Individual Details
Isadore A. "Isie" Glusman
(31 Oct 1895 - Aug 1976)
From military records: ISIE A. GLUSMAN born at Starokronstatinos, RUSSIA. Enlisted at Lake Charles, LA on 2 Mar 1918 at age 22. Discharged at Camp Shelby, MS on 1 Apr 1919. Occupation was that of hatter. Marital status single. Character excellent. Color of eyes dark, color of hair black, complexion dark. Height 5' 2-1/2".
From the Lake Charles American Press. June 1, 1975: Downtown LC Merchant – Story of the American Dream (Isie Glusman) By Carolyn Moffett. American Press Staff Writer. You could say this story is about a dying industry. You might say it’s about a twist of fate which materialized in a gust of wind. Or you might call it a success story. It’s the story of one and the story of many. But mostly it’s the story of the American dream. Time has lent Isie Glusman, 79, of Lake Charles, a certain distinction. His is the oldest individual merchant establishment on Ryan Street. He owns and operates the one remaining men’s hat store between Beaumont and New Orleans. He’s among the last of those Americans who came to this country when it was still relatively young and undeveloped. He, like many who arrived in Lake Charles at the turn of the century, came seeking freedom and opportunity. On first seeing him, flanked by long cases of the Hombergs, Stetsons and Panamas of a past era, Glusman’s overriding characteristic seems to be that of gentleness. He is small, soft-spoken, diffident. But when he speaks of why and how he came to this country, there’s a glint of steel beneath the courtly manner. As a young Jew growing up in Czarist Russia in the early 1900’s, Glusman got a taste of oppression that gave him an everlasting thirst for freedom. “When the Cossacks came to parade in our little village, we hid in the cellars,” he recalls. Jews were not allowed to attend public schools. They were restricted to certain residential areas. If they wished to visit the capital of the Ukraine, Kiev, or Leningrad, they had to apply for a permit,” Glusman says. These terrors and indignities planted in the mind of an impressionable 10 year old eventually sprang up as a dream of escape to a new land, a land of opportunity, a land of liberty. “I read, though, dreamed of America. I felt that this was the only country in the world that was free. There were not only material advantages. There was a freedom that didn’t exist in other parts of the world.” By the time he was 18, he had earned $100, enough to pay his passage to America. It had taken him more than two years of scrimping and saving but he was determined. Glusman came alone- and with little more than his dream. He landed in Galveston, Texas, with $8 in his pocket and an extra suit of clothes. He spoke no English. He had no friends or relatives to meet him. He was filled with contradictory emotions, he remembers. He was lonely, afraid, homesick, sad – and at the same time happy and excited. What impressed him most about America on that first day was the sight of happy faces. Laughter on the streets was an unusual sight to the young man. He was accustomed to the careworn, sad faces of the people in Starokonstantinov in the Ukraine, where he was born. Glusman was sent to Shreveport by the Jewish Immigration Society, which provided temporary housing for homeless immigrants. But there fate took a turn on the wind and pointed him in the direction which eventually lead him to Lake Charles. As he walked down Texas Avenue the wind lifted his European cap off his head and dropped it in a mud puddle. As it happened, the puddle was directly in front of a hat cleaning establishment. It also happened that the owner, who was standing in front of the store, picked up the hat and speaking in Yiddish, invited the young man to come inside while he cleaned it. The year was 1914, a time when all fashionable men wore hats. Business was good and the shopkeeper felt sorry for the boy so he offered him a job as porter. He paid Glusman $4 a week, began to teach him English, and finally offered to teach him the trade. But after a year, business took a dip and the shopkeeper could no longer afford to pay Glusman’s salary, which by then had doubled to $8. His employer wrote to a friend in Lake Charles, who also owned a men’s hat store. Charles Bumar’s store was a tin building located on the corner of Ryan and Division Streets, the present site of Sears. After Glusman had been in Lake Charles for a few months, the Bumars decided to return to Texas so the young immigrant bought the hat cleaning and blocking establishment. Things seemed to be falling into place for young Glusman. But along came World War I. And he had not forgotten why he had come to this country. He sold his business and enlisted in the Air Corps. A March 5, 1918 editorial in this paper lauded him for the patriotic example he set. His enlistment earned him more than praise, however. It made him an American citizen. After training at Gerstner Field, which was located near Bell City, Glusman served in France until after the Armistice. He came back to Lake Charles where, to his surprise, he found the hat store was again in the hands of Charles Bumar. For a second time, and from the same man, he purchased the Lake Charles Hat Co. Over the past 56 years Glusman has developed a fondness for his trade that is more than economic. He married, raised a family, lost his wife. And all through the years he has come daily to the little store. The shop is a “place to go” and something to keep him from loneliness. “But it’s a dying industry . . . like me,” he says sadly. He counts his customers as old friends. They come from all over the Lake Charles area. When a customer comes in the door, I don’t have to ask his size or what style he wants. I go to the case, take out a hat and put it on his head. I know them all by name.” “We talk about everything – but hats.” But what he likes to talk about most is America. Once, he says, he stood on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, looked across the waters and remembered “the thousands of people cross the Atlantic who would have given half their lives to be here.” But many Americans don’t seem to appreciate their freedom, Glusman says. “The American people gripe too much. They don’t know what they’ve got here.”
