ruby the knishman

8/14/2019 Ruby the Knishman

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Ruby The Knishman

Dedication To Ruby The Knishman (1/3/17 - 10/9/87)

dbits of the Ruby familyography of Ruby

uby Before the Knishes

uby Dedication In Filmusical Dedication to Ruby, by Love And Knishesuby, around 1974, Paerdegat 4th. ST. (courtesy of Robert Kranes)

END RUBY STORIES to: [email protected]

*****NEW: TO CONTACT RUBY'S SON JERRY, EMAIL:[email protected]

Photograph is courtesy of ALLEN HURWITZ([email protected])

Ruby was a knishman who I rem

in Bayview Projects, Canarsie, inearly-mid sixties.Everyoneremembered his most famous quospoken with a BOOMING voice

"GET YOUR HOT POTATO

KNISHES, I WANT TO SEN

MY WIFE TO FLORIDA!

My other recollections of Ruby akid not yet 10 years old are:

- Ruby was always in the best ofspirits (I do not recall EVER seeisuch a serious face as in the pictu

- We often did not have the 12 cefor the knish. Ruby would still le


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08/21/2007 04:uby The Knishman

Page 2ttp://www.angelfire.com/co/cascole/ruby.html

hang out by his wagon. He would givus free salt as a substitute. He let marun a tab with him. He never turnedanyone away. I never forgot thisattitude of his, and is the reason Ispend time dedicating a web page tohim.

- The tin cup of salt (in the picture) looked about 100 years old. It also looked like a bullet had dented it atsome point.

- The knish wagon was also legendary. It looked older than the tin cup of salt.

- The knishes were unbelievable in taste. Never been another like it, and I've had everything from Shatzkins Mrs. Stahl's, to Whitey's of Brighton Beach. There are reports that the superb taste was due to the ashes thatfell on them when Ruby smoked his cigarettes,creating a unique seasoning.

- Years later, my dad and I ran into Ruby somewhere in Brooklyn. My dad flat-out asked him, " Ruby, did

you EVER send your wife to Florida?"Ruby laughed, and said, still in that booming voice:"Yeah, but

she made me go with her"....

Other People's Ruby Stories

- I AM LOOKING FOR MORE RUBY STORIES OR ANY OTHER INFORMATION YOU HAVE. ITWILL BE INCLUDED HERE. PLEASE EMAIL:[email protected]

- "I'm ashamed to say that my parents RAN A TAB with Ruby; they had an account with the guy ".Hey, had Iknown one could run a tab, I wouldn't have had to settle for the free salt when I didn't have 12 cents.

- People have since informed me that Ruby's business was not limited to Bayview Projects, Canarsie. I havebeen told that Ruby sold his knishes around Winthrop JHS, and Tilden High School also. This destroyed myimage of a man dedicated to my beloved Bayview Projects, but, heck, business is business.

- "Many years later, I met up with Ruby in Woodburne, New York. Knowing Ruby, I knew he would be up tohis old tricks. He owned and operated a knish store in town and passed himself off as Orthodox. Anything tomake a buck. There is no doubt about it, Ruby is a legend and he touched everyone's life back in Bayview".

- Several people have told me that one of Ruby's selling pitches was the following: "GET YOUR HOTKNISHES FOR TEN CENTS, that's T--I--N, TEN!"

-There is an unconfirmed story that Ruby used to send his FATHER out selling knishes. I forget the story,something like Ruby wheeling his dad out the back of a truck, with his own knish wagon...

- It was related to me that if you asked Ruby how many knishes he had left, he would say "ELEVENTEEN".

-A conversation with Ruby:"Hey Ruby What kind of Knishes do you have?""I have Kasha or Potato.""I'll take potato."


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"Sorry, all I have is Kasha!"

- "In 1962 he once saved Stuart Lippman's life outside of PS 272.....Freddie Googe....a local tough guy fromschool wanted to kick Lippman's butt.....Ruby intervened and offered Freddie a free knish if he would leaveLippman alone...it worked....the legend and lore of Ruby lives on..."

- "Ruby sold knishes at JHS 68, I know I bought some. He later expanded, in the summer he sold ices. He algraduated to a real truck about in 1969 or so. He had his wife hawking these knishes over the truckloudspeaker."

- "Ruby used to arm wrestle Richie from Julenes for a free knish if he won. Richie would always put Rubydown and get a free potato knish. The best hot potato or kasha knish in America."

- "We lived in Canarsie from '61 through '77. In the later years, Ruby sold his wares out of a disgustinglyfilthy light blue van. The piece of wood that he used (probably for 20 years) for spreading mustard on theknishes still may be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life. He'd usually be near the school(P.S.276) right after lunch. Then, around suppertime, he'd drive around the streets, and announce his arrivalover a bullhorn. He'd always say something like, 'RUBY, THE KNISH MAN IS HERE. WE HAVE HOTKNISHES AND ICE COLD DRINKS'. (Or as we liked to say, ice cold knishes and hot drinks.) And he'd keerepeating it as he drove to the middle of the block, parked the van, and waited for his customers. Sometimeshe'd say something before 'RUBY, THE KNISH MAN IS HERE', which leads me to my all-time favoriteRuby quote, which is this: 'THE MAIN DINING ROOM IS NOW OPEN'. The guy was a Canarsie legend."

- " I too have been blessed with Ruby's famous knishes. I remember my fathers eyes lighting up when weheard Ruby's voice over the bull horn. They had thin oil drenched pastry outside with the brown blendedpotatoes inside. The bags that he put them in would be saturated with enough oil to cook a meal within 10seconds. Sometimes we would have to catch up to him on the next block. No problem, because it would allowme a chance to gobble down an extra one before I brought the rest home. Do you remember how great theysmelled? Oh baby unbelievable ! Anyway, rumor is that he mixed the potatoes in his bath tub. I hope he didnuse his feet to mash them. Oh, who cares anyway they tasted great. "

- "Ruby will forever be King but a nod to his lovely wife, Sarah, and helper-daughter Dara must be given. Iwas such a loyal customer that in the fourth grade, it was determined that I had severe stomache aches fromthe amount of knishes (with mustard and cooked orange onions) I ate, and I was forbidden by our familydoctor from eating anymore. I'd have taken four bleeding ulcers rather than give up my knishes from Ruby."

- "I remember that Ruby also sold knishes on Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn in the summer. He would carry aheavy metal container slung across his chest and one shoulder by a leather strap. His cry would be "Get yourhot potato knishes and cold drinks (Sunny Boy Orange) . I recall his dangling cigarette, no shirt and beat upConverse without socks as he walked along with his heavy load. The best; wish I could have one now!"

- "At PS276 in Canarsie, we used to help Ruby sell his knishes for 25 cents!! Does everyone remember howdirty Ruby's hands were, and his wife Sarah!! How about the time that Ruby got beat up in a fight with theone eyed pretzel guy!! POOR RUBY, lost some teeth in that fight and never got them back..........to this day think I probably ate one of those teeth in one of my knishes!!"

- "Ah yes, everyone remembers Ruby the Knish man, but no one has mentioned his mouth... When I first goto Canarsie from East New York in 1955 272 was still being constructed. Then in second grade we startedclasses there and out of the dust and dirt of "the lots" appeared the mystical Ruby. He not only sold those gre


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knishes, but when it was just us guys we would egg him on and he'd swear like a pirate. He'd tell us nasty,shocking things that made us feel like we were being given a sneak peek into the world of the adults. It wasusually sexual or scatological, but it always made us laugh. I think I heard some of my first "dirty words" froRuby. In 1963 as a brand new teenager I was working in a bungalow colony near Liberty, New York in theCatskills, and one Saturday I hear Ruby's voice booming over the loudspeaker system from a colony up theroad, "Ruby's here with Mom's Knishes". It seemed he was omni-present in our lives. When I first found theCanarsie Web Page the greatest icon of Canarsie seemed to be Ruby, but no one mentioned that mouth of his

Here's to ya Ruby, ya dirty old bastard!!! HA!"

- "I remember Ruby selling Knishes by Tilden High School in the early seventies.He would pat his wife's rearand say "Some can... and some cannot" just about every day.His knishes were great but were super hot, thepotatoes were almost liquefied."

- "I grew up on East 103rd St and Ave K...Ruby used to deliver his father every day during the school year atthat corner by P.S.279. More reliable than the mail, no matter the weather, Ruby would drop off his old man!At the time I was about 9 or 10 years old some jerk attacked him. He even smashed his bottle of ketchup!"

