Photo Record
Images
Additional Images [9]
Metadata
Title |
Davis Family Photograph Collection |
Collection |
Davis Family Photograph Collection |
Catalog Number |
023PC21 |
Date |
ca. 1930-2018 |
Location |
Kentucky / Jefferson County / Louisville |
Description |
The collection consists of photographs relating to members of the Davis family and the S.E. Davis Co. pawn shop they owned and operated in Louisville, Kentucky. S.E. Davis Co., Inc. was established in 1936 by Simmond "Simmy" Epstein Davis (1916-1991) and Faye Perelmuter Davis (1917-2013), who married in August of that year. Their son Melvin "Mel" Davis (b. 1937) and his wife Shellia Bloch Davis (b. 1939) took over S.E. Davis Co. when Simmy retired in 1975, and they ran the store until it closed in 2017. They had three children: Cheryl Davis (b. 1964), Jeff Davis (b. 1967), and Deborah Davis Perlstein (b. 1971). Jeff worked at the store with Mel and Shellia. The store began at 103 West Market Street in 1936, moved to 101 West Market Street around 1950, and was remodeled to occupy 101-103 West Market Street in 1963. The Davis family owned the buildings and ran a rooming house with fifteen rooms in the upper levels above the store until the late 1960s. S.E. Davis Co. specialized in the sale of jewelry (gold and silver), hunting rifles, sportsman guns, and musical instruments and equipment. In 1997, the store moved to 209 South First Street between Market and Jefferson Streets, where it remained until it closed in 2017. Folder 1 holds several photographs relating to the Perelmuter family: a faded copy print photograph of members of the Newman, Gumer, Perelmuter, Kahn, Heller, and Krupp families at their Passover Seder meal, ca. 1930 [023PC21.01]; a copy print photograph of Faye Perelmuter before her marriage to Simmy Davis [023PC21.02]; and a book of digitized copy print photographs for the Perelmuter-Shuchman family reunion in 2018 [023PC21.03]. Folder 2 holds photographs of members of the Davis family, including ones of Faye from 1936 and 1942 [023PC21.04-.05], Simmy from the mid-1930s [023PC21.06], Jeff, Simmy, Mel, and Shellia Davis from ca. 1988 [023PC21.11], Mel Davis bowling in the B'nai B'rith bowling league in the 1960s [023PC21.12], and Freda Davis (Simmy's mother) in the late 1970s-1980 [023PC21.13]. There is a copy of a 1937 newspaper clipping with an image of Mel Davis as a newborn baby and his great-grandfather David Davis [023PC21.07], and copy print photographs of Mel with his great-grandmother Celia Davis [023PC21.08], brothers Arthur "Skip," Simmy, Charlie, and Barry Davis [023PC21.09], and Simmy and Faye Davis from the 1970s [023PC21.10]. Most of the remaining photographs are group shots from 1970-2002 of various Davis and Perelmuter family members, who are identified on the back of the prints [023PC21.14-19]. In folder 3 are photographs of Davis family members, staff, and customers at S.E. Davis Co. Photographs and copy print photographs are of Simmy Davis ca. 1938 [023PC21.20] and Mel, Faye, and Simmy Davis in 1959 [023PC21.21] in front of the store, and Mel Davis [023PC21.22, .25], Simmy Davis [023PC21.23], and Faye Davis [023PC21.32] inside the store ca. 1960s-1980s. There are Courier-Journal photographs from 1969 of Faye Davis posing inside the store with a guitar, jewelry, and near the gun display [023PC21.26-.29]. Also included are photographs of Mel Davis with Governor Ned Breathitt at the Boat and Sports Trade Show at the Louisville Fairgrounds, ca. 1965 [023PC21.24, .30], and Mel and Simmy Davis with Browning sales representative Roger Stephens at another show, ca. 1970 [023PC21.31]. The remaining photographs are of employees Bill Maxwell [023PC21.33-.35] and Jack Fleischer [023PC21.36], Mel and Shellia Davis [023PC21.37-.44], Jeff Davis [023PC21.45-.46], customers of the store [023PC21.47-.51], and the S.E. Davis Co. booth at a sporting goods trade show, ca. late 1960s [023PC21.52]. Folder 4 consists of interior and exterior views of S.E. Davis Co. There are photographs of the exterior of S.E. Davis Co at 101-103 West Market from ca. 1945-1995 [023PC21.53-.63], one of the S.E. Davis Co. sign after the store had moved from that location [023PC21.65], and one of the exterior of S.E. Davis Co at its new location of 209 South First Street in 1998 [023.PC21.64]. There are interior views of the store and its cases, ca. 1960s-1990s [023PC21.66-.72] and of taxidermy mounts [023PC21.73-.74]; some of these are Courier-Journal photographs. There is a copy print of Davis and Sons at Seventh and Walnut Streets in ca. 1930 [023PC21.75]. Davis and Sons was owned and operated by Henry Davis, father to Simmy Davis; Simmy's brother Arthur "Skip" Davis took over the business. See also: S.E. Davis Co. records [Mss. BB D265]. Items digitized include: Folder 2: Simmy Davis, mid-1930s [023PC21.06] Folder 2: Faye Perelmuter Davis, 1942 [023PC21.05] Folder 2: Jeff, Simmy, Mel, and Shellia Davis, ca. 1988 [023PC21.11] Folder 3: Mel, Faye, and Simmy Davis in front of S.E. Davis Co. at 103 West Market Street, 1959 [023PC21.21] Folder 3: Mel Davis inside the store, ca. early 1970s [023PC21.22] Folder 3: Mel Davis inside the store, ca. 1965 [023PC21.25] Folder 4: Exterior of S.E. Davis Co. at 103 West Market, 1945 [023PC21.54] Folder 4: Exterior of S.E. Davis Co. at 101-103 West Market after remodel, sign in window on second floor reads "Furnished Rooms for Rent," 1964 [023PC21.57] Folder 4: Exterior of S.E. Davis Co. at 101-103 West Market after remodel, sign in window on second floor reads "Furnished Rooms for Rent," 1964 [023PC21.58] Folder 4: Exterior of S.E. Davis Co. at 101-103 West Market, ca. 1970s-1980s [023PC21.59] Folder 4: Exterior of S.E. Davis Co. at 101-103 West Market, ca. 1980s [023PC21.61] Folder 4: Exterior of S.E. Davis Co. at its new location of 209 South First Street, 1998 [023.PC21.64] Folder 4: Interior of S.E. Davis Co. at 103 West Market before remodel, ca. 1950s [023PC21.66] Folder 4: Interior view of "entire wall of gun display" at S.E. Davis Co, 1964 [023PC21.71] Folder 4: Interior view of guitars and musical equipment at S.E. Davis Co., 1965 [023PC21.72] |
Search Terms |
Families Jews Kentucky - Louisville Stores, Retail Twentieth century |