening never happened. It was all just a rumor.
Solomon died in 1933 and is buried in the Whiting section of Waldheim Cemetery (Jewish Cemetery) in Forest Park where many of the early Whiting entrepreneurs are buried.
CHARLES PITZELE 1896
Born in Poland in 1862, Charles Pitzele came to America and settled in East Chicago. By 1894 he had owned a grocery store, was becoming involved in East Chicago politics where he lived and was ready to open a number of department stores in East Chicago and Whiting. His first Whiting Department store was called The Whiting Leader. His ads for furniture advised readers that sales people would gladly show them ads from Chicago stores for the same merchandise so one could see the tremendous savings at The Whiting Leader.
His 1896 ad read “This is no humbug!...I mean business.” Later in the ad he did remind buyers that business meant cash only!
In 1900 his ads called his store The Whiting Department Store. Next he owned a store named The Belmont Emporium at 151-119th Street but this went bankrupt. In 1899 he opened the New York Store which was followed by a store on the corner of Schrage and 119th Street. This was in 1903 and was called the Chicago Bargain Store.
How Pitzele had time to run his stores and carry on in politics in East Chicago at the same time is impressive, particularly because he was in and out of court so often there, suing or being sued!
As part of the East Chicago Improvement Committee, he was gung-ho on suing the Westrumite Company of Whiting as well as the Hammond, East Chicago, Whiting Streetcar Company. The Committee was investigating the company’s charges on broken glass globes and why children riding from Roby to East Chicago should pay full fare and not be charged only pay 3 cents a ride. Pitzele always had a bee in his bonnet (which you could buy for 97 cents cash) about something.
Pitzele himself had been arrested for gambling in East Chicago but when he went on trial, no witnesses responded, much to chagrin of Police Chief Lewis who exchanged sarcastic remarks with Pitzele outside the courtroom. The two enemies had been going at each other since Lewis was an aldermen. When Pitzele asked the Chief on the stand, “Do I make my money by gambling?” The Chief quickly replied, “No, by going bankrupt” alluding to Pitzele’s 1906 bankruptcy and his constant opening and closing of businesses.
Chief Lewis commented that if it was impossible for the State to convict in his case against Pitzele, “there was no use of trying to stop gambling in East Chicago.” Pitzele had signed a warrant that on his arrest, Pitzele was charging Chief Lewis with assault and battery. When the gambling charges were dropped, once again Charles Pitzele’s name appeared in headlines.
After another argument, Alderman Lewis was quoted in the paper saying “that if Charles Pitzele of the Improvement Committee is not careful, he will be made the victim of my personal attention….the treatment will be doubtless to rid one of East Chicago’s detrimental businessmen.” Pitzele had no comment but he did come back in 1922 with a warrant for the arrest of five aldermen claiming that they were receiving bribes.
Pitzele could be very unpopular. In 1911 coming out of the theatre, both he and his wife were assaulted by Rudolph Dickensen, an East Chicago saloon keeper. Not only did he hit Pitzele, but he slapped Charles’ poor wife Jennie in the face twice. Dickensen said it was in retaliation for a rude comment about his relatives made publicly by Pitzele. The trial took place in Whiting’s courtroom and the outcome was that Dickensen had to pay a fine of $25.
But Pitzele didn’t just fight with strangers. A long article in the Sun is written about he and an associate named William Smallberg who had worked for him. In a tailor shop, the two went after each other. Smallberg grabbed a pair of shears and stabbed Pitzele in the back then used the shears as a hammer, injuring Pitzele in the face. Both were injured enough that they required bandaging at the end. The Sun writer wrote “the argument was the talk of East Chicago.” William Smallberg …was Pitzele’s nephew.
In 1923 a man whom Pitzele accused of molesting a young woman, threatened Pitzele’s life and was determined to cut his throat.
