Images(5)

Tool, Wallpapering

Object number2018.38.15

Date1920-1969

MediumWood; Metal

Credit LineGift of Ann Harris and Jacob Belkin

DescriptionCrack opener tool. Brown wooden handle is cylindrical and narrows slightly to domed silver metal ferrule cap that connects to silver metal head. Head is length of square metal with curved neck and bent hook tip. Handle base has two incised lines.DimensionsLength x Width x Depth: 6.938 x 0.938 x 1.188 in. (17.6 x 2.4 x 3 cm)
Historical NotesCrack opener used on plaster walls to open up cracks in order to apply spackle and smooth. Part of a collection of wallpapering equipment of Moshe Leib Bialastotzki (01/08/1897-03/13/1969) who immigrated to the United States in 1912 from Posvol, Lithuania and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He changed his named to Morris Belkin. He was one of six children—four boys and two girls—of Chaim Yitzchak Bialastotzki and Chaye Rochel Bialastotzki. His father was known as the Posvolier Maggid, which suggests that he held a place of honor within the Jewish community for his scholarship. Aside from Morris, only one other sibling immigrated to the United States, a brother Ben (also B. I.) Bialastotzki, who became a well-known Yiddish poet and writer in New York City. The two brothers appear to have become estranged, for unknown reasons, although donor Ann Harris thinks perhaps it could be that they were both intellectual, but Ben did well financially, and Morris remained a laborer throughout his life. All the other siblings were killed in the Holocaust. The parents appear to have died before World War II. Morris Belkin worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad Corporation, first in the baggage room and later in the car repair yard. He moonlighted as a wallpaper hanger into the 1960s, the family does not know where he learned the craft. He also apparently moved to Washington D.C. briefly to work for the Works Progress Administration. He married his wife Rebecca Belkin in Wheeling, West Virginia. The reason they went to Wheeling is unclear. She was from Kiev and lived in Pittsburgh. They lived in several sections of the city, including the Hill District, Mount Washington, and Homewood before settling in East Liberty. He was not particularly religious but would attended services when requested to form a minyan. He is buried in the Cneseth Israel cemetery in Reserve Township, Pennsylvania.

Related institution Pennsylvania Railroad

Previous owner Morris Belkin (1897 - 1969)

Related institution Works Progress Administration

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