- "Hurry up theres only a few more............hundred left"

- "I went to Winthrop and Tilden and do have fond memories of Ruby selling those great tasting knishes out that pushcart/wagon of his. Did love the kasha, also loved the potato, oh boy what sweet memories.My favorite Ruby story is when I came home to Canarsie on leave from the Army, I was in uniform and weninto a candy store/lunch place on ave L and about E.82nd street, a place called Joys? Anyhow here was Rubydrinking coffee, talking, just plain hanging out with da-guys...and then he came up to me wanted to shake mhand. It was because I was a Army guy and he seemed to like that, or could be he just liked uniforms. Whensaw him it clicked who he was, the guy that I bought all those knishes from, the guy I gave up White Castlefor.At that very moment I remembered his hands because they had made a big time impression on me when I waa kid, and also at that moment I questioned my wisdom in buying those knishes from those hands. Then at thsame time, my mind was really humming, the thought of those knishes entered my mind, the taste, the smell,his hands..how great they were, salt, no mustard.. all for a dime..I had a quite a time talking to Ruby, one of more interesting men I've ever met."

- "I lived right across the street from PS 276 so I have seen the metamorposis of Ruby. From cart to van andindelible etching that one thought into all of our heads. Where the heck do those knishes come from? Iprobably waited about three years until I asked him. Ruby was in front of Bildersee with his wife and the van'You want to know where they come from....I buy potatoes once a week, peel them and put them in thebathtub. Then my wife takes off her shoes and mashes them so that we can fry them in the kitchen.....and thathow we make the knishes.' I looked down at his wife's feet as she wiggled her dirty feet through a pair of flipflops. That was the last time I ate Ruby's knishes....... until the next week."

-EARLY RUBY:"Before Canarsie, Ruby could be found at the upper end of Rockaway Parkway, on RutlandRoad, in front of Henry's Toy Store, every school day at 12. I used to buy potato knishes, taken from hisbattered metal hotbox, there when I went to PS189, in '48-55. He was still there in early '56 when I sometimecut out from Winthrop JHS. I moved about then, so I have no idea how long he continued to sell there. Rubywere definitely the best knishes I've ever had; the standard (VERY rarely attained) to which I hold all others,even after almost forty years away. "

- " WOW!!!! ruby got his own page I grew up in queens but every summer ruby would find his way upstate t


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our bungalow colony Reitzens.....his knishes were by far the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gosh I'd do anything for one. "

- " I lived in the Bayview Projects from 1957 to 1965. I can remember eating those flat pieces of cardboard,Ruby sold as knishes. Do you remember him saying "I have to buy my wife a bungalow"? I too received ahandful of salt when I didn't have a dime. "

- " Ruby used to sell knishes in upstate ny during the summers. He had an old Dodge? in which the oven wain the trunk. He drove to all the bungalow colonies (i went to reitzens) and would sell his potato and kashakinishes. My cousins and I always talk about what we would do today for one of those knishes and a missioncream soda. "

- " About eight years ago, a former boss of mine was reminscing about his schoolyard days in Canarsie in theearly 1960s. He mentioned how another kid tried to steal his lunch money and would have succeeded if not fthe intervention of Ruby the knishman. My boss was surprised when I told him I knew Ruby. 'He said hedefended me because he didn't want to see my lunch money spent elsewhere'.Ruby's daughter Dara was the maid of honor at our wedding eighteen years ago owing to the fact that she's mwife's best friend. As such, I had many occasions to meet Ruby, his wife, and his family... but never at hisplace of business since I was a Mill Basin boy, but rather at his home. There I found beneath his rough-hewnexterior a warm heart. He was a very loving man who cared greatly for his family. "

- " Growing up in Canarsie in the sixties, Ruby was everywhere. Some days I managed to do a doubleheadermeal of his knishes. Ruby would alway be outside of JHS 211 at the end of the school day and we alwayswould make our first purchase then. After his 211 stop he would mosey over to PS 279 which was a fewblocks down on Ave K. After this he would walk up East 103 St back to the Bayview housing project. I livedon 103St between N and Seaview and I would wait downstairs at about 4:30 and nail him for one more pre-dinner knish. Those were the greatest knishes ever!! "

- " I moved from canarsie in '85, but returned to visit a few times a year. On one visit I found out that Rubyhad retired from traveling to different locations and opened up a take-out knish store on 7th ave in bklyn. itwas called Mothers Knishes. When I walked in and saw Ruby behind the counter it was a 60's flashback. Thfirst thing i said to Ruby was "hey Ruby, how's your wife?" His immediate and predictable response wasnaturally "which one?" He never missed a beat!...Thanks for listening to me ramble on about one of the fewpeople that will put a smile on many people's faces when spoken about. "

- See an excellent story about Ruby in the Catskillsat:http://www.brown.edu/Research/Catskills_Institute/bungalow8.html

-"Here is another Ruby story. I went to Elementary school PS 165 in Brownsville Brooklyn from 1957 to1963. I believe the old man we called Pop was Ruby's father, was the Knishman that hung out by my school.On the corner of Hopkinson Ave and Lott St. was a small store where Ruby and his Dad Pop kept their oldbeat up Knish wagons. On the store window it said Mom's Knishes. Moms Knishes was also on the two

wagons. When I moved to Canarsie in 1963 I had the pleasure of getting those wonderful Knishes again fromhis son Ruby. Years later in the Mid 60's the old man Pop was seen in Canarsie wandering around sellingKnishes in the Seaview section, but never by any of the schools. Ruby had the monopoly on them. I now livein Southern California and I can't even get the square Knishes (Gabila) over here. All I have left is the fondmemory of Ruby's Knishes, but don't we all."

-" I lived in Canarsie from 1960-1988 and Ruby was definitely a legend. I do remember an old man sellingRuby's knishes by Canarsie High School. This was Ruby's father. I also remember seeing Ruby in the Catskil


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us that he used the stuff - to put it euphonisticly - to get his wife in the mood. He was handy with the knife (claimed that he had worked in a slaughter house) and often helped out the kitchen staff while he barked outprofanities and jokes. Suddenly, Ruby stopped showing up. Not long after that we were all saddened by therumor that our friend had died. Since no one had seen him for some time, we came to accept this as fact asreferences to the man came to be made in the past tense...Oh this knife ain't cuttin' nothin', If only Ruby werearound. Now there was a guy who could sharpen a knife. Or...Now that Rudy's gone, whadda ya want me to with all this f...ing champagne punch? One afternoon I had some down time and was just staring outside whe

I saw Ruby coming up the stairs from the back lot to the kitchen. I ran inside and announced what I had seenonly to be told that this was impossible because Ruby, as everyone knew, had salted his last knish quite sometime ago. Then what could explain this hulking, ragged vision that now stood at the entrance to our kitchen?Everyone stopped working. The dish washer dropped a dish. The chef's ladel disappeared in the beef barleysoup. A large onion rolled down the length of the now frozen kitchen, past the gray skinned visitor and out thdoor. I could be wrong, but, I kind of remember even the radio suddenly going mute as seven or eight of usgazed silently at the ghost of Ruby.After a few seconds the owner, Jack entered the kitchen from the banqueroom in his mohair tuxedo. Immediately sensing something unnatural he approached the subject of all ourattention, looked him up and down, and (being the type who feared neither the dead nor the living) said, "HeRuby, I thought you was dead." Ruby, now as confused as the rest of us, tugged his head back and blurted, "Nah, I ain't dead...I was in Florida..." Then the knish man looked around for a second, looked back at Jack, an

finished his sentence, "...ya bastard." "

-" What great memories! The first time I had one of these jewels was when my father took me to a Tildenfootball game in the early 60's. I was more excited about the knish than the game. And to my astonishment thsame call of "Get your hot knishes, only a few hundred left", would follow me to Woodbourne, N.Y. andLansman's bungalow colony where my family spent its summer vacations. The potato's would ooze thru thesides and burn the top of your mouth but it was well worth it. Many years later, in the early 90's, I too took mown family to the country and I discovered this wonderful knish palace in Hurleyville called Izzy's knish -nosh. Izzy told me that the recipe for Ruby's knishes were passed on to him. I don't know how true the story but I tell you, they tasted just as good. Aside for the fact that they now cost $1.50. Didn't matter, was worthtwice that! "

-" i used to see him every lunchtime at winthrop jhs. Once a kid said 'Ruby I'll buy a knish if you tell me ajoke'. Ruby bellowed back 'whose joke are you? Your mother's or your father's?' Another kid asked him for abig knish, he said they are all the same shit, all the same size all, the same shit size. Great memories. Rubyeven signed my JHS graduation book. He signed at the very last spot in the very back of the book: LETEVERYONE WHO LIKES YOU MORE SIGN AFTER ME,RUBY. The thing legends are made of, I stillremember and have signed many kids books the same way. "