From the Lake Charles American Press. June 1, 1975: Downtown LC Merchant – Story of the American Dream (Isie Glusman) By Carolyn Moffett. American Press Staff Writer. You could say this story is about a dying industry. You might say it’s about a twist of fate which materialized in a gust of wind. Or you might call it a success story. It’s the story of one and the story of many. But mostly it’s the story of the American dream. Time has lent Isie Glusman, 79, of Lake Charles, a certain distinction. His is the oldest individual merchant establishment on Ryan Street. He owns and operates the one remaining men’s hat store between Beaumont and New Orleans. He’s among the last of those Americans who came to this country when it was still relatively young and undeveloped. He, like many who arrived in Lake Charles at the turn of the century, came seeking freedom and opportunity. On first seeing him, flanked by long cases of the Hombergs, Stetsons and Panamas of a past era, Glusman’s overriding characteristic seems to be that of gentleness. He is small, soft-spoken, diffident. But when he speaks of why and how he came to this country, there’s a glint of steel beneath the courtly manner. As a young Jew growing up in Czarist Russia in the early 1900’s, Glusman got a taste of oppression that gave him an everlasting thirst for freedom. “When the Cossacks came to parade in our little village, we hid in the cellars,” he recalls. Jews were not allowed to attend public schools. They were restricted to certain residential areas. If they wished to visit the capital of the Ukraine, Kiev, or Leningrad, they had to apply for a permit,” Glusman says. These terrors and indignities planted in the mind of an impressionable 10 year old eventually sprang up as a dream of escape to a new land, a land of opportunity, a land of liberty. “I read, though, dreamed of America. I felt that this was the only country in the world that was free. There were not only material advantages. There was a freedom that didn’t exist in other parts of the world.” By the time he was 18, he had earned $100, enough to pay his passage to America. It had taken him more than two years of scrimping and saving but he was determined. Glusman came alone- and with little more than his dream. He landed in Galveston, Texas, with $8 in his pocket and an extra suit of clothes. He spoke no English. He had no friends or relatives to meet him. He was filled with contradictory emotions, he remembers. He was lonely, afraid, homesick, sad – and at the same time happy and excited. What impressed him most about America on that first day was the sight of happy faces. Laughter on the streets was an unusual sight to the young man. He was accustomed to the careworn, sad faces of the people in Starokonstantinov in the Ukraine, where he was born. Glusman was sent to Shreveport by the Jewish Immigration Society, which provided temporary housing for homeless immigrants. But there fate took a turn on the wind and pointed him in the direction which eventually lead him to Lake Charles. As he walked down Texas Avenue the wind lifted his European cap off his head and dropped it in a mud puddle. As it happened, the puddle was directly in front of a hat cleaning establishment. It also happened that the owner, who was standing in front of the store, picked up the hat and speaking in Yiddish, invited the young man to come inside while he cleaned it. The year was 1914, a time when all fashionable men wore hats. Business was good and the shopkeeper felt sorry for the boy so he offered him a job as porter. He paid Glusman $4 a week, began to teach him English, and finally offered to teach him the trade. But after a year, business took a dip and the shopkeeper could no longer afford to pay Glusman’s salary, which by then had doubled to $8. His employer wrote to a friend in Lake Charles, who also owned a men’s hat store. Charles Bumar’s store was a tin building located on the corner of Ryan and Division Streets, the present site of Sears. After Glusman had been in Lake Charles for a few months, the Bumars decided to return to Texas so the young immigrant bought the hat cleaning and blocking establishment. Things seemed to be falling into place for young Glusman. But along came World War I. And he had not forgotten why he had come to this country. He sold his business and enlisted in the Air Corps. A March 5, 1918 editorial in this paper lauded him for the patriotic example he set. His enlistment earned him more than praise, however. It made him an American citizen. After training at Gerstner Field, which was located near Bell City, Glusman served in France until after the Armistice. He came back to Lake Charles where, to his surprise, he found the hat store was again in the hands of Charles Bumar. For a second time, and from the same man, he purchased the Lake Charles Hat Co. Over the past 56 years Glusman has developed a fondness for his trade that is more than economic. He married, raised a family, lost his wife. And all through the years he has come daily to the little store. The shop is a “place to go” and something to keep him from loneliness. “But it’s a dying industry . . . like me,” he says sadly. He counts his customers as old friends. They come from all over the Lake Charles area. When a customer comes in the door, I don’t have to ask his size or what style he wants. I go to the case, take out a hat and put it on his head. I know them all by name.” “We talk about everything – but hats.” But what he likes to talk about most is America. Once, he says, he stood on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, looked across the waters and remembered “the thousands of people cross the Atlantic who would have given half their lives to be here.” But many Americans don’t seem to appreciate their freedom, Glusman says. “The American people gripe too much. They don’t know what they’ve got here.”
Events
| Birth | 31 Oct 1895 | Starokronstatinos Russia |  | ||
| Marriage | 24 Jan 1920 | Calcasieu Parish, LA - Marie Julia Aucoin | | ||
| Death | Aug 1976 | Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, LA | | ||
| Soc Sec No | 434-46-2073 | | |||
| Last Known Res | Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, LA | |
Families
| Spouse | Marie Julia Aucoin (1893 - 1971) |
| Child | Betty Mae Glusman (1927 - ) |
| Child | Edward Francis Glusman (1921 - 1988) |
| Father | Abraham Glusman ( - ) |
| Mother | Bessie ? ( - 1920) |
Endnotes
1. SSDI.
2. Calcasieu Parish Marriage Records, Vol 11 p 583.
3. SSDI.
4. SSDI.
5. SSDI.