Despite his arguments, Pitzele was very involved in his synagogue. He managed to combine his faith and politics together in 1908 when Pitzele formed the Jewish Independence Club with 40 others, whose object was to further the election interests of the Jewish race in Lake County. The group felt they needed to fight what they termed as “this growing evil and secure for themselves great election power.
Despite Pitzele’s problems in East Chicago, the people of Whiting were very impressed with his wares. Pitzele carried fancy hand painted parlor lamps or Bohemian wine and liquor sets for just 98 cents on sale. You could buy a leather seat mahogany or solid oak rocker for $2.98. A set of fancy decorated dinnerware with actual gold edging went for $6.98 or, for the gentlemen of the house, a fancy hand painted earthen spittoon.
Pitzele seemed to have very fine and unique taste and high standards for what he sold. He even offered his customers a free souvenir if they spent at least a dollar. Because there was no photography in newspapers at this time, Pitzele had beautifully drawn pictures of his sale items in his ads. Even the ad pictures were very classy.
“I offer to the citizens of Whiting the finest line of clothing, dry goods, ladies and gents clothing, furnishing goods, hats and caps, boots and shoes, hardware and tin ware and wooden ware and all kind of house goods plus a full and complete line of furniture,” his ad read and not only had he “cut” prices but he was having a “great slaughter” of shoes and a “great slaughter” of the clothing department.
At Christmas, Pitzele’s store had its own Santa Claus for the kids and if a parent accompanied their child into the store, “the dear old man” had a gift for them. Charles died in 1932. Four years later Jennie passed away suddenly from a heart attack. She had come to Whiting to visit her sister Mrs. Nathan Migatz and her brother Max Stiglitz, the original owners of another Whiting Department Store, The Hub.
H. GORDON AND SONS - 1899
One of the most successful department store entrepreneurs was Harry Gordon of H. Gordon and Sons.
Harry and his wife Paulina came to America from Lithuania in 1892 when he was 17. And like all 17 year olds, his goal was to make good money quickly. He began working at the refinery. But unlike most 17 year olds, Harry saved his earnings for what he thought would be his final dream…to open a saloon.
By 1897 Harry opened his saloon in the heart of wild and wooly Oklahoma. And while his business made money, its location turned out to be the real treasure. Standard Oil wanted the property the saloon stood on and paid Harry big money for it.
In the meantime, Harry’s bride Paulina had tried persuading him to give up the “dirty” saloon business. So next he went into liquor sales for a short time, but soon gave it up to follow his wife’s advice.
It was the smartest move Harry ever made. As a pioneer in business in Whiting, he opened one of the first department stores, naming it “The Reliable Clothing Store.” It opened in 1899 at 16 New York Avenue, a few buildings south of Fischrupp Ave . In an early advertising campaign to show that his liquor store was out, and apparel was in, he cleverly advertised “we’re going from wet goods to dry.”
The Gordons lived at 427 Oliver with their five sons and two daughters. In 1891 when their eldest son, Louis, was born, he was recorded as the first born Jewish child in Lake County. By 1914 he would manage Gordon’s when it was located in the Elite Bakery building, 1442 -119th Street (today Mindbenders Puzzles & Games). It was at this point that Harry changed the name of the Reliable Store to H. Gordon and Sons.
The Gordons were very active in the community as well as in their Synagogue. Both were quite popular and had sterling reputations not only as store proprietors but as neighbors and Whiting citizens. And because of their ethics, their store continued to flourish.
There were always entertaining stories about their business in the local newspaper. One was a huge feature on one of Gordon’s delivery horses who decided he was feeling “frisky” and smashed up two Gordon wagons, dumping the merchandise all over the alleys.
The horse next galloped down John Street after school boys who had pelted him with snowballs. When he was brought back, he was hitched to another wagon…only long enough to decide to go trotting off again.
In 1911 burglars broke in looking for cash. But all there was to take were neckties and socks…at least they were high quality wear. As the newspaper reported that because of the darkness of the night, the villains probably didn’t even get ones that matched.