" We lived in Bayview from 1956 - 1981. I remember Ruby and his cart passing our window when he wouldholler out "Hot Knishes". At that point, my mother would call down '2 kasha and 1 potato' and throw down aquarter wrapped in a napkin (the price was 10 cents each or 3 for a quarter) and Ruby would throw up the

knishes in a paper bag to our 2nd floor window. He even sprinkled some salt on them and told my mother thahe's only doing this for us. This was harder in the summer with the large screens on the windows and Iremember more than once opening a screen and have it get loose and fall to the grass below. If that happenedRuby would not throw up the knishes, but give me the bag when I came downstairs to retrieve the screen. Weall loved those knishes. After we moved from Bayview, I remember buying knishes at a store he had with hiswife (the sign read "Mom's Knishes") on 16th Avenue and 43rd Street in Boro Park and in the summer inWoodboune also a small store. "

-" Like every other 40 something from Canarsie Ruby has been indeliably etched in my memories. "Ruby the


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Knish Man is here" is still resounding in my ears. Anyway here is my anecdote- A friend of mine on E85 anM was trying desperately to change a flat tire-Unfortunately the nuts on the tire bolts seemed to have beenwelded on, none of us, even working together could get them to budge. Well that blue Ruby van was passingby and Ruby got out of the van to help us. Geez he made it look easy. He simply twisted the tire iron and offcame the bolts-I think he could have been a pro wrestler The man had hands of steel - and apparently a hearof gold. "

-" Every day after school, Ruby would be outside P.S. 272 in Canarsie, selling knishes. He would yell out,"Get your knishes here, only 10 cents, t-i-n!" I don't know how many kids at the school grew up thinking thethe number ten is spelled t-i-n (maybe they should check the standardized tests), but I can still hear this manin my head. Once, we ran into him at a rest stop on the N.Y. State Thruway. I can't tell you how excited wewere to meet such a familiar face in this faraway place. Somehow I never pictured that he had a life outside hawking knishes outside the elementary school. Come to think of it, I don't remember any other vendorsoutside of school, such as ice cream trucks, only a knishman. How Jewish!I don't remember Ruby coming around to our building in Bayview (#2). Maybe he made a special trip forHerbie's family, because they didn't have the opportunity to buy knishes outside school like the rest of us.I do remember the vendors that came every evening, with very loud music in those pre-air conditioning daysThere was Mr. Softee, whose song I still remember, and a truck that sold Chinese food, which played music

that must have been their conception of what Chinese music sounds like. I never tasted the food.I haven't thought about Bayview in a long time. It's over 34 years since we moved out of there. Thanks for thmemory. "

-" I knew Ruby at Winthrop JHS which I attended 9/59-6/62. I feel very guilty to say that I once broke Rubywindshield wiper-I guess stirred up by my fellow 12 year olds into a frenzy. Ruby, bless his heart, chalked itup to the cost of doing business. Ruby: a true saint "

-" I was very disappointed when I found out a few years ago that Ruby didn't just belong to the Meyer LevinJ.H.S. - Tilden H.S. area but after reading your update I came to realize that Ruby got around all overBrooklyn and he did indeed belong to everyone.

I enjoyed reading everyone else's stories and reminiscing about Ruby and those absolutely delicious, greasyknishes. The thing I remember the most about Ruby is the teachers chasing us away from the fence thatsurrounded the outdoor play area at Meyer Levin. We were supposed to be getting our recess time in but allwe wanted was to buy a knish and have Ruby pass it through the chain link fence, a feat that proved to bequite difficult. Somehow it seemed like we won the battle if we were able to sneak a knish through the fencewithout one of the teachers catching us. Then the challenge of being able to eat it without a million of yourdearest, closest friends asking for a bite. Now that I think of it, how clean could that fence have been since it'flecking particles of rust had to have made it onto the knish? No matter, it still was the best knish around. "

-" My memories of Ruby the knishman, wasn't of the man himself but his brown van that used to visit mybungalow colony in the catskills. I can't recall if he came everyday or one day a week. But I can still hear t

loud speaker, "Mom's kosher knishes, potatoe - kasha knishes". My friends and I would run and get a hotround knish with lots of mustard and salt. It is a great memory. "

-" Love your page and remember Ruby well. Tilden Grad 1970.Why has no one mentioned Jules , Ruby's olman helper who also pushed the cart? I can remember him as far back as 1956 on my dirt road - East 55between Glenwood and H. He also sold at Tilden when Ruby wasn't around. No doubt, he was an employee the Knish for many years. "

-"EARLY RUBY:When I saw the stories about Ruby's knishes, I realized that he was the guy that we use to


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call "The Knishman". I used to buy knishes on Rutland Road, about 20 feet west of Rockaway Parkway in thearly 1950's during lunch break from PS189. The knishes were a rich deep brown colored and oval in shape.They were the best and I have spent my whole life looking for their equal to no avail. I remember that Ialways used to pay $.06 for a knish. One day the Knishman said they were now $.07 and when I asked himwhy, he said that was inflation. To this day, when I hear about the Fed and interest rates and inflation, I thinkof the rising price of knishes. "

-" I remember Ruby back in the early 60's. My Mom was a school crossing guard@ 272 and I used to hangout with Ruby when the weather was nice and wait for my Mom to finish crossing everyone and we'd go homtogether. While I waited, he used to let me go through his pennies (I had a collection in those days) and swafor any I didn't have. I remember the famous calls " TEN! T - I - N!! ", "I want to send my wife to Florid& of course "I have potato & kasha" and more times than not you would ask for potato & he'd only havekasha. I also remember how much he use to hate Fridays because every Friday a stationwagon would pull upright by his cart and toss hundreds of 5" by 12" colored placards in the air advertising the shows at theCanarsie theater Saturday morning. All the kids would run around trying to grab as many different coloredcards as they could because the next morning, the theater would have one color posted in the ticket windowand if you had that color, you got in for free. What a lot of people may not know is besides the schools that hsold his knishes at Mon-Fri, he also sold knishes at Fortunoffs in East New York on the weekends. "

-" I remember him on the coldest days of the winter with his apron tied around the outside of his coat. Theknish wagon mounted in the trunk of his old black car. His hands were truly weather beaten. He was out inall kinds of weather. He used to stop at my fathers luncheonette on Rockaway Parkway and Ave N accrossfrom the Bamboo Lounge...He was a nice man. "

-" I knew ruby when he sold knishes for 5 cents at winthrop j.h. and on Belmont Ave. Ruby used to come ansee me in the summers at my parent's hotel upstate. I remember in 1969 when my brother Eddie was killed ina car crash. Ruby gave me a bag of knishes to take home. Ruby was a great man and I'm happy peopleremember him. God bless him wherever he is - joel karp. "

-" It was great seeing the photo of Ruby. I can remember him selling his knishes in the snow during lunchperiod at Winthrop JHS around 1961. He was a great guy,if you were a little short,he would let you slide tillnext time. If i'm not mistaken he was always saying 'Help send my kid's to college'. "

-" Ruby Oshinsky was a friend of mine, as was his whole family. He stayed at our bungalow colony for manyears - Charlow's Hotel Irvington. Each summer we would eagerly await the arrival of Ruby and family, thefamous Knishwagon, and of course, those incomparable little delectables. Ruby was one of the sweetest, mohonest and giving, hardest working guys I have ever known. His corny humor was beloved by all - almost asmuch as his knishes. I don't know about Florida, but he certainly found the way to send his wife to the"Mountains" by selling "Mom's Knishes" all over the Catskills each summer. So the word and the legendspread. Fact is, as long as you are saying how unique and delicious the knishes were or how honest and carin

Ruby was, you are telling the truth, which is much smaller than the real larger than life man. God bless youand keep you, Ruby. But instead of manna from heaven, please ask him to rain down some knishes.....potato,please! "

-" HI, JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW RUBY CAME TO MY BUNGALOW COLONY , JULENEIN FERNDALE N.Y. EVERY SUMMER. HE WOULD GET ON THE COLONY P.A. SYSTEM ANDANNOUNCE' GET YOUR DIETETIC KNISHES FROM THE KNISH MAN. I'D PAY A HUNDRED TOGET ONE NOW KNISHLESS IN L.A. "


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-" One day we were playing basketball in the park by the Bayview Houses. This was probably in the late1960s. As Ruby was passing through the park, a player taking a jump shot had it blocked. "Too flat," Rubysaid. "You've got to shoot with a high arc," he instructed as he demonstrated, taking his hands off the knishwagon. After that he was known to a select few as COACH KNISH. "

-" Tilden 70 graduate. About a year after marrying maureen, her dad flew up from Florida to visit with us.During dinner a familiar sound came down our street. Booming from a bull horn came that wonderful sound "Ruby the Knisheman is here. Get them while they're hot." My father-in-law said to us, "That isn't the realRuby, is it?" I told him that it was Ruby but he now rides in a van with his knishes. He went outside and all a sudden Ruby yells out, "Hey Jerry. What are you doing here?" Apparently Ruby used to sit outside theoriginal Fortunoffs, by Livonia Avenue, and my father-in-law knew him well. Another Brooklyn reunion tooplace that day. It was great. "

