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Readers share sweet memories of Sherwin’s Bakery and Catering
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By Arlene Fine
Senior Staff Reporter
Our cover story “Sherwin still cooking” (CJN, Nov. 21) about the original Sherwin’s Bakery and Catering ignited waves of nostalgia in our readers.
We received heartwarming responses from a reader request asking for memories of Sherwin’s Bakery and of the Sherwin family. The following vignettes would go nicely with remembered tastes of one of Sherwin’s famous raisin-studded Russian tea biscuits, a slice of their legendary halavah torte, or a couple of chocolate-drenched coconut squares.
Spoke Yiddish to customers
Betty Gold’s first job when she arrived in Cleveland from war-torn Europe was working behind the counter at Sherwin’s Bakery. “I took the job because all I could speak was Yiddish, and I thought I would learn English from my customers,” recalls the Beachwood resident. “Boy, was I wrong.”
The then 15-year-old Gold soon learned the very reason she was hired at 35 cents an hour was her fluency in Yiddish, the predominant language of the heavily Jewish E. 105th neighborhood.
Although she never did improve her English at the bakery, Gold reaped many other benefits. “Joe Sherwin, who was very soft-spoken and gentle, made sure that I had a package of leftover pastries to take home to my family each evening,” she says. “And if I was hungry, I could always have a hot bagel or piece of Danish fresh from the oven. I will never forget how wonderful everything tasted.”
Memories of her days at Sherwin’s Bakery remain vivid for Gold, now a docent at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage. “There is a display featuring stores on 105th, including Sherwin’s Bakery,” she says. “When I share my memories with the groups, I speak about the Sherwin brothers as though they are standing right in front of me.”
When Gold learned that Ben’s son Sandy is hoping to open a bakery using the Sherwin family recipes, she quips, “Maybe I’ll go work for him. After all, I’ve been a counter girl before.”
Sherwin’s fire plan
At 7:30 on the morning of her son Rusty’s bar mitzvah in 1974, Sandy Sachs, now of Mayfield Heights, received a call from Lou Sherwin, telling her there had been a fire at Sherwin’s Catering facility during the night.
Sachs asked a cousin to stand in front of Sherwin’s immediately after Rusty’s bar mitzvah at The Temple-Tifereth Israel and direct everyone to Executive Club instead. “Everything went off without a hitch,” marvels Sachs. “The only guest who was inconvenienced was my cousin whose suit smelled badly of smoke after standing in front of the sooty building on Mayfield Road.”
A memorable bar mitzvah gift
When Holocaust survivor Roman Frayman and his Yiddish-speaking parents came to Cleveland from Germany on Sept. 22, 1949, they were penniless. Frayman’s father, a baker by trade, applied for a job at Sherwin’s Bakery and was hired. Frayman’s mother was also given a job there to help out wherever she was needed.
The Sherwins provided the Fraymans with an income and their first taste of American friendship. But their kindness went beyond that. In March 1951, Frayman, who had made very few friends since his arrival, became a bar mitzvah at a neighborhood Orthodox shul.
“After the service, we went back to our apartment on Durant Ave., where my mother served a small celebratory lunch,” recalls Frayman. “Two elderly cousins attended, and then to my delight, Ben, Lou, Joe and Sol Sherwin came to join us.”
Along with lively conversation, Lou brought Frayman a very special bar mitzvah gift. “He gave me a 1948 Cleveland Indians jacket,” says Frayman. (That was the year the Indians won the World Series.) “I was overwhelmed by his kindness. That treasured jacket was my prized possession for many years.”
Although he no longer has the jacket, Beachwood resident Frayman’s connection to the Sherwin family continues. He works out at the JCC with Ari Sherwin, whose grandfather Ben came to his bar mitzvah lunch.
“I’m glad some bonds are never broken,” says Frayman.
Baker worth his salt
For 37 years, Roselle Laskin served as dietary director of the now defunct Mt. Sinai Hospital, located just blocks from Sherwin’s Bakery. As part of her job, she created menus for patients on restricted diets. “I went to Lou Sherwin and told him I needed a tasty salt-free bread, and he devised a great recipe,” recalls Laskin. “We used his salt-free bread successfully for many years. He also made a wheat-free bread for people who could not tolerate gluten.”
Beachwood’s Laskin, whose parents were good friends with Abe Sherwin, the founder of the original Sherwin’s bakery on 105th and Earle, credits the introduction of the bakery’s raisin pumpernickel bread to her family. “My grandfather tasted raisin pumpernickel bread when he visited a bakery in New York’s Lower East Side and asked Abe to make it. Sherwin’s Bakery duplicated that recipe, and it was an instant bestseller.”
