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| Adorable box bag, one of many styles made over six decades by the Julius Resnick handbag company. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
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| JR cut velvet (chenille) mod handbag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
Julius Resnick (1889-1980) was born in Ostryna, Russia (Belarus) to Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Resnick and Chaya Devorah Slotznick Resnick. (It appears that Julius’s original first name was Judel; many emigres Americanized their names upon arrival to the US.) He emigrated to the US in 1904 with three of his six siblings and a brother-in-law. By then his parents were deceased. According to the 1920 US Census, he became a naturalized citizen in 1914. He married Monya “Minnie” Wiesenthal* Resnick (approx. 1894-1997) in 1915 and by 1920 the couple were living in New York with their 2-year-old daughter, Irene. Their son Murray was born that year. The 1920 Census lists Julius as working in the “pocket books” business. (*Monya’s birth surname was Elkin or Elkins, but she was adopted by her stepfather, whose last name was Wiesenthal.)
According to David Potter, Irene’s longtime partner from the 1980s until her death in 2014, Monya Resnick was a health-conscious woman and fitness buff her entire life. He told The Vintage Purse Museum that prior to emigrating to the US, Monya, a teenager, took a train by herself from her native Russia to the port city of Rotterdam. We believe we found the manifest documenting her ocean journey at age 15, starting May 12, 1906 on the S.S. Nieuw Amsterdam. This would mean she may have been born in 1891 rather than 1894, per genealogy records. Her date of birth also varies in Census records. Many Jews were careful—even after emigration to the US—about giving personal information as this was the time period for pogroms and other violent acts of anti-Semitism in Europe.
Monya told David that she had to prove her fitness by climbing a 15-foot fence prior to being allowed to embark the ship to America. The Vintage Purse Museum checked with two immigration historians who confirmed that this was not a requirement of the shipping lines; however, it is possible that Eastern European cities were making it more difficult for emigres to leave at the turn of the last century and onward. The wall may have been a police barrier in her native Russia.
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| "Courting couple" tapestry bag by JR Florida USA. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
Monya Resnick gave Julius his financial start in the handbag business. She kept a “pushke,” a Yiddish word for “alms box”—essentially a piggy bank. In Jewish culture this was often a tin can. She saved $400, funding his foray into his own business in 1933, alongside his favorite brother, William “Willy” Resnick (1893-1973; it appears that his original first name was Wolf). Their initial claim to fame, said David Potter, was the “dollar bag,” an inexpensive purse for the budget minded. The Vintage Purse Museum found a 1931 newspaper ad for these in pouch and envelope styles in the colors white or egg shell.
It's unclear what ended the business relationship between the two brothers, but Julius decided to retire in 1934—the first of what would be many retirements. During this period, he went back to his homeland, bringing his children, then ages 17 and 14, to see their father’s birthplace. By 1935, however, the Resnick brothers had factories in New York and Holyoke, Massachusetts. There was a labor dispute based on the rules of the US government’s newly implemented National Recovery Act (which was repealed in 1935), so these factories closed. Julius opened a factory in Syracuse, NY at 689 N. Clinton St., with one article citing that he would be offering Holyoke employees jobs there. David Potter said Julius was warmly received by the city of Syracuse as he brought over 300 jobs to a depressed area. Many of JR’s employees were Italian immigrants.
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| Nubby floral JR USA handbag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
According to the online document “Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board, Volume 74,” the factory was open until 1943, when it was temporarily shut down and leased to General Electric. At its peak, says the document, it had 600 employees. As with many factories during this time period, there were labor disputes over unionization. The complaint against Julius Resnick was dismissed in its entirety by the labor board. The factory reopened in 1946, but these types of disputes happened several times over the years, which was common in the evolution of numerous US industries, including the handbag business.
The Syracuse factory remained open until at least 1974, which was the latest date that The Vintage Purse Museum found a classified ad for sewing machine operators. 689 N. Clinton, which was built in 1890, and occupied for many years by the Resnick company, is now retail and restaurant space on the bottom floor, and apartments on the top two floors. We reached out to the Onondaga Historical Association, whose archivist kindly shared that they would be looking into their files for information about the Resnick factory in Syracuse. We will update this article upon receiving it.
In the 1950s, Julius, who’d “retired” once again to Florida, decided he would open a factory in Hialeah. It was at East 41st Street and the Florida East Coast Railway, and was slated to manufacture 8,000 handbags a day. According to a March 25, 1956 Miami News article: “The building, 25,000 feet of office and factory space, is ‘the most modern handbag factory in the country,’ (Resnick) said. The design is modern, and the surrounding area is landscaped. The plant has its own railroad siding for receiving raw materials. Completely air conditioned, it has a dining room and kitchen and a first-aid room where a nurse is always in attendance. General manager of the plant is Eli Rosenberg. He said 95 per cent of employees have joined the company in Miami. The plant was designed by Murray Resnick and Rosenberg, of Resnick Handbags in New York and Syracuse. Robert M. Merritt Inc. was the builder. Engineering was done by the firm of Oboler and Clarke; Melrose Nurseries landscaped the site.” (There was another JR factory, run by Murray under the business name General Handbag Corporation, located in Opa-locka, Florida until at least the 1980s.)