-" Ruby sold knishes off his truck at our bungalow colony (Julene's) in the Catskills. They were the best- anyes, I remember that salt shaker too! "

-" HEY... i CANT BELEIVE I RAN INTO THIS SITE.... AS A LARK, I WAS SEARCHING THE WEBFOR MOM'S KNISHES.... YOU SEE THE STORY STARTED WITH THIS LITTLE BENT OVER MANNAMED MOM, WHO ROLLED HIS WAGON THRU GLENWWOD HOUSES... YELLING FRESHKNISHES.... I REMEMBER THE OLD TIN CUP AND THE WONDERFUL PANCAKE TYPE KNISHWITH THAT BURNT ONION FLAVOR,,, ANYWAY MOM DISSAPPEARED AND I FOUND RUBY ATILDEN HIGH... HEAVEN AGAIN IN ONE LIFE-TIME... THE RUMOR WAS THAT RUBY WASMOM'S SON WHO TOOK OVER THE BIZ.... WELL RUBY DISSAPEARED BUT I FOUND HIMYEARS LATER SELLING THE KNOSHES FROM A HOLE IN THE WALL IN BENSONHURSTCALLED MOMS.. WELL HEAVEN TWICE IN A LIFETIME... BUT THE STORY AGAINDISAPPEARED... HELP... IS THERE ANY LEADS TO SOME ONE WHO STILL SELLS THEPRODUCT... PLEASE LET ME KNOW AT [email protected] "

-" I remember Ruby from Winthrop JHS (60'-63'). The only "slogan" I remember him saying when hawkinghis knishes was, 'Knishes, homogenized, pastuerized and circumcised'. "

-" hi my name was abbe treatman. i lived in canarsie all of my childhood. i am 46 years old now. i lived in thbayview projects untill i was 10, then moved to 103 st. between seaview and ave n. then i went to jhs211. thecanarsie high. all those years, i couldnt wait to get my daily knish with the thick salt. mmm. i rememberwalking home from canarsie high school, and buying a knish right before dinner. i was never hungry for mymoms supper. al roker, the newsman on t.v., mentioned ruby the knishman, outside of bayview. i wrote to hiand he wrote me back saying he also lived in bayview for a while and loved the knishes. those are mymemories of ruby and his delicious knishes. "

-" Long before customer satisfaction and delighting the customer became the ubiquitous terms that werenow all too familiar with, Ruby was on the forefront of doing whatever it took to meet and even exceed hiscustomer's needs.Long before demographics and the like, Ruby had an innate ability to recognize all of hiscustomers and appear at their moment of need (for a daily Rubys Knish). Ill never forget (back around 1960how Ruby was banned from my grade schoolbut undeterred by this, Ruby drove by my school (PS 189 inBrooklyn) in his now famous station wagon which he had turned into a mobile knishery.First we made eyecontact and then Ruby stepped out of his station wagon with a knish and managed to pass it through a hole inthe chain link fence, while I slid my 12 cent payment to him. Ruby, undaunted by the school authorities,managed to make a small boy happy on what would have been just another cold and gray day in Brooklyn.His relentless quest to meet and exceed the demands of his customers has forever placed him in my long-term


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memory as a true rebel, as well as a hero to the people of the streets, school yards, and yes, the bungalowcolonies of the Catskills. "

-" I was born in 1956 in the Bayview Projects. I remember Ruby on those cold winter days.The smell of hisknishs were like heaven. Three days a week going to Hebrew school at the Seaview Jewish Center, classeswouldn't start until everyone got their hot knishes and 'holy talks' with Ruby-Doobie (as we called himaffectionately). It was no sweat if we didn't have the 15 cents, he would gladly extened us credit until thenext day. Shooting forward from the mid-60's to the early 70's one of my final rememberances of Ruby-Doobie was in the back of the Seaview Park were I was on my mini-bike and 2 Puerto Ricans jumped out ofthe weeds and blocked my path and were ready to slice my throught and steal my bike. Out of the cool autumbreeze a gunshot sounded .....wouldn't you know it Ruby-Doobie saved my bike and maybe my life with his38 special he kept hidden in his cart !!!! This is the G-d's honest truth and I've been telling this story to mykids for the last 20yrs. God Bless Ruby....Wherever he may be...not only the best Knishes I ever ate but oneof the best friends you could ever have. "

-" My parents owned Nan Acres in South Fallsburg until 1978-Ruby came around regularly and since we wethe owners, we got FREE knishes. That old blue van was rotted, and by today's health standards the kitchenwas dirty, but he and his wife came around and sold those creamy, smooth FATTENING knishes as quick as

they could make them. It's a universal language-JUST SAY RUBY'S AND EVERYONE SMILES "

-" Glad to see so many from Julenes and the catskills remember Ruby too. He was a part of our summers.Isn't it amazing how Ruby and his family have had such a deep and positive effect on so many. With KnisheOne can make a difference to so many. G-d bless you Ruby. "Ruby The Knish Man Is Now On ThePremises". "

-" How many of us didn't have the T-I-N cents for a knish but we would put out our hands and get a freehandful of kosher salt from the shaker. We would all walk away licking the palms of our hands. "

-" It was in the Catskills...Schwartz's Clinton house...when I first hear over the PA "the knish man is here, thknish man is here, hot potato & kasha knishes"...the best part of the day at the bungalow colony for me...."Ihave to send my wife to Florida, buy a knish"...I will never forget him...after the summer I would search forhim in Brooklyn (heard he was there) but never found him. I was a little kid (8 yrs old or so, my range was nthat far.)...couldn't wait for summers & knishes... 2 years ago I wandered into yonah schimmel knishes in thelower east side...felt like I was home again - with a good knish - 40 years later...so I wound up doing theirwebsite...would have loved to do one for ruby..."the knish man is here, the knish man is here..." I just went uto hurleyville last weekend, to search for the bungalow colony we stayed in. I found it in complete ruin. butsnake rock and the pond was still their, so I "hunted" for frogs and salamanders, just like old times...I saw thold speaker on a telephone pole and heard in the distance "the knish man is here, the knish man is here..." -Dane (40 years later) "

-"I also remember Ruby selling Knish's outside of PS 276 Schoolyard at lunchtime. I remember the tin cupwith salt, I don't think anyone will ever know what was in those Knish's, but boy were they everunforgettable. Just like Canarsie- He was a real legend. "

-" My name is Steve. I first encountered Ruby when I was seven or eight years old (I,m now 53) outside of P191 on Park Place in Bklyn.. I havent seen any mention of PS 191, why? Every day he was there bellowing get your hot knishes. T I N, 10 cents. My wife wants to go to Florida. Get your knishes 10 cents T I N ". Anevery day I looked forward to one of those delicious knishes. I remember him from that early an age with greaffection. both for the knishes and for him. I just sensed that he was very special. My family moved to East


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Flatbush where I attended Winthrop and once again I was privilaged to partake of Ruby's knishes which werstill exactly the same in appearance and flavor. I remember how lucky I felt to be treated to Ruby again.. "

-" Well, after I got out of Winthrop my next stop was Tilden and that's right, Ruby again. I could'nt believemy luck. I thought it had something to do with me but now after reading all these stories I realize that Rubyhad probably spread his blessing to hundreds if not thousands of other fortunate souls. And the knishes werestill GREAT. During my high school and college years my family would rent a bungalow in Woodridge atMax's Bungalow Colony. Every so often old Max would get on the loud speaker from a place they called "thconcession" and announce in the accent many of you I'm sure can relate to " the knish man is here". There hewas...Ruby with the knish cart on the back of the truck.One memory that I recalled from my very early days PS 191 wasa of a song Ruby used to sing to us all the time. "Take it off take it off Mrs. Murphy, it onlyweighs a quarter of a pound.. It's got hair like a turkey, and it wiggles when you rub it up and down".. I don'tremember if there were any more lyrics but if there were I would love to hear (read) them. This site isunfnreal.Till later.......... "

-" Hi my name is Donny, I was born on Pacific St. in Brownsville.Every Sunday after attending Church at OuLady Of Loreto, I would RUN to the corner of Pacific St. And Eastern Pkwy to buy Ruby's Knishes. Theywere only 20 cents at the time. That was in 1966. I remember Ruby as being very nice to all of us kids. I

would buy 5 at a time and before I got home I think I ate 2 of them. They were the BEST Knishes ever. OneSunday morning I ran to buy some Knishes and Ruby wasn't there. I must have sat there for hours. I never saRuby again and the corner of Pacific St. and Eastern Pkwy was never the same.Everybody was wonderingwhat happened to The Knishes Man. It was a very sad day on a cold Sunday morning in 1966. But thememory lives on. "

