Carolina Luggage and Loan Company

Merchant
1936-1961

115 West Main Street
Spartanburg, SC 29306

FAMILIES: Tanenbaum

Isaac “Harry” Tanenbaum (1896-1984) was born in Augusta, Georgia to Russian immigrants Aaron (1873-1967) and Minnie Tanenbaum (1877-1910). His father worked as a peddler in Augusta before he eventually opened a deli there. Around 1917, Harry married Russian immigrant Pearl Levy (1899-1988). By 1920, he secured employment as a jewelry merchant at Augusta pawn shop Hill Jewelry Company, where he worked for until around 1932. At that point, Harry, Pearl, and their children, Joel (1918-2000), Ralph (1921-2008), and Thelma (1927-1993), moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where Harry secured employment as a watchmaker for Rudolph Skalowski (1878-1950). By 1936, Harry opened his own business, Carolina Luggage and Loan Company, a pawn shop and jewelry store located at 115 West Main Street. The business remained open until around 1961, when Harry presumably retired. According to his granddaughter, Lee Tanenbaum, after he retired Harry maintained his luggage repair business on the second floor above his son’s clothing store Tanny’s.

The Jewish Merchant Project is supported by the generosity of the Henry & Sylvia Yaschik Foundation and the Stanley B. Farbstein Endowment at the Coastal Community Foundation.

JHSSC Office
Sylvia Vlosky Yaschik Jewish Studies Center
96 Wentworth Street
Charleston, SC 29424
Phone: 843 953 3918