City Directories Tell a Story for Herman Handler

Herman Handler appeared in a few city directories after he immigrated to America. Although I don't find him every year, I find him in enough directories that I can see that he moved several times and worked at a variety of occupations to support his family.

These city directories tell a story of a man whose occupation was affected when Prohibition was enacted, but he continued to do what he could in order to make a living and support his family.

All of these city directories were found at Ancestry in their U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 database.

Because I could find no Herman Handler in any other city directories in 1906-1908, I am only guessing that these two entries may be for Herman Handler:

City	Year	Name	Occupation	Address
Cleveland	1906	Herman Handler	porter	2554 (old 436) Woodland av
Cleveland	1907	Herman Handler	clk [clerk]	4735 Woodland av SE

Once he married Sarah in February 1909, when I see [Sarah] next to his name, I know I've got the right one:

City	Year	Name	Occupation	Address
Akron	1909	Herman Handler [Sarah]	Goodrich Co	897 S Main
Detroit	1910	Henry Handler	tailor	1031 14th av.

From the 1909 Akron, Ohio, City Directory.

He appeared to have moved to Detroit for a year or two, because that's where he was found in the 1910 census. This directory listed him as Henry Handler, tailor, living at 1031 14th Avenue, which was the same address as in the 1910 census. The occupation here was tailor; the occupation in the census was presser (a specific job in the tailoring industry).

From the 1910 Detroit, Michigan, City Directory.

Herman and Sarah then returned to Akron, where he moved around a bit, but worked in a saloon for most of the 1910s. This agrees with what is found on his World War I Draft Registration. However, I am not sure how Philip is related. (He might be Herman's father, but I need to do some more research.):

City	Year	Name	Occupation	Address
Akron	1912	Herman Handler [Sarah]	with P Handler	res 278 S. Main
Akron	1912	Philip Handler	saloon	278 S Main, res same
Akron	1914	Herman Handler [Sarah]	clerk M Rosenblatt	res 373 S Main
Akron	1915	Herman Handler [Sarah]	Reining & Handler	res 161 E South
Akron	1915	Reining & Handler	saloon	133 E South
Akron	1916	Herman Handler [Sarah]	Reining & Handler	res 142 E South
Akron	1916	Reining & Handler	saloon	133 E South
Akron	1917	Herman Handler [Sarah]	saloon	133 E South res 142 same
Akron	1918	Herman Handler [Sarah]	saloon	1223 Sweitzer ave res 107 S Portage path
Akron	1918	Philip Handler		res 107 S Portage path

The 1912 entry in the Akron City Directory links Herman and Philip, but I'm not sure who Philip is.

When Prohibition went into effect at the start of 1920, Herman had to find another occupation. The following jobs listed for him in several city directories shows that he worked as an auto salesman, a clerk, in real estate, in trucking, and as a "huckster," which now has pejorative connotations, but at that time meant that he was a salesman.

City	Year	Name	Occupation	Address
Akron	1920	Herman Handler [Sarah]	salesman Lippert Auto Sales	h 1312 Goodyear ave
Akron	1922	Herman Handler [Sarah]	clk [clerk]	h 1316 Goodyear
Akron	1924	Herman Handler [Sarah]	auto slsmn [salesman]	h 1148 S Main
Akron	1925	Herman Handler [Sarah]	real estate	h 385 Aqueduct
Akron	1926	Herman Handler [Sarah]	motor trucking	h 385 Aqueduct
Akron	1928	Herman Handler [Sarah]	huckster	h 510 Douglas

The last city directory in which I find Herman Handler is 1933 Akron City Directory. He had moved since 1930, when they lived at 629 Minerva Place. He had no occupation listed, even though he was only 51 years old. It's wonderful when a city directory lists all the adults in the household:

Listed as living at 989 Whittier Avenue are:
  Arthur C. Handler and wife Bertha (he works as a buyer for The M. O'Neil Co.)
  Herman H. Handler and wife Sarah
  Irving (works at The M. O'Neil Co.)
  Milton (who was about 17 or 18 at this time, possibly just completing high school)

And yes, the other Handlers listed in this Akron City Directory, about a mile and a half away, are my husband's grandparents (Joseph and Lena) and Aunt Belle. Note that Joseph was a "huckster" here as Herman was in 1928.

Previous posts about Herman Handler:

Herman Handler ~ Naturalization Record
Herman Handler ~ Birth Record
Herman Handler ~ Passenger List
Herman Handler ~ Marriage Records 
Herman Handler ~ Draft Card WWI
Herman Handler ~ Census Records, 1910 and 1920
Herman Handler Moved Between 1930 and 1940