-" Yes that man did get around. He shlepped a box of hot knishes on the sand at ManhattanBeach...................He flogged them from the cart outside Tilden ............................ He sold them from a truckaround the Catskills, coming to Schneider's Bungalow Colony outside Monticello............ THE MAN WASAN ICON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

-" My name is Lenny Fox, lived in Canarsie from 1960-1980. With all your Ruby reminiscing, I'm amazed none mentioned the true secret flavoring ingredient to the delicious knishes. Ruby would routinely use the samknife he cut the knish in half with (if you wanted salt or mustard applied) to clean the dirt from inder hisfingernails. And he never cleaned that knife! "

-" Back five or so years ago, I wrote a reminiscence of my childhood in Brooklyn and posted it on a"Brooklyn" website. One of the memories I shared was eating fabulous "Mom's" knishes. This was from a tinpushcart in front of P.S. 183 on Riverdale between Herzl and Strauss in Brownsville from '53 - '56. Iremember the retailer being an older man, so it must have been Pops, Rudy's father. Little did I know that thoperation was to become a minor legend and bring so much joy to so many people in Brooklyn, on thebeaches and in the mountains as well. Fantastic! My personal memory is the incredible warmth (and probably

a little heartburn as well) those great pancake knishes brought to a shivering eleven year old crossing guard oa blustery winter day. - Michael Warren "

-" I remember Ruby and his great knishes. I'm also a chef and spent years trying to reproduce Ruby's Knishesand I finally did. It's a variation of a Russian Peirogie, that's very popular in Russian Communities and soldfor years and years in Russia in train stations, to workers, students. It's made with yeast risen dough and Rubmust have had it rising all over his house (I just imagine Ruby made them at home to save money {to take hwife to Fla,}, rather than him having a separate kitchen to make them. Since he sold so many and not only inCanarsie, though I dont know how, (he was always in Canarsie!), he must have had buckets of dough rising,


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imagine him using garbage containers, (unused!) to rise all that dough in. I remember Rudy talked dirty, hewould tell the kids, the boys that he bought his wife a negligie and he'd talk about her boobies, and how she'dslap him off of him. Just weird stuff I didnt quite get yet at that point. When I didn't have money he often gavme and sometimes a friend a free knish, usaully broken ones, but who cared, I remember the salt tin andeveryone putting there palm out to get some then we'd all stand around licking the salt and feeling soincredably lucky. I lived in Canarsie from 1956-1972., and Ruby the Knishman's knishes were one of thethings I missed most. I started working as a chef and spent years experimenting, finally I worked briefly in a

kosher pizzaria and they sold "MOMs" Kinishes, they looked like Ruby's, oh my god!!!, they WERE Ruby'sHow great it was after 9 years to have one again. Then I restarted my experiments. The day I got it was a greday. I had to make a big batch to get the dough recipe right. I made two dozen if not more, I ate several. Ifroze some and it worked great so I was able to make and freeze a supply. When I was pregnant it was what craved, besides Brooklyn Blackout cake (aced that one too!)I ate 5 kinishes once when pregnant within anhour and 1/2 and I was so ill. They;'re as close to Ruby's as you can get....without Ruby. The kind of potatoeyou use is very important too. God Bless Ruby and the legend he left behind, feeding all the kids, and peopleof Brooklyn with his wonderful knishes and his warm and one of a kind personality and humor, he fed youbody and soul. I seriously wish someone would make a movie about this man, his life. How incredible thatcould be. I smell Oscar , with onions!-Deborah Olin "

- " I grew up in the Bayview projects and went to PS 272. Then in 1969 my parents played an evil trick on thfamily and moved us to Stony Brook, L.I. A whole new country for us.Ruby is forever part of the fabric of my upbringing.A quick story about one of the best butt kickings I ever got from my fatherMy father grew up in East New York/Brownsville and apparently knew Ruby from there. He saw me afterschool one day by Rubys cart and recognized Ruby from the old days. He introduced me to Ruby as his sonand as proud and boastful as my father could be, said to Ruby this is my son. Whatever he wants, just giveto him and Ill settle up with you at the end of the week or when I see you. Ruby knew my father and thougit would be ok. One week Ruby saw my father, flagged him down and told him that he owed him like Tendollars. Ten dollars in those days, especially for a family from the projects was a lot of money. So my fatherasked me how it was possible for me to run up a tab like that. So I told him that I had treated my whole class

to knishesoften.I can still feel my fathers foot kicking me all the way back to the apartment.They were the best knishes on the planet.Thanks for bringing back all the memories.Rickey Richman "

- " Hi my name is Eloise, I grew up in Bayview projects from 1954 till 1976, Ruby was at every school at theend of the day always, the best part of eating one of his knishes was when he sliced them horizontally and pumustard in the middle. I still eat my knish that way. Ruby is now a legend in our time. "

- "I can't believe that I stumbled across your site. I haven't had a knish from Ruby since 1965, when I was

9. But, I was just talking about him last week! I was telling my kids about the types of vendors who'd cometo our camp. The donut truck with hot jelly donuts. The ride truck and The Knishman. I remember when hepull off to the roadside at Lansman's bungalow colony, make his "wife wants to go to Florida" announcemenand serve what I still remember as the best potato & kasha knishes. It's amazing the effect that this site has hon so many people judging from the responses. Thanks. Best...Ben Kae "

- " As a kid, we had the option of either getting money for the ice cream truck, or Knishes. We alternatingaccording to the mood, but some days, we managed to swindle both with a big PLEASE to mom!I always remembered that Truck, more than any other. He had that megaphone, and drove through the


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neighborhood (I lived in Georgetown in Brooklyn), and sometimes he even had his dirty wife, and once in awhile, his dirty son with him.The truck was light blue, all dented, and filthy. Today, we never would have gone near something that lookelike that.When he came down the block, you would hear..."KNISH TIME...PARTY TIME"We have hot potato knishes, kasha, frankfurters, cold soda here...And all of the kids would go flying. His Knishes were better than Shatzkin's.

My friends also got to see him in the Bungalow Colonies upstate. It is amazing how this one guy, gotaround...Kind of like "Slim Sterling" who made the circuit in camps, and bungalows, with his corny squaredancing.RUBY WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED! "

- " I remember Ruby and those Knishes from the summers I spent upstate NY. My parents had a place outsiof Woodburne and every time we drove into town we made sure to stop into Mom's Knish shop to getknishes. At the end of the summer we would buy as many as my mother could fit inside a coller to take homand freze. They never lasted too long though....that was many years ago. When the store was closed (andmissing, tore down) it was like a big part of my childhood went with it. I sure do miss those knishes though.

- " Hi,I lived in Cansrsie from 1962 through the mid 1980's. Ruby did sell knishes on the corner of East 82nd Streeand Avenue K. This was the corner in between Bildersee JHS and PS 276. As a matter of fact, Ruby lived inour half of Canarsie.We went to school with his daughter Dara. "

- " The last time I saw Ruby was very late 60's or early 70's . I saw him in a candy store that was at the cornof Nostrand Ave and Kings Highway (now a CVS), he was talking out loud that we should send knishes to"RED CHINA". "

- " I remember Ruby driving around in the Catskills going to all the bungalow colonies. I lived at Sadownickon Old Liberty Road. There would be an announcement that said "Ruby the Knish man is in the Driveway!".My dad loved the kasha knishes. I would always eat the potatoe. When I got the bag back to the house it wasstained with grease, but what did I care when I was 12 years old! I STILL remember the taste and have NOTfound a better tasting knish. I will NEVER, ever forget those days. I truly cherish the memories. "

- " Sometime around 1962 when I attended P.S. 183 in Brownsville I remember vividly having those deliciouknishes from "Pops" for lunch. My parents would not allow me to eat lunch at the school cafeteria so theywould give me money to go up the block where there was a "luncheonette" or to the delicatessen next to theAmbassador Theatre on Saratoga and Livonia Ave. Pops was always on my way to either of these places righup the block, but never in front of the school. Most likely no street vendors were allowed. They were the besknishes I ever had in my life. If I remember correctly the knishes he sold had more of an oval shape to them.

