Rauh & Pollack: “Jews and Dayton’s Booze Trade”

Foreword:   As often happens, a encounter with a branded whiskey will send me on a search for the source behind it.  Intrigued by a back-of-the bar bottle for “Well Brook",” I traced the item back to two Dayton “whiskey men” who had been written up by Marshall Weiss in the Dayton Jewish Observer as recently as last April.  Theirs is an interesting story, as told by Mr. Weiss under the title “Jews and Dayton’s Booze Trade.” As is my custom in such cases, I have sought permission to reprint portions of it here.  Will add material as seems necessary in italic.

Partners Isaac Pollack (L), 1836-1908, and Sol Rauh, 1835-1915, Dayton’s first wholesale liquor distributors

Mr. Weiss begins his article by citing the important role that Jews served for centuries in countries in Central Europe like Poland and Hungary as distillers, liquor sellers and saloon keepers.  He then moves the narrative to Dayton, Ohio:

Our story begins during the Civil War, in 1862, with Isaac Pollack and Solomon Rauh.  Both in their 20s, Pollack and Rauh had arrived here as part of the wave of Jewish immigrants from Central Europe: Pollack from Riedseltz, France and Rauh from Essingen, Bavaria.

With Rauh as his clerk, Pollack began selling wholesale wines, liquors, brandies, and cigars at 234 3rd St. in 1862. This was Dayton’s first wholesale liquor store. A year later, Rauh was listed as Pollack’s partner.

By September 1862, Pollack was considered a Civil War hero. He had been appointed a corporal among the Squirrel Hunters, the civilians who assisted the federal government in defending Cincinnati from a Confederate attack.

The partners prospered rapidly. In 1876, they built identical mansions for their families on adjacent lots: 319 and 321 W. Third St. in Dayton. According to lore, in the shade of a nearby tree, Pollack and Rauh flipped a coin to determine who would occupy which house; the Rauhs took 321, the Pollacks 319.  The Pollack House still stands today, though in a different location; in 1979 it was moved to 208 W. Monument Ave. and now houses the Dayton International Peace Museum.

Rauh and Pollack were among the Jews who lived downtown and worshiped at the predominantly German Jewish B’nai Yeshurun, now Temple Israel. They were founding members of the Standard Club, the social and literary club that was effectively an extension of B’nai Yeshurun.  Rauh married Jeanette Lebensburger, whose father, Joseph, was the first leader of Dayton’s early Jewish community. It was Joseph Lebensburger who in 1850 established what would become B’nai Yeshurun.

A staunch supporter of the Democratic party, Pollack was a major donor and champion of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital when it was established. He was also a member of St. John’s Lodge of Masons and Dayton’s B’nai B’rith lodge.  “His cheerful and amiable disposition won him many friends,” the Dayton Daily News wrote of him.

Rauh was also a director of the Merchants’ National Bank and a longtime president of both B’nai Yeshurun and B’nai B’rith. The Dayton Daily News described him as “genial, whole-souled and charitable…one of the leaders of this community, and one of the acting spirits in movements that meant the advancement of Dayton.”  After 30 years in business together, Pollack decided to split from Rauh around 1893.

Pollock subsequently opened his own liquor business in Dayton, in effect competing with his former partner.  His proprietary whiskey brands were“Bandana Whiskey,” “Gold Brick Rye,” and “Silver Bar.”  These likely were sold both at retail and wholesale.  Pollock does not appear to have trademarked any of his labels.

This was the year [1893] when Sol Rauh & Sons, then at 107 E. Third St., began to list itself as also in the distilling business.  It’s possible that Rauh’s desire to add distilling to the business led to the separation with Pollack, who would retire from his business in 1906 and died two years later at 71.

Strictly speaking, Rauh appears to have been a whiskey “rectifier” rather than a distiller, making whiskey from scratch, although many of the skills required were similar.  He was blending whiskeys likely received from Kentucky distilleries to achieve specific color, smoothness and taste.  Brands attributed to this effort were“Belle of Dayton Whiskey” and a “Sour Mash Whiskey,” the back-of-the -bar-bottles shown here.  These bottles were found in 2013 during an excavation at the former location of the Rauh liquor establishment.  Other brands registered by Rauh were “Eddy’s,” “Templeton,” and “Well Brook.”

The Rauh business was destroyed in the fire that resulted with the Great Flood of 1913. Two months later, it advertised in the Dayton Daily News that it had relocated and was “now prepared to fill all orders promptly.” It continued to list itself as “distillers and wholesale liquor dealers.”  Rauh & Sons would rebuild and return to its location at 107 E. Third St.

The flood and the resulting destruction of the original Rauh building are shown above and below.

After Sol Rauh’s death in 1915 at 79, his son Ed took over the business. Sol Rauh brought Ed into the business after he bought out Isaac Pollack in about 1893.  Ed Rauh was a sportsman, well known as an enthusiastic harness horseman. He owned several trotting horses.

Both Isaac Pollack and Solomon Rauh are buried in Dayton’s Riverview Cemetery maintained by Temple Israel.  Their gravestones are shown below.

In 1919, Ed Rauh’s business in Williams’ Dayton City Directory was listed at 107 E. Third St. as “wholesale non-intoxicating beverages.”  An enthusiastically “dry” state, Ohio entered Prohibition May 27, 1919, nearly eight months before the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — known as the Volstead Act — went into effect Jan. 17, 1920.  The Volstead Act prohibited the “manufacture, sales or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes” in the United States.

Whether or not Ed Rauh went into the soft drink business as a front and remained in the whiskey business as a bootlegger is unclear. Descendants of Rauh who were contacted for this story didn’t know the answer.  In any case, Rauh’s business in the 1921 city directory was listed at the same location, but now as Rauh’s Tire & Auto Supply.

Note:  To date I have not heard back from Mr. Weiss or the Dayton Jewish Observer but believe they have been given adequate credit here for the article and several of the illustrations.  My thanks to both for this interesting profile of two notable whiskey men.