Wallet
Object number2021.72.7
OriginPittsburgh, PA
MediumFaux leather; Plastic
Credit LineGift of Elyse Rosenfield
DescriptionBrown rectangular faux leather wallet. The back of the wallet has two brown grip strips. Inside the wallet are two pockets, one on the proper right and the other on the proper left. The pocket on the interior proper left side has an advertisement in gold lettering. In the center of the interior wallet are nine clear plastic accordion picture sleeves. DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 3 x 4.313 x 0.375 in. (7.6 x 11 x 1 cm)InscriptionsThe pocket on the interior proper left side has an advertisement in gold lettering that reads, " "CRYSTALAIRE" / BAR - LOUNGE / 5801 Ellsworth Ave. / Pittsburgh 32, Pa."
Historical NotesThis wallet belonged to a member of Rosenfield family. Solomon Rosenfield immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1920 and became a naturalized citizen on June 23, 1926. He married Bessie Gorman on May 3, 1923. Bessie Gorman immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1922 and became a naturalized citizen in the 1930s. Together, Bessie and Solomon Rosenfield had five children, Ruth (b.1924), David, Sam (b. 1928), Sarah (b. 1933), and Goldie (b.1935) while Solomon had three children from a previous marriage. Their names were Henry (b. 1909), Abraham (b. 1911), and Melvin (b. 1915). Bessie and Solomon Rosenfield belonged to Cneseth Israel Congregation located in the Hill District. David Rosenfield graduated from the Miller School and Fifth Avenue High School in 1944 before graduating from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy in 1953. Rosenfield served as an Army medic in Germany during World War II and his unit liberated the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He was one of five brothers to serve. David grew up in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh before moving to Mt. Lebanon in the 1960s. He started working for Taxey Drug Co. in the Hill District as a teenager and returned to the company after the war. He bought the store in 1967, but the business was destroyed in 1968, during the civil unrest following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Soon after, Rosenfield moved to Mt. Lebanon with his wife Elaine and their children. He acquired the Bells Drug Store in Carnegie, Pa. and ran the business for 26 years before selling it to a chain in 1995. Active in the pharmacy industry, David Rosenfield was the president of the Allegheny County Pharmacists Association, president of the local chapter of Alpha Zeta Omega pharmaceutical fraternity and the national organization of AZO, and was a member of the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Association. He was a consultant for Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania pharmacy and taught at Duquesne University. David Rosenfield married Elaine Bovitch in 1954 and they had three children, Mindy, Stuart and Elyse. The Rosenfields belonged to the Parkway Jewish Center in Eastmont, Pa. Elaine Bovitch (1934-2021) was the daughter of Minnie Port (1913-1952) and Sam Bovitch (1909-1966). She graduated from Peabody High School in 1953 and was a real estate agent with Florene Real Estate Agency. Elaine Rosenfield owned and operated The Advertising Works for 25 years. Sharing her husband’s interests in professional affairs, Elaine served as the National AZO Women’s Auxiliary president for the 1965 to 1966 term.
Related person
David P Rosenfield
Related person
Elaine Rosenfield
Related institution
Crystalaire
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