Those knishes were always nice and hot and I use to just cover it with salt. I always had more than one. Onmany occasions I would just "hang-out" with him during lunch and we would talk about many things. I beliethe knishes were either 10 cents or 15 cents...for some reason a dime sounds right. I am assuming this was thfather of Ruby because the name "Pop" just rings a bell. I don't recall Ruby. Pop was much older, probably la40's to early 50's...hard to say, since I was only around 9 years old. "

- " Ruby's was by far the best ever!!! I remember Ruby from B&K Bungalow Colony and also Schwartz's,O'Conner's, and Kappys on Lt. Brenda Highway.. "


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- " This isn't so much a story as it is a sensation. There are times when I'm walking around minding my ownbusiness and occasionally, flash back to the smell of Ruby's knishes. It is nostalgia gone haywire. It is not thelonging of the Tilden football game; it is a yearning for Ruby's damn knishes. The unique sweet aroma (withsalt of course) of a soft Ruby's knish that I have never been able to locate anywhere else. "

- " My little paradise was Pesekow's Bungalow Colony in Loch Sheldrake, during those very special years (aleast for me) 1954-1960. Ruby started coming around during one of the latter years in a dark green Willys-type vehicle. He would drive right down into the colony calling out "Hey! Knishes!" People would comerunning. He did a good business. But the Pesekows were interested in getting in on the action, and theyinsisted he pay them a fee to continue to sell on their property. Ruby wouldn't hear of it. Consequently, theyordered him off the property. But Ruby wasn't a man to be easily defeated. The next time he came around, hparked on the side of the road (Route 52), right in front of Pesekow's, but on public property, and yelled out,louder than ever, "HEY! KNISHES!!!" He could easily be heard all over the colony, out on the lake, probableven under water. From that point on, he sold his knishes from the road. No problem. "

- " I recall Ruby's father at P.S.156, on Sutter Ave., between Grafton and Legion. I went there from ' 55-' 61remember the old man and 5 cent knishes.Greasy and salty, from the tin salt can. Then, I remember Ruby atJHS 252, Arthur S. Somers, on Lenox Rd. and E. 94th St. His son Jerry also went to Somers if I recall, and

Ruby and his wife were always there, selling knishes outside the schoolyard, on E. 94th St. He also had a littdaughter too. Remarkable that he could've been at all these different locations. As if it were yesterday, I canpicture those weathered hands, of the father, and of Ruby.To the little six year old at 156, this was the ultimate treat, at a wonderful time in my life.A few blocks from 156, on Strauss St., in 1959, the great Brownsville movie, "The Last Angry Man" wasbeing filmed, with Paul Muni and David Wayne. Ruby probably sold them knishes also. "

- " First of all, great reading about Ruby. My Ruby the knishman sold on Alabama Ave. corner of Blake Avein the 1940's and 50's. My memory is that he used to wipe his nose on his sleeve. He looked very old then.The same knishes were sold at a bagel store in Canarsie on Flatlands Ave. around the E. 80's. (note: probablywas Ruby's father) "

- " Thank you for the memory resurgence! Loved the Knishman's knishes at Woodcrest Villa...and ManhattaBeach....Flat, roundish, soft skin, creamy inside, and grains of salt from a banged up tin can was the finishintouch...15 cents went along way. Thanks for the memories.... "

- " I remember Ruby from Winthrop JHS,Wingate H.S., and Dor-Mick bungalow colony in Kiamesha Lake,NY(near the bowling alley). Winthrop, 1963-1966 then Wingate H.S. till '69. I too would love love love theopportunity to taste just one more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

- " I stayed with my folks at Pancrest Lodge in the Catskills and sure enough, there was Ruby the Knishmanpeddling his goodies. What a nostalgic memory. What I wouldn't do for one of those knishes today. I currentlive in Las Vegas, Nevada where most people don't know what a knish is. "

- " As a kid at PS 203 which was on Ave N between E 51st and 52nd Streets in Brooklyn, back in the late 50and early 60's, it was such a joy to see Ruby by the school. He was a scary looking guy who was nice. Myfellow students and I would actually be stupid enough to holler at him that he was selling "hot snots." Yes thwas what we had the nerve to call his most delicious knishes. His mantra at Manhattan Beach was a robust,"hot knishes cold drinks." This expression has been painted on my brain from hearing it repeated so muchfrom even way back then. When I was little my mom would drag me along to Fortunoffs on Livonia Avenueon Sundays and I remember one time when I left the store with her, Ruby was outside with his cart selling. I


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was that same feeling kids get when they see their teachers outside of school. There was one place that soldknishes that were really identical to Ruby's and tasted pretty much the same and that was a knish store-factoron the corner past Nathan's in Coney Island. That store also sold a Knish Kosher Hotdog and if you lovedRuby's knishes, the Knishdog would be heavenly.The reason we called them "hot snots" was when Ruby was selling by the school it was usually in very coldweather and his nose would drip from the cold so we assumed that when he got one for someone, there mighhave been some contact. Also, it is quite a coincidence that Ruby's two places that he lived followed the

movements of Irving's Kosher Knishes. Irving was a small quite and a very gentle man. Irving's first store won Rutland Road just a few blocks from Ruby's home on Kings Highway and my Bubby and Zaida's home oRutland and E 51st Street and my dad's Supermarket on Sutter Ave and when the neighborhood changedIrving relocated his store to Flatlands, a few blocks from Ruby's next home. Irving's Knishes rivaled Ruby'seven though they were a completely different style. And When Irving moved his store, almost across the strefrom where they would later build Southshore High School on Flatlands Ave, he started making the bestKosher Pizza anywhere! The Pizza, made him a major survivor. When I went to eat there in the summerswhen I was off from college and working as a lifeguard on Rockaway Beach, Irving would proudly tell meabout his son who was working on his Ph.D. in Nuclear Science. "

- " hi,,my name is jeff and for yrs ruby visited my bungalow colony Woodland in woodbourne,hello folks thi

is ruby the knishman,i have hot potato and kasha knishes,lets go folks my wife wants to go to Israel, this wasin the summer of the 70s,i can still see him with the salt shaker, the knishes in town,[email protected] "

- " It's been three years since I found your site dedicated to Ruby the Knishman - I have been searchingforever to try and find a knish that comes close to the taste that is etched in my brain from my childhood of thbest knish I have ever had, I don't think my search will ever be fulfilled. My first experience of Ruby's knishwas at my first Bungalow colony in the Catskills called Tara Acres, The Chow Chow cup also came by but iwas always Ruby's knishes that made me run to his green broken down totting van whenever he came by. Myparents sent me to a day camp called Crescent Lake and of course Ruby was there at lunchtime selling hisknishes. After a few years we moved to a new bungalow colony called Kudman's and of course Ruby follow

us there as well.How I wish that Ruby would find me now and I again could taste those great knishes one more time... ChuckK "

- " I did a Google search for "pushcart knish recipe" and was amazed to find a picture of the very person whoknish recipe I wanted. I lived on Remsen Ave., down the block and across the street from Winthrop JHS, from1945-1958. I went to school there and of course I bought knishes from Ruby's pushcart. As I recall, the pricewent from 7 to 12 cents during my years there. I have often thought about those lovely, heavy, greasy potatoknishes, and, of course, have not found any like them. "

- " "When I first met ruby @ Dor MIcks bungalows in Kiamesha Lake, I was taken aback at how cynical &

funny he was, besides his dirty hands & nails.The next day when he came I approached his truck with paper pen in hand.He asked what i was doing with pen & paper, taking notes? No i said, taking down your licenseplate in case someone dies from your Knishes.We were best of friends after that. rest his soul......... "

- " I grew up in Brownsville on Sackman & ENY Ave. Every Sunday after mass at Our Lady of Loreto in themid 1960s I would look up the block toward Eastern Pkwy to see if the Knish man was there. I would run upthe block for the best Knishes ever. I remember that beat up cart with all that smoke around it, you could feelthe heat, and that salt shaker old and banged up. Im 47 know and I will always remember my old block inBrownsville. The Knish Man was one of my favorite characters from that neighborhood. We had many. "


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- " Take me back to the best days of my life! My grandparents owned and operated a bungalow colony inMonticello, New York (Marigold Acres) and often times Ruby The Knish Man would come around in histruck selling kasha and potato knishes - with or without salt. He would pull onto the property and make anannouncement using his bullhorn..."RUBY THE KNISHMAN IS HERE" I would run into the main house anturn on the PA system and make the same announcement to the folks in the bungalow colony.....oftenrewarded with my choice of a potato or a kasha knish sprinkled with salt. On occaision he would even stop iand enjoy a glass of wine with Goldie and Ted. His knishes definitely set the standard for me and made man

warm and yummy memories. "

- " I grew up in Brooklyn right on the Brownsville East Flatbush border. I went to PS183, and JHS 252.I distinctly remember buying knishes from Ruby at the lunch break in the school yard at JHS 252. (located oLennox Road near Kings Hgwy) I immediately recognized his picture from the web site. This was during thetime period of Sept 63 June 64. I remember the knish wagon being dropped off from a van.I also remember that while attending PS183 (57-63) we bought Knishes at lunch time on Riverdale Avenuenear Saratoga Avenue .Ruby was not selling them, but maybe it was his father.This brings back great memories.I live in northern California , and the only knishes we get are Cohens in the frozen food section. "