Liked the counter girls
From 1950 to 1960, Holocaust survivor Herb Hochhauser – now Dr. Herbert Hochhauser of Kent – worked part-time at Perkol’s Creamery and Grocery, located across the street from Sherwin’s Bakery. “When I arrived in America, I was told to work in a restaurant because then I would never go hungry,” Hochhauser jokes. During those years, he would often visit Joe Sherwin. “I was a young man, and Joe had a lot of pretty girls working behind the counter.”
The outgoing, Yiddish-speaking Hochhauser became friends with many neighborhood merchants up and down E. 105th St. These included folks at Beck’s fish store, Mantel & Goetz Furniture, Barney’s Restaurant, Standard Baking, New York Appetizer, Lubitz Dry Goods, Berg’s Department Store, Paller’s Bakery, Solomon’s Delicatessen and Beckermen’s Bakery. “Every merchant was like Joe; they understood Yiddish and were willing to spend time with a young guy like me,” he says. “This was a hard-working group of men and women. Some merchants even stayed open until 2 a.m. so people could shop or eat a corned beef sandwich.”
Noteworthy memories
Max Markman, 90, vividly recalls Sherwin’s Bakery’s opening day at 105th and Carnegie. “My father, brother and I used to sing in all the synagogue choirs, and we were known for our strong voices,” says Markman of South Euclid. “When the new bakery opened, the Sherwins wanted publicity. They rigged up a public address system, and we sang Old World Chassidic and Yiddish songs for two hours in front of the store. We attracted quite a crowd because in those days everyone enjoyed that kind of freilach (happy) music.”
Markman also recalls the excitement in the old Glenville neighborhood on Thursday nights when the women would shop for Shabbat. “All the bakeries like Sherwin’s, Chenchinsky’s and the original Unger’s would be filled with people and such wonderful smells,” he says. “I never again have tasted hot loaves of rye bread like we had then. The bakers all wore large aprons, and their big beards and yarmulkes were always covered with flour. When mothers brought their children to the bakeries, ladies behind the counter put a cookie in each child’s little hand.”
An unexpected kindness
“My sister Alice Rovitz Bley Myerson was married to Dr. Norman Bley in 1963 at Sherwin’s Party Center. Unfortunately, I could not attend the wedding because I came down with the measles the night before, and I was covered with spots from head to toe,” reports Evelyn Rovitz Heppner, now living in Columbia, Md.
It was a catered affair and everyone had a special time. A week later, Ben Sherwin sent over a delicious deli tray as a gesture of friendship or appreciation at no charge. So it gave the family an excuse to get together again.
A super event
“My mother Roslyn Spanner, sister of Jerry Siegal of Superman fame, planned my wedding to Jason Goodman for 350 people, held June 13, 1954, at The Park Lane Villa. Mr. Loeb, head of their (the Villa’s) catering department, promised my mother he would take care of everything and she had nothing to worry about. But Mr. Loeb died a few days before my wedding, and no one knew what to do. My mother called Sherwin’s Catering, and the Sherwins took care of everything on such short notice,” remembers Marlene Goodman in Sarasota, Fla.
“Just like Superman, they saved the day!”
Golden memories
“My father is Allan Sherwin, the son of Ben Sherwin. As a little girl, my three siblings and I would frequently visit Sherwin’s Bakery on Mayfield Road,” says Ilana Sherwin-Wolfson of Beachwood. “My fondest memories were the delicious pizzelles and the super-sized puffed pizza bagels.
“My great-uncle Joe Sherwin would always greet us with a smile. He offered us yummy cookies and chocolate gelt at each visit. He would always let us play with the party cake figurines that decorated Sherwin’s beautiful bar/bat mitzvah and wedding cakes. My Aunt Sarah was happy to see us, and she always greeted and thanked the customers with a big smile when she rang them up at the cash register.
“I cherish those memories of visiting my father and grandfather at Sherwin’s Bakery. The long hours that they put into the family business have created fond memories for thousands of customers.”
He takes the cake … and the figurines
When assorted items from Sherwin’s Bakery on Mayfield Road went up for auction 27 years ago, one of the first people in line was Moshe Rosenberg, owner of Unger’s Bakery on Taylor Road. “I got a call from Joe Sherwin to come to the sale and buy all the albums containing pictures of Sherwin’s famous specialty cakes and customized cake decorations,” recalls the Beachwood resident. “I had been good friends with Lou for years; in fact at one point he asked me to buy the business. That is why Joe wanted me to have some of Lou’s treasured belongings.”
Rosenberg had all the wedding figurines and other cake decorating ornaments koshered, and they now reside in his Taylor Road store. “I have wonderful memories of my friend Lou Sherwin. He was tough as nails, but he was a great guy. He inspired me to bake big, elaborate wedding cakes like his.”
