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2533 Third Avenue
2533 Third Avenue
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1941

2533 Third Avenue
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IMAGE DATE1941
FromNew York Public Library logoNew York Public Library

Grants Pickle Works, April 30, 1941.

In the first half of the 20th century the Jennings Market was a a two-block shopping area for the mostly East European, Jewish, and Italian immigrant communities (many of whom had previously lived on the LES). The market's most famous tenant was 'Jake the Pickle Man' who peddled his pickles from five barrels on the sidewalk at Jennings and Charlotte Streets. The lines for his pickles could be a block long, and he was remember as very eccentric. Jake retired from the pickle business in 1961 and was sadly killed during a robbery in 1963.

United Pickle, a fourth-generation family pickle factory in the Tremont section of the Bronx, was founded in 1897 and is still in operation. This company owns the trademark brand Guss' Pickles, which was the best-known Lower East Side pickle guy in the early 20th century.

Though little can be specifically discovered about 'Grant's Pickle Works' seen here at Third Avenue and 137th Street, they were likely in good company among the pickle-loving community of the south Bronx.

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