- " Ruby and his wife along with the old station wagon parked on the street outside PS 219 and Somer JHS252 in the 1960's was routine of our lunch periods. He always stayed on the outside of the fence where therewas a hole to pass the purchases. "

- " For years I've told people about the Knishman that waited for us after school in front of PS 244. This wasback somewhere between 1954-59. There was a pretzel cart across the street but the smell of the knishesalways pulled me to the steaming cart on a cold day. I have a feeling it was Ruby's dad in front of our schoobut my memories are vague - but strong. I'm just glad to see a picture of the cart and remember bit of mychildhood in Brooklyn. "

- " I happened to have one of my nostalgic moments and came across your website dedicated to Ruby. How

can I forget Ruby? My parents had a bungalow at Sadownicks from 1966 - 1974. After that, we were at Towand Country for a few years. I used to go to camp at Cresent Lake which was about 6 or 7 miles away downOld Liberty Road. While at camp, Ruby was there every day hawking his goods. I always liked the potato, bumy parents LOVED the kasha. I would have at least one or two a week when I was up there in the summer. Idefinitely remember the tin cup used to spritz the salt into the bag! By the time I walked home from his truckthe bag was nearly saturated in grease. Heck... I was a young kid, who was thinking at the time? I have neveever found a knish as good as Ruby's. Ahh... if I could only relive those days again. Truly the best days of mlife were up in the mountains in the summer as a teen. Okay.. back to reality.. I have to get back to work.Thanks for listening to me ramble. "

- " my name is scott, went to ps203 from63-69,ps78,sshs grad in 76 .the scent of rubys knishes always cut t

cold winters air and soothed your soul especially after a rough day at school.From the pier to the brook to thmountains he was there maybe there is a Ruby clone somewhere. Thanks for the arromatic tasty memories. "

- " my name is scott, went to ps203 from63-69,ps78,sshs grad in 76.The scent of rubys knishes always cut tcold winters air and soothed your soul especially after a rough day at school.From the pier to the brook to thmountains he was there maybe there is a Ruby clone somewhere. Thanks for the arromatic tasty memories. "

- " I remember Ruby in the 1950's by 219 school yard. He used to stay on 94th st. between clarkson and king


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hwy. next to the schoolyard. Before Ruby there wad a little old man we called Pops. He was the original.Before Ruby . Ruby came after Pops. Pops had the same type wagon salt shaker and the same type knishes asRuby . Pops was the original.You are right they were the best knishes ever. They used to open up the wagondraw and you would see all the knishes in rows,I believe there were 2 drawers. They used to wrap they knishin white paper and you would push it up through the paper as you ate it. Do you know if they have thoseknishes anywhere today? From what I remember they were about 12 cents. Those were the days, Pops andRubys Knishes and the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. You rember Ruby in the 1960s I knew him in the early to m

50's. "

- " I can't believe that I found this site!! Ruby played an important part in our life as we enjoyed scoffingdown his great knishes. I went to JHS 211 and when I had money, bought one of his fabulous knishes afterschool. I can still remember Ruby cutting the knish in the middle, mustard placed in the middle and of coursalt sprinkled on top from that beat-up old can. He was a legend and his good name will always beremembered. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane. "

- " "Ruby." Now there's a man's name we no longer hear. Allen Hurwitz's photo is beautifully reminiscent ofthe quintessential "Brooklyn guy"--rough around the edges, given to bad language, but on the inside . . . agood guy.

I thought he looked familiar but could not "place" the face--until some writers mentioned he used to sellknishes outside of Arthur S. Somers, 252, which my sister and I attended in the early '60s while living inBrownsville. Yes, now I remember the omnipresent Ruby.Interesting, that Ruby bore a strong resemblance to my dad--a wizened face and tough bulldog demeanor thacomes largely from years of working on the streets (and, no doubt, from the wartime experiences that surfacein your later years).The strongest and most fearsome of eight Strauss brothers, my father was also named "Ruby" ("Spike" in theW.W.II Army). Known and respected all along the New York docks and Washington Market, "Ruby" wasnobody to ever mess with, probably the same wide berth once given young Ruby by those who knew he wasone tough Yid. Could they have been kindred spirits? Did their paths ever cross? I wonder. My dad was allover the boroughs, having been a truck driver before and after World War II. He spent the latter part of his li

up in Woodbourne, New York. And, like Ruby, my dad was a deadly fighter of raw power, and often sparredwith seasoned boxers in the lower east side gyms; but fights with anti-Semitic Irish wise guys always camedown to the old man not saying a word, but laying them out cold with one or two, bare-fisted shots. SomethiRuby the Knish Man could and would likely have done in his younger days, wouldn't you agree?I read where Ruby wanted to get into boxing in his early years. Perhaps back then, he knew of my distantrelative who was in the fight game: Joe Louis's manager, Mike Jacobs-Strauss. Ah, well. . . .Your wonderful site is evocative, as you can see. It's a door into our New York childhoods through which wecan meet our families and friends again, alive in our collective memories and hearts. There'll never be anothRuby like the Rubys we have known. "

- " I grew up in Canarsie. I was born in 1954. Ruby used to sell knishes outside the Fortunoff's in Brooklyn,

which I was told, was located under the "EL" on either Sutter or Pitkin Avenues. I have fond memories ofseeing Ruby at the Bayview houses where I grew up. He also had a protege, whose name I think was Ira. Rubwould give him the knishe wagon and I would usually see him in the late afternoon outside of the SeaviewJewish Center when Hebrew School was in session. I always remembered Ruby saying, "I want to send mywife to the Cun Tree", (my apologies), not to Florida. Names of witnesses can be provided upon request.Lastly, whenever I have fondly gazed at the picture of Ruby and his wagon over the years, I always shake mhead when I look at that old jar of mustard that sat there through sunshine, rain, sleet and snow. Thanks for thforum, R.D. "


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- " In any event, I couldn't believe that Ruby the Knishman has been immortalized over the world wide web.Per your request, here is my recollection: I grew up in Bayview Houses, and attended Hebrew School atSeaview Jewish Center. Every afternoon, after Hebrew School ended, we could count on being met by oneman out in front of the synagogue: Ruby! Even before we walked out the door, we could hear him shouting,"Hot Ka-Nis-shes!". There was nothing like them- square, hot, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. He usto sell them to us (I think for 15 cents), and let us know we could have all the salt we wanted "for free." Thesalt came in a tin shaker can...I think it was a relic from World War I, but it worked. He was a funny, friendl

man. We all kibbutzed with him, and looking back, I can't help but think he must have liked us kids....it woube hard to put on an act like that. "

- " I grew up in Brooklyn, but knew Ruby from when I was a boy spending summers at the "Princeton Housebungalow colony in the little orthodox hamlet of Harris, NY. He would come driving up the steep hill in hisbig old black 50's Dodge or DeSoto sedan--his wife (or mother?) sitting silently in the passenger seat. Hewould turn on his PA system--a white plastic voice-amplifying horn atop the DeSoto--and call out in abooming voice: "HOT knishes RUBY's knishes--c'mon folks, come and get 'em--I have to send my wife toFlorida). There were potato and kasha knishes in a large silver metal multi-drawer hot box (with hot coals orsome other kind of heating mechanism inside it) perched precariously halfway into the trunk of the blackDeSoto. He had a coarse salt salt-shaker on a long metal chain affixed somewhere to the rig. I'd run like

Godspeed from the pool across the mowed lawn, my feet flying like they've never flied since, a quarterclutched in my hand, as we lined up for a Ruby's knish. They were round, and looked more like a piroshkithan a square deli knish. Ruby's arrival was the highlight of our day (although "Frenchie the ice cream man"was a close second). He always, always mentioned his need and desire to send his wife (or mother?) off toFlorida. I remember his tall, chimp like appearance and his swarthy, heavily pock-marked face." I can't belieI found this website! Six years ago I adopted the email pseudonym "hotknishes," and I've been trying toexplain it to my friends and acquaintences ever since. Thank you, thank you, for honoring Ruby's memory inthis way. "

- " i remember ruby very well he sold me knishes at ps 219 and later at winthrop jhs through the fence wewere locked in the schoolyard for lunch i think i saw him later at tilden h.s. at 219 he had an old man we

called pop with a cart of knishes that ruby delivered in a pale bluish green van those were great days "

- " Just checked out the Ruby dedication page and wanted to add something that nobody mentioned. It was juone of the phrases Ruby used for a while when hawking his knishes. Back in the sixties there was a populardietary supplement beverage called Metrecal. Ruby would yell " Hot KnishesMetrecal Get your MetrecalKnishes!" Anyone else remember this? "