Harry was a big supporter of the new Boy Scouts movement which had begun in 1910. He gave them window display room to show off their unit… and it didn’t hurt that he was the prime source of boy scout uniforms and banners in the Region. He would later do the same for the Girl Scouts and supported their programs, many held right in the store such as “how to properly make a bed.” The Tri Kappa Sorority used the store for many of their events. The Gordons were known for their generosity to local organizations such as the Whiting Tennis Championship for which they donated prizes.
Right from the beginning, Gordons was a fan of anything that was considered “modern.” They only carried the best such as Hart Schaffner and Marks and in the 1920s advertised with such modern jargon as “Swanky new suits for women” and catchy phrases such as “You’re bound to succumb the minute you lay your eyes on these latest frocks.”
The drawings used in their ads were of very sophisticated ladies and men . They took out tidbit ads to let readers know that their buyers were busy in New York for the latest ready-to-wear to bring Whiting the most up-to-date merchandise around. When selling the latest icebox, they offered their buyers 300 pounds of free ice. They invited customers to come in just to listen to the latest Gronow’s, Philco’s and Motorola new phonographs and radios on sale.
By 1914 Gordons expanded to a 50 foot store with another bigger expansion in 1920 doubling their selling space.
Because of US Steel, downtown Gary had really come into its own. So in 1923, Harry’s sons Ben and Louis started an H. Gordon and Sons there. By 1925 it was Gary’s leading retail store and by 1934 it had been enlarged and was considered the Marshall Fields of northwest Indiana. But their Whiting store was still a priority and a grand expansion came in 1938.
The reasons for expansion, Harry said “Cardinal among them is … to attain to our ideal of service for the constantly increasing number of our friends and customers, an accomplishment that has become impossible in our present crowded space. Our expansion will also enable us to take full advantage of improved modern merchandising| methods…”
To celebrate the reopening, Whiting Mayor James McNamara declared November 12th as “Harry Gordon Day” and referred to the renovated store as “Whiting’s Shopping Center.”
Thousands were expected to the re-opening of the new 25,000 square foot store.. Ladies were given flowers as they entered. Everyone enjoyed a slice of anniversary cake. Style shows were presented by Miss Whiting 1938 throughout the day.
Louis Gordon, who helped bring H. Gordon and Sons to Gary, passed away at only 45.
By that time, Harry and Paulina had moved to Gary. As a family firm, in 1939 they decided it was time to close their Whiting store and concentrate only on their Gary property which would include a $75,000 remodel. Over the years, the Gordons were responsible for employing many loyal workers. The Whiting store had employed 40 people; the Gary store employed 125.
H. Gordon and Sons sold their two-story store building at 1412 119th to the J.J. Newberry chain for $54,000. Harry remained Chairman of the company that he’d started decades before.
Harry retired in 1936 and passed away in 1947 at age 82. In retirement, according to a newspaper article “he’d become a merchandising icon and was put on display. Distinguished looking, Harry occupied a throne at Gordons where he greeted and chatted with his subjects just as he had during his saloon days in Oklahoma.”
H. Gordon and Sons closed their giant Gary store in 1972 due to a lack of sales and the deterioration of downtown Gary. In 1974 Gary’s Sears store followed suit. It was the end of beautiful downtown Gary.
SEIFER’S FURNITURE - 1905
One day the Seifer family would become incredibly successful as the biggest furniture dealer in the Region. In 1904 Peter Seifer and his wife Minnie arrived in Whiting. The next year Peter (Peissach), a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant, partnered with his brother Louis the Seifer Company, which had very humble beginnings.
They found a 20x70 foot storeroom on New York Avenue where they opened what they named as “Seifer’s Big Store.” The two sold general items, clothing with a few pieces of furniture thrown in.