We received heartwarming responses from a reader request asking for memories of Sherwin’s Bakery and of the Sherwin family. The following vignettes would go nicely with remembered tastes of one of Sherwin’s famous raisin-studded Russian tea biscuits, a slice of their legendary halavah torte, or a couple of chocolate-drenched coconut squares.
Spoke Yiddish to customers
Betty Gold’s first job when she arrived in Cleveland from war-torn Europe was working behind the counter at Sherwin’s Bakery. “I took the job because all I could speak was Yiddish, and I thought I would learn English from my customers,” recalls the Beachwood resident. “Boy, was I wrong.”
The then 15-year-old Gold soon learned the very reason she was hired at 35 cents an hour was her fluency in Yiddish, the predominant language of the heavily Jewish E. 105th neighborhood.
Although she never did improve her English at the bakery, Gold reaped many other benefits. “Joe Sherwin, who was very soft-spoken and gentle, made sure that I had a package of leftover pastries to take home to my family each evening,” she says. “And if I was hungry, I could always have a hot bagel or piece of Danish fresh from the oven. I will never forget how wonderful everything tasted.”
Memories of her days at Sherwin’s Bakery remain vivid for Gold, now a docent at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage. “There is a display featuring stores on 105th, including Sherwin’s Bakery,” she says. “When I share my memories with the groups, I speak about the Sherwin brothers as though they are standing right in front of me.”
When Gold learned that Ben’s son Sandy is hoping to open a bakery using the Sherwin family recipes, she quips, “Maybe I’ll go work for him. After all, I’ve been a counter girl before.”
Sherwin’s fire plan
At 7:30 on the morning of her son Rusty’s bar mitzvah in 1974, Sandy Sachs, now of Mayfield Heights, received a call from Lou Sherwin, telling her there had been a fire at Sherwin’s Catering facility during the night.
“Every merchant was like Joe; they understood Yiddish and were willing to spend time with a young guy like me.”
Dr. Herbert Hochhauser
“I calmly asked Lou what we were going to do, and he promised to get back to me within the hour,” says Sachs. “Lou called back and told me he had made arrangements with Harlan Diamond to bring all the food he had prepared for the luncheon to the Executive Club on Chagrin Blvd.”Dr. Herbert Hochhauser
Sachs asked a cousin to stand in front of Sherwin’s immediately after Rusty’s bar mitzvah at The Temple-Tifereth Israel and direct everyone to Executive Club instead. “Everything went off without a hitch,” marvels Sachs. “The only guest who was inconvenienced was my cousin whose suit smelled badly of smoke after standing in front of the sooty building on Mayfield Road.”
A memorable bar mitzvah gift
When Holocaust survivor Roman Frayman and his Yiddish-speaking parents came to Cleveland from Germany on Sept. 22, 1949, they were penniless. Frayman’s father, a baker by trade, applied for a job at Sherwin’s Bakery and was hired. Frayman’s mother was also given a job there to help out wherever she was needed.
The Sherwins provided the Fraymans with an income and their first taste of American friendship. But their kindness went beyond that. In March 1951, Frayman, who had made very few friends since his arrival, became a bar mitzvah at a neighborhood Orthodox shul.
“After the service, we went back to our apartment on Durant Ave., where my mother served a small celebratory lunch,” recalls Frayman. “Two elderly cousins attended, and then to my delight, Ben, Lou, Joe and Sol Sherwin came to join us.”
Along with lively conversation, Lou brought Frayman a very special bar mitzvah gift. “He gave me a 1948 Cleveland Indians jacket,” says Frayman. (That was the year the Indians won the World Series.) “I was overwhelmed by his kindness. That treasured jacket was my prized possession for many years.”
Although he no longer has the jacket, Beachwood resident Frayman’s connection to the Sherwin family continues. He works out at the JCC with Ari Sherwin, whose grandfather Ben came to his bar mitzvah lunch.
“I’m glad some bonds are never broken,” says Frayman.
Baker worth his salt
For 37 years, Roselle Laskin served as dietary director of the now defunct Mt. Sinai Hospital, located just blocks from Sherwin’s Bakery. As part of her job, she created menus for patients on restricted diets. “I went to Lou Sherwin and told him I needed a tasty salt-free bread, and he devised a great recipe,” recalls Laskin. “We used his salt-free bread successfully for many years. He also made a wheat-free bread for people who could not tolerate gluten.”
Beachwood’s Laskin, whose parents were good friends with Abe Sherwin, the founder of the original Sherwin’s bakery on 105th and Earle, credits the introduction of the bakery’s raisin pumpernickel bread to her family. “My grandfather tasted raisin pumpernickel bread when he visited a bakery in New York’s Lower East Side and asked Abe to make it. Sherwin’s Bakery duplicated that recipe, and it was an instant bestseller.”