- " My son Howie born 9/8/58 remembers Ruby and his cart walking down the block on East 82 Street,Canarsie shouting Ruby the Knish man. Howie says there never was a better knish anywhere. The kids on theblock would wait for him every day. Later on they waited at Bildersee JHS. and then South Shore High onFlatlans Ave. My husband and I were born in Brownsville and would cross the bridge to go to the Supreme

Movie, on Livonia Ave, East New York. Ruby was always around and we were able to buy Knishes for 5cents. On certain Jewish holidays Ruby would sell arbos (chick peas in a bag). I remember those long tongs hhandled the knishes with. Anyone know where we can purchase those wonderful knishes today? My familyand I would love to know. "

- " My name is Sheldon, I lived in Canarsie and went to Winthrop JHS and Ruby would be there every day alunch time shouting 'COME BUY MY KNISHES HAVE TO SEND MY WIFE TO THE COUNTRY'. Thenyears later in Canarsie he would come on the block I lived and sell his knishes in that same broken down cartthat I remember when I went to Winthrop JHS. I found this website by accident and I was so excited I called


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my best friend in Fla. and read it to him. I can still taste the knishes. They are a part of my youth and I willnever forget them or Ruby the Knishman. "

- " Like so many others Ruby has touched my life, and my family's life. Back in the 50's and 60's I went toEffromson's bungalow colony in Lochsheldrake NY. My memories from that period in my life were always Effromson's, and of course Ruby and his cry, Get Your Hot Knishes! I would run, not walk to get my favoritpotato knish with salt and a Coke. My mother would love when he came because she knew the side dish fordinner was a knish. I was just talking with my cousin and reminising about those Knishes. While talking to hI was on the computer and found this site dedicated to Ruby. How appropriate that a man who touched somany lives should be honored. I would love to see a movie about him and his family. Also if Deborah Olinreads this please share the recipe if you would. I know you worked hard on figuring it out, but not all of us archefs and have the time or resources to do so. If not, then perhaps you can market it and sell them over theinternet. I for one would be a loyal customer. "

- " what i remember about ruby the knish man was that turquoise van in front of ps 276 in 1973 or so the thii remember about the knishes was they were home made oval shaped with a soft shell once in a while hewould have those factory made square ones and that was a disappointment the funny thing i remember is thathe used to clean under his nails with the mustard knife but when youre a kid it didnt seem like a big deal. "

- " I CAN REMEMBER LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY.MY FAMILY AND I WERE IN THE CATSKILLSAND THE HOTEL WE WERE GOING TO STAY AT DIDNT EVEN LOOK LIKE THE PICS THEY SENUS SO WE LEFT AND STARTED LOOKING FOR SOMEWHERE ELSE TO STAY. WELL WE FINDTHIS LITTLE HOTEL\MOTEL\BED&BKFST,AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN IT SEEM TO BE REALLNICE.WELL THE NEXT MORNING WE WAKE UP AND THERE HE IS. RUBY THE KNISH MANSTAYING RIGHT NEXT DOOR. MY DAD ALMOST FELL OVER THAT THAT VAN COULD MAKETHE TRIP UP THERE. BUT MAN HE HAD THE GOODS WHEN IT CAME TO THE FOOD. HEALWAYS GAVE ME CREDIT WHEN I WAS BROKE BUT TOLD ME NOT TO TELL ANYBODY. ANHIS FAV JOKE: DO YA LIKE FLOWERS\PUT YOUR 2LIPS AROUND THIS ."

- " Oh My God!!!! I grew up with Ruby's Dad as my knish man. I grew up on 103rd between K & L and tothis day Ruby's knishes are the THEE best knishes of all time. He would be there no matter the weather, withhis silver cart, schlepping up and down the streets peddling those greasy, fried, square and unbelievable tastincholesterol-ridden carb-overloaded potatoes. Passing PS 279 and PS 211...Always in a good mood &something to say!!! He knew how to handle the kids and shame on those who beat him up & stole hisknishes!!! Every single time my brothers and I eat a knish or see it on a menu.... The "Knish-Man" alwayscomes up. His knishes are the template by which we judge all knishes.... they are always compared to, butnever equal to Ruby's!!!!! I think back to my years in Canarsie and the Knish-man & his cart are definitely astaple of my childhood (one of the good ones!!!!) Who-da thunk. "

- " Hi, my name is Marty Albinder. I lived in the same building as ruby, at 9507 kings highway. I knew his

wife and child. He was as you said a gem of a guy. Those flat knishes he sold were great. One of his spots wArthur Somers jhs also known as ps 252. He had a few more people working for him selling knishes. He wouget up and leave the apt very early to cook those marvelous knishes . You brought tears to my eyes with yourstory. He lookes poor but wasn't. He did need dental work though lol. "

- " I was very young then and living in the projects with my sisters and folks. We didnt have a lot but whenwe got a little extra the treat we wanted was a knish from Ruby. I so remember the wonderful greasy aromaand the tasteunbelievable. I lived in Canarsie from 1955 until 1970 and went to PS 242 and John Wilson211. My dad drove a truck for the NY Daily News. He would sneak us on the truck to make his last stops an


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we would go and see Ruby. I have never eaten anther knish since then. I would ruin the fond memories of theold days. - Michelle Lundgren "

- " My name is Myles and grew up in East Flatbush. In those days, it seems, our universe was ourneighborhood, circumscribed by certain major streets to the north, south, east, and west. Within those confinewe knew almost every nook and cranny and all the strange and wonderful characters therein. Ruby the Knishman went from neoghborhood to neighborhood and I remember him. I went to Winthrop Junior High School(P.S. 232) from 1964 - 1967 and it seems like another century and it was! I remember cold days and Ruby wstationed in his usual plays just outside the schoolyard on E- 53rd Street, selling his knishes. He would openthat metal cart and the steam would rush out in a burst, he would take his large gnarled hand and pull out a hsteaming knish. The contrast between the hot knish and the cold day somehow left an impression on me. Somhave described his knish as "square." Perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me, but I remember them asround and not square. I remeber them as being very moist. I guess the steam in the cart kept them that way.Man they were great knishes. In my mind it is the Ruby Knish that is the standard that no other knish couldmatch up to. I wonder if this was just a childhood memory or if his knishes were really that good. Having reathe remembrances of others I believe they were the best damned knishes in the history of the universe andeven if they are not that is what I will always choose to believe. Ruby remains alive in all of our memories. Awe get older some of these memories fade and we wonder if these people really existed, at least to the extent

we remember them. After reading what everybody remembered about Ruby -- DAMN RIGHT THESEMEMORIES EXIST!!!! "

- " What a superb photo by Robert Krane ( Ruby 1974 ). I'm sitting here in February, 2007, just staring at it,contemplating Ruby--something, of course, we distracted, excitable kids of the 50s never did. In his earthyway, Ruby graced us with his presence. Only now do we have a sense of that. Here was an unassuming,ordinary guy, who, we discover in our later years, has had an extraordinary impact on us. I find there is moreto Ruby than memories of his great knishes of our New York childhoods. He still evokes in us the subtle,private memories of our family generations and personal experiences that are as richly textured as Rubyswonderful, aged face, now forever looking out at us across time. "

- " I grew up on Sackman & Dean Streets in Our Lady of Loreto Church. Every Sunday my father would givme a dollar to go buy 10 knishes from the Knish man. ( I now think it was Ruby's pop because he was a mucolder man.) The line for the knishes would stretch from the church to Eastern Parkway & Pacific Street. At10:00am every Sunday, after attending the 9:00 mass that line seemed never ending. I have searched for Momknishes and if anyone knows where you can get any, I'd love to know. Thanks, Carol Vignola "

- " PICTURE IT-WOODLAND BUNGALOW COLONY, WOODBOURNE , NY. MY CHILDHOOD,1960'S THRU 1970'S WE HAD TWO SONS OF "PROMINENT" COLONY RESIDENTS, GLEN ANDFREDDY, GET IN A SERIOUS CAR ACCIDENT. THE DAY THEY CAME BACK FROM THEHOSPITAL THEY WERE GREETED WITH CHEERS AND GIFTS. THAT DAY RUBY WAS THEREAND SO WAS JOE THE FRUITMAN. RUBY GAVE UP 2 KNISHES AS A GIFT AND ONE OF THE

DAD'S SAID," HEY RUBY YOU CHEAP BASTARD, JOE GAVE A BEAUTIFUL FRUIT BASKET ANDONLY 2 LOUSY KNISHES FROM YOU? RUBY SAID," JOE ALREADY HAS A HOUSE IN FLA."-SUZTHIER "

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