By 1907 Louis was gone (he would later start his own furniture store in Indiana Harbor) so Peter continued on, adding bed springs, and chairs and more house wares and furniture. He had filled up what his son Sam always referred to as “a cubby hole” in Whiting and moved into bigger quarters on Clark St. and 119th. Peter would work 12 to 15 hours alone until his 13 year old son Sam came to work in his father’s shop, delivering furniture from a hand-pulled wagon all over the city. It wasn’t until 1913, that the company would get its first moving truck.
Now Peter was a good Whiting neighbor and a particularly wise businessman. Peter didn’t demand payment right away. He would tell his customers “pay me when you can.” And this was the start of a business philosophy that brought mutual trust and respect between him and his customers. It was also the start of the Seifer’s installment plan.
Peter carried women’s and children’s hats where you could find a $12 value for just $2.98. One time he grabbed amazed customers by bringing in 270 overcoats for men which were well worth $12 and up. The ad said they would all sell “for the ridiculously low price of $10.”
Not only was he a wise advertiser but his ads asked customers to cut out coupons so he could see the response he was getting from the ads. When one brought in the coupon, one got 50 yellow trading stamps for free. Seifers provided its own trading stamps, not the S&H which others used. The money from these stamps were good at Seifers. Peter never missed a trick
With continual growth and the addition of more and more furniture, Peter built his own three story building for a new store at 42 119th Street, just two blocks away from his home on LaPorte Ave.
Leaving his dad to go out on his own, son Sam partnered with Milton Lewin, a merchant in East Chicago and opened a store there in 1914.
They combined their winning merchandising talents.
With a capital of $150,000, two stores, three Seifers (by now Uncle Louis decided to go in with the family again) 1914 saw the opening of their next store in downtown Hammond, the newest upcoming shopping area. They added a new Seifer’s in Indiana Harbor and Peter joined the Corporation in 1917.
When the early Hammond store was renovated in 1927, it was the fanciest of the three major stores, and rivaled any furniture store in Gary or Chicago. Architecturally it was one of the most impressive Art Deco buildings in downtown Hammond.
The new Hammond Seifer’s was five stories tall with 50,000 square feet of display area. One floor was just for rugs; another floor had a four room Spanish bungalow built in it. The Seifers knew how to appeal to its female buyers and bring them in. Seifer’s had special events, hosted by Miss Hammond, to teach “Home Beauty” as well as “The Art of Modern Dress” and hold talks on beauty secrets.
Peter had always advertised that his was “the fastest growing business in Northwest Indiana.” That was in 1907. And he was right. He was most proud to see that 3rd and 4th generations of his original little store in Whiting were still customers. And although the Hammond Seifer’s was amazing, all their advertisements was loyal to their other stores. Advertisements included pen and ink drawings of their Whiting and their East Chicago stores.
After living in Whiting for 32 years, Peter retired to Los Angeles where he passed away in 1939.
FRED BEISAL DEPARTMENT STORE - 1929
Probably the last of what might be considered an actual department store in Whiting was Fred Beisal Department Store which opened in 1929 next door to the Capitol Theatre. Beisal’s carried a full line of men’s clothing as well as the popular straw boater for a dollar or four shirts for a dollar. His ads promoted his men’s line.
Throughout the century Whiting had a number of stores such as the Oppenheimer Brothers which opened in 1894. It advertised Christmas present ideas such as beautiful linen handkerchiefs, albums, manicure sets, or men’s collar and cuff boxes. They added that “a nice dress pattern is always acceptable.”
WR Diamonds was probably Whiting’s first 5 and 10 cent store. Located on John Street in 1925 one of their big seller was candy. The ad noted that the candy was in accordance with the U.S. Pure Food Laws.
Stores opened; stores closed. But today’s businesses, in a small down town that is still holding its own compared to other places, owe a lot to the philosophy of advertising, good business practices and definite hard work of those early department store owners of 119th Street.
(The Addresses noted here are from the original ads for the stores at the turn of the century. Today’s Whiting addresses used were changed in the 1930s.)