Today, all that remains of centuries’ worth of perishable transactions are the cobblestone streets of Society Hill — and the staggering collection of memorabilia in the possession of Erich Weiss, the grandson of produce man and owner of Old Original Bookbinder’s, Morris “John” Taxin.
Before Route 95 was built and the wholesale food industry moved to South Philly, hucksters ran Dock Street, selling produce, fish and meat, and supplying the city with its daily bread.
Today, all that remains of centuries’ worth of perishable transactions are the cobblestone streets of Society Hill — and the staggering collection of memorabilia in the possession of Erich Weiss, the grandson of produce man and owner of Old Original Bookbinder’s, Morris “John” Taxin.
To showcase his collection — and introduce the vanished era to Philadelphians, Weiss opened an exhibit, “Hucksters: The Tumult of Dock Street,” at the Independence Seaport Museum, that displays the hustle and bustle of old Society Hill.
The show, which runs until February, examines the life of the street’s origins as a produce market, from its earliest days to the mid-19th century. It gets its name from the eponymous peddlers who plied their wares along the waterfront. (The word itself comes from the Dutch term hoeken — “to peddle.”) The exhibit displays photos, memorabilia and stories from a time when anything and everything comestible was bought and sold along what was then the edge of the Delaware River.
Artifacts in the exhibit include old liquor bottles, paintings by Taxin and numerous pictures of hucksters selling food. One of his favorite parts of the exhibit are his grandfather’s cuff links and brass knuckles, which exemplified his toughness.
“It was incredibly enjoyable to dive into his world,” he said. “It really was a fascinating world.”
Weiss, co-owner of Philly’s WeHolden Creative Agency and maker of such documentary films as Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry and John Legend: Live at the High Line, reopened Bookbinder’s in January under the name the Olde Bar, which gave him the spark to create the exhibit.
The restaurant was the place to be for much of the 20th century. Celebrities ranging from Frank Sinatra to Wilt Chamberlain came there for seafood and towering desserts — and to be taken care of by Weiss’ grandfather.
“He was the host of the nation,” Weiss said. “He was a really big figure in Philadelphia.”
A decade ago, as his family was cleaning out the restaurant after it was sold to a developer Weiss found numerous old artifacts, paintings and memorabilia pertaining to the huckster culture and put them in storage.
While Taxin ran the restaurant business for more than four decades, he loved “the shakings and dealings of the street and men being men,” Weiss said.
“He was a self-made man,” Weiss recalled. “He was kind of a larger-than-life character. His real passion was being a huckster.”
Although his name was Morris, the Irish Catholic hucksters nicknamed him John after St. John because he would sell them produce on credit. Weiss jokingly said he may have kept the name John so people wouldn’t know he was Jewish. However, many of the buyers and sellers who were contemporaries of his grandfather were Jewish, including Morris “the Banana Man” Levin.
There were no malls or department stores, just hucksters selling from early morning till late afternoon. Taxin began hucking at 17 and years later, he was sending soup to renowned Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky.
“He was always proud of being Jewish,” Weiss said. “He knew the power of a good reputation.”
Now, Society Hill is mostly condos and homes and very few people remember the “old Philadelphia,” he said. Weiss’s mother, Sandy Taxin, and grandmother, Jean Abrams, are proud that he created an exhibit in honor of his grandfather.
“To me, it’s a bit of closure and I got the story that I’ve wanted to come out for so long,” he said. “It’s a great Philadelphia story. To have this stuff collecting dust in a storage locker is a great sin.”
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