Reliable Loan Office

Florence Hirshman Levy (1907-2013) was the eighth of nine children born to Isidor (c.1872-1944) and Ida Lomansky Hirshman (1872-1950). In 1926, Florence moved from New York to Columbia and married Moe Levy (1899-1974). Over the course of the next eight years, Florence and Moe welcomed three daughters: Iris, Gloria, and Arlene. Moe operated a shop called Moe Levy’s Army Store which Florence became involved in after their marriage. In 1942, Florence and Moe opened a new store called Reliable Loan Office, a pawn shop located at 1326 Assembly Street that Florence co-owned and managed. By 1953, Florence moved Reliable Loan into the newly constructed storefront at 1304 Assembly Street, next to Moe Levy’s. After Moe’s death in 1974, Florence and her son-in-law Harold B. Rittenberg (1930-2021) managed Moe Levy’s and Reliable Loan Office. Florence worked behind the counter at Reliable Loan until she passed away in 2013 at the age of 106. In 2014, Harold sold the building that housed Moe Levy’s and Reliable Loan but continued to manage Reliable Loan for another year. When Harold closed the business in 2015, he ended nearly one hundred years of Levy business on Assembly Street.