Guide to the Klein Family Papers, c.1918-2011

Arrangement

Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Klein Family Papers
Creator
Klein Family
Collection Number
MSS 588
Extent
5.25 linear feet
Date
1915-2011
Abstract
Joseph and Hannah Haupt Klein founded Klein's Kosher Cafe in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1900. Later known as Klein's Restaurant, the eatery initially served traditional, kosher Hungarian dishes at a location on Fifth Avenue, and was known as a popular nightspot and seafood restaurant beginning in the 1940s. The Klein Family Papers contain family correspondence and obituaries, marriage licenses and confirmation certificates, and an autograph book of notable restaurant patrons. The collection also includes family photographs, photographs taken at Klein's Restaurant, dinner menus and newspaper clippings.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
The guide to this collection was written by Carly Lough.
Publisher
Heinz History Center
Address
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History

Hannah Haupt emigrated with her family from Austria-Hungary in 1890 at the age of fourteen and met Joseph Klein, a fellow Hungarian, on the day of her arrival in Pittsburgh. Klein worked as a fireman and later joined the wholesale liquor business. The Kleins were married in 1892. Over the following years, Hannah made several attempts to supplement her husband's income by various ventures in the food industry, selling candy, pretzels, cider and other small items on street corners in downtown Pittsburgh. In 1900, Hannah and Joseph opened Klein's Kosher Cafe on Fifth Avenue, offering traditional, kosher Hungarian dishes using Hannah's home recipes. As business expanded, the restaurant relocated four times in the downtown area to locations on Penn Avenue, Smithfield Street and at the Seventh Avenue Hotel. The Kleins were frequently aided at the restaurant by their six children, Samuel, Sidney, Virginia, Ruth, Lillian and Frances. Like her brothers, Samuel and Sidney, Virginia Klein (VKH) joined the family business full time after graduating from Fifth Avenue High School. In March 1927, she married Dr. Isaac P. Holzman, a dentist from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Holzmans had one daughter, Elaine.

Sidney, Samuel and VKH assumed operation of the business in the 1930s after their parents' retirement. In 1932, Klein's added seafood to its menu, a move credited to Samuel Klein and Jim Marshall, an experienced oyster shucker employed at the restaurant. The combination of seafood and traditional Hungarian dishes became a hallmark of Klein's at a time when seafood remained an uncommon offering in Western Pennsylvania restaurants. The restaurant's ensuing success propelled its relocation from the Seventh Avenue Hotel to its final home at 330 Fourth Avenue in 1935. Advertisements for the new location boasted a full bar and an air-conditioned dining room. By 1950, Klein's Seafood Restaurant was widely known among locals and had attracted the attention of numerous celebrities, including Eddie Cantor, George Jessel, and Chico Marx.

John Klein and Elaine Holzman Levy, the son and daughter of Sidney and Virginia Klein, respectively, operated Klein's Restaurant during the 1960s and 1970s with other members of the Klein family. The restaurant was later managed by a fourth generation of Kleins: John's daughter and son-in-law Joan and Ned Fine. Klein's Restaurant closed in February 1992 after over ninety years of family operation. Following its purchase by Union National Bank, the 330 Fourth Avenue location's iconic neon lobster sign was transferred to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. The sign is now on display at the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Scope and Content Notes

The Klein Family Papers contain photographs, correspondence, menus and newspaper clippings about the Klein family and Klein's Restaurant. Family papers consist of correspondence and obituaries, family marriage licenses and confirmation certificates, and materials collected by Virginia Klein Holzman, including a large cartoon drawing of a little girl drawn by cartoonist Cy Hungerford at Klein's Restaurant after the birth of her granddaughter, Marilyn Levy Daenzer. Images in the collection include family photographs, portraits of Joseph and Hannah Klein (including two oversize portraits which hung in the restaurant), and images taken at Klein's Restaurant. Menus in the collection include a 1948 and 1968 dinner menu, as well as a 1950 menu from the restaurant's golden anniversary which features the autographs of notable patrons.

Conditions Governing Access

None.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Klein's Restaurant on February 8, 1993. Accession #1993.0029

Gift of Elaine Levy on May 24, 1997. Accession #1997.0179

Gift of Jeanne Schimmel on June 4, 1998. Accession #1998.0083

Gift of Jules and Elaine Levy on July 9, 2007. Accession #2007.0161

Gift of Marilyn Daenzer on June 25, 2010. Accession #2010.0167

Gift of Jeanne and Steven Schimmel on September 1, 2015. Accession #2015.0085

Gift of Steven Schimmel on August 20, 2018. Accession #2018.0166

Preferred Citation

Klein Family Papers, 1915-2011, MSS 588, Rauh Jewish Archives, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center

General

This collection has been previously cited as the Virginia Klein Holzman Papers, c1918-2011, MSS 588. Part of this collection has been previously cited as PFF 55.

Processing Information

The Virginia Klein Holzman papers were processed by Megan E. Rentschler in August 1, 2011.

Additions and reprocessing by Carly Lough in October 2014 and September 2015.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Related Materials

An oversize Klein's Seafood Restaurant 1983 menu is included in Accession 2009.0169.

A 1959 Klein's Restaurant menu may be found in Accession 2009.0140.

A Key Magazine article on Klein's Restaurant depicting Joseph and Hannah Klein may be found in Accession 1996.0183.

Klein's Restaurant's neon lobster sign was donated to the museum collection and is now located in the Great Hall of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Separated Materials

A Klein's Restaurant seafood fork, bib and coaster from Accession 2008.0132 have been transferred to the museum division.

Poale Zedeck Congregation's 60th Anniversary Dinner oversize photograph has been catalogued separately as accession 1997.0179.

Portraits of Joseph and Hannah Klein, Klein's Restaurant ashtrays and matchbooks, and a 1915 Rodef Shalom honor pupil ribbon, were transferred to the museum division from Accession 2015.0085.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Klein's Kosher Cafe (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Klein's Restaurant (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

    Personal Names

    • Klein, Hannah Haupt
    • Klein, Joseph
    • Holzman, Virginia Klein (1897-1980)
    • Fischman, Ruth Klein.
    • Hungerford, Cy (1889-1983)
    • Jessel, George (1898-1981)

    Other Subjects

    • Jews--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
    • Kosher restaurants.
    • Kosher food industry.
    • Jewish families.
    • Jewish businesspeople.
    • Jewish cooking.

Container List