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| Yellow "nova tweed" (hopsack) JR Florida satchel-style purse. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
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| JR "nova tweed" tote bag decorated with flowers, likely by a home crafter. Many of these bags in varying configurations and colors were sold plain and then embellished with yarn, raffia flowers, velvet bows, appliques, rhinestones and more by DIY-ers. |
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| JR Florida USA "Magic Carpet" bag with original hang tag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
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| JR Florida USA colorful carpet bag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
David Potter told The Vintage Purse Museum that fully air-conditioned factories were not the norm back then in hot and humid Florida, so the line for employment at its opening was around the block. He also said that Irene Resnick, Julius’s daughter, who had attended Parsons School of Design after her divorce from her first husband, did the interior designs for JR’s showrooms. The Vintage Purse Museum acquired two fabulous mid-century drawings that she did while in school. These, said David Potter, were hung in the waiting area of Julius’s office.
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| Mid-century drawing by Irene Resnick, one of two that hung in Julius Resnick's office. She drew them while a student at Parsons School of Design. Both drawings were acquired by The Vintage Purse Museum, thanks to Irene's longtime partner David Potter. |
It’s interesting to note in the 1956 article that Eli Rosenberg was JR’s general manager. Shortly after the opening of the Hialeah factory, Rosenberg went on to establish “ER of Miami,” a handbag company whose logo was similar to JR’s. David Potter tells us that Julius helped Eli establish his own business and even leased part of his factory to him. (We found 1966 and 1967 classified ads that said Eli Rosenberg Originals, Inc. had been "handbag manufacturers since 1955." The address was a factory at 6900 NW 37th Ave., and was "open to the public.")
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| Monogram "D" plastic-covered handbag by JR Florida USA. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
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| Plastic-covered "under glass" handbag with embroidery by JR Florida USA. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
Julius Resnick read a half-dozen newspapers a day. He had a longtime cab driver who would come to Julius’s home early in the morning and drive him to his Florida factory so that he would be there to open its doors before the employees arrived. Julius was also an automation innovator. David Potter told us that he designed machines to assist workers with their tasks, and had an engineer on staff to bring those ideas to reality. He also gave these machines to his purse-maker friends at no charge, asking them instead to donate to a Jewish charity. Among these friends was Richard Koret, the prolific handbag manufacturer who died in a plane crash in Indio, California in 1964. David told us that Julius was supposed to be on that very plane, but, as it had been having mechanical difficulties, declined to fly with his friend.
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| Gold lame' handbag by JR USA. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
Julius was a good friend of Judith Leiber, the Holocaust survivor who went on to become known for her celebrity-worn crystal-studded minaudieres. Irene Resnick had a number of Leiber bags, including the famous Starburst design. Julius also befriended Frank Sinatra’s mother, Dolly, while at the Santa Anita racetrack. The legendary singer would have his private plane sent to the JR factory in Florida to pick up the latest handbags for his mom.
UPDATE 08/04/21: In an additional conversation with David Potter, he tells us that Julius was the first to include a mirror with handbags, and that JR was one of the first to use YKK zippers in the US and its biggest client in the 1930s-1950s.
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| Cropped Polaroid of Julius Resnick in his later years, courtesy of David Potter. |
While his son Murray was in charge of the numerous JR operations that had expanded from New York and Florida to Canada, Ireland, Italy and Hong Kong, Julius remained involved, even in retirement.
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| Screenshots above from the Cornwall (Canada) Community Museum website. Used with permission of the SD&G Historical Society archives at the Cornwall Community Museum, whose associate curator told us this location was commonly referred to as "the purse factory." More info about the JR Cornwall plant on their website. |
Julius Resnick passed away in 1980 at the age of 91 and Murray continued running the business until it was purchased by the Mutterperl Group in 1986. In 1992, Mutterperl was dissolved and the JR brand was acquired by Hartstone Group. (There is conflicting information online about actual dates of acquisition/dissolution by Mutterperl and Hartstone.) After the acquisition, Murray was asked to commit to two years as a consultant for the JR brand, living and working in Hong Kong. He also had a residence in Italy. By 1994, Murray was looking forward to returning permanently to Florida to be near his sister and his mother—to whom he was devoted—but he died at age 74 at the Pisa airport while waiting for the arrival of a relative. His sister Irene said of him in his obituary: “He loved fun. He loved people. He had a great sense of humor and lots of friends.”
The Vintage Purse Museum found newspaper advertisements for Julius Resnick handbags as late as 1994, but they may have been sold for several years after that. It’s a truly incredible example of longevity for a company that started just a few decades after the turn of the last century, all thanks to one woman’s pushke and one man’s never-retire work ethic.
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| JR "marshmallow" clutch with interchangeable color strips. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
18 Apr 1962, Wed The Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida) Newspapers.com
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