Liked the counter girls
From 1950 to 1960, Holocaust survivor Herb Hochhauser – now Dr. Herbert Hochhauser of Kent – worked part-time at Perkol’s Creamery and Grocery, located across the street from Sherwin’s Bakery. “When I arrived in America, I was told to work in a restaurant because then I would never go hungry,” Hochhauser jokes. During those years, he would often visit Joe Sherwin. “I was a young man, and Joe had a lot of pretty girls working behind the counter.”
The outgoing, Yiddish-speaking Hochhauser became friends with many neighborhood merchants up and down E. 105th St. These included folks at Beck’s fish store, Mantel & Goetz Furniture, Barney’s Restaurant, Standard Baking, New York Appetizer, Lubitz Dry Goods, Berg’s Department Store, Paller’s Bakery, Solomon’s Delicatessen and Beckermen’s Bakery. “Every merchant was like Joe; they understood Yiddish and were willing to spend time with a young guy like me,” he says. “This was a hard-working group of men and women. Some merchants even stayed open until 2 a.m. so people could shop or eat a corned beef sandwich.”
Noteworthy memories
Max Markman, 90, vividly recalls Sherwin’s Bakery’s opening day at 105th and Carnegie. “My father, brother and I used to sing in all the synagogue choirs, and we were known for our strong voices,” says Markman of South Euclid. “When the new bakery opened, the Sherwins wanted publicity. They rigged up a public address system, and we sang Old World Chassidic and Yiddish songs for two hours in front of the store. We attracted quite a crowd because in those days everyone enjoyed that kind of freilach (happy) music.”
Markman also recalls the excitement in the old Glenville neighborhood on Thursday nights when the women would shop for Shabbat. “All the bakeries like Sherwin’s, Chenchinsky’s and the original Unger’s would be filled with people and such wonderful smells,” he says. “I never again have tasted hot loaves of rye bread like we had then. The bakers all wore large aprons, and their big beards and yarmulkes were always covered with flour. When mothers brought their children to the bakeries, ladies behind the counter put a cookie in each child’s little hand.”
An unexpected kindness
“My sister Alice Rovitz Bley Myerson was married to Dr. Norman Bley in 1963 at Sherwin’s Party Center. Unfortunately, I could not attend the wedding because I came down with the measles the night before, and I was covered with spots from head to toe,” reports Evelyn Rovitz Heppner, now living in Columbia, Md.
It was a catered affair and everyone had a special time. A week later, Ben Sherwin sent over a delicious deli tray as a gesture of friendship or appreciation at no charge. So it gave the family an excuse to get together again.
A super event
“My mother Roslyn Spanner, sister of Jerry Siegal of Superman fame, planned my wedding to Jason Goodman for 350 people, held June 13, 1954, at The Park Lane Villa. Mr. Loeb, head of their (the Villa’s) catering department, promised my mother he would take care of everything and she had nothing to worry about. But Mr. Loeb died a few days before my wedding, and no one knew what to do. My mother called Sherwin’s Catering, and the Sherwins took care of everything on such short notice,” remembers Marlene Goodman in Sarasota, Fla.
“Just like Superman, they saved the day!”
Golden memories
“My father is Allan Sherwin, the son of Ben Sherwin. As a little girl, my three siblings and I would frequently visit Sherwin’s Bakery on Mayfield Road,” says Ilana Sherwin-Wolfson of Beachwood. “My fondest memories were the delicious pizzelles and the super-sized puffed pizza bagels.
“My great-uncle Joe Sherwin would always greet us with a smile. He offered us yummy cookies and chocolate gelt at each visit. He would always let us play with the party cake figurines that decorated Sherwin’s beautiful bar/bat mitzvah and wedding cakes. My Aunt Sarah was happy to see us, and she always greeted and thanked the customers with a big smile when she rang them up at the cash register.
“I cherish those memories of visiting my father and grandfather at Sherwin’s Bakery. The long hours that they put into the family business have created fond memories for thousands of customers.”
He takes the cake … and the figurines
When assorted items from Sherwin’s Bakery on Mayfield Road went up for auction 27 years ago, one of the first people in line was Moshe Rosenberg, owner of Unger’s Bakery on Taylor Road. “I got a call from Joe Sherwin to come to the sale and buy all the albums containing pictures of Sherwin’s famous specialty cakes and customized cake decorations,” recalls the Beachwood resident. “I had been good friends with Lou for years; in fact at one point he asked me to buy the business. That is why Joe wanted me to have some of Lou’s treasured belongings.”
Rosenberg had all the wedding figurines and other cake decorating ornaments koshered, and they now reside in his Taylor Road store. “I have wonderful memories of my friend Lou Sherwin. He was tough as nails, but he was a great guy. He inspired me to bake big, elaborate wedding cakes like his.”
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Louson wrote on Jan 26, 2009 12:03 PM:
Thank you for honoring them and keeping their memories alive.
Ken SHerwin. "