Gottlieb Food Service Records

Russian immigrant Isadore Gottlieb (ca. 1870-1932) and his wife, the former Jennie Hurwitz (ca. 1872-1963), started a bakery in Savannah, Georgia, in 1884. The original bakery was located at York and Jefferson streets. Subsequent locations and branch stores were at Bryan and Montgomery streets (322 and/or 328 West Bryan), Oglethorpe Avenue and Montgomery Street (321-325 West Oglethorpe Avenue), 519 East Broughton Street, and 32nd and Bull streets (1601 Bull Street). The Gottliebs had eight children: Joseph (1898-1974), Sadie (1899-1965), Mamie (ca. 1900-1950), Leon (1902-1972), Elliott (1904-1979), Harold "Hank" (1906-1993), Irving (1909-1990), and Milton (1910-1979). Elliott, Irving, and Sadie became directly involved with the bakery. Elliott and Irving took charge of the business around 1928. Elliott's son, Isser (1938-2012), joined the bakery full time in 1959 and ran the business until it closed in 1994.

Joseph started a kosher delicatessen business in 1934 that used baked goods from Gottlieb's Bakery. The original location was at Bull and 34th streets. Subsequent branches and locations were at Duffy and Whitaker streets, Bull and 33rd streets (closed in 1978), Bull and 32nd streets, 5500 Abercorn Street (Twelve Oaks Shopping Center), and Sears department store at 7804 Abercorn Street (Oglethorpe Mall). In 1949, Joseph's son, Alan D. Gottlieb (1928-2003), took charge of the business and eventually expanded into catering services. Alan's wife, Lucy, and son, Murray, were also involved in the business until it closed in the late 1990s. As of 2016, Murray is the caterer at Congregation B’nai B’rith Jacob Synagogue. Under Alan Gottlieb's care, the business came to be called a "delicateria" and sold "fine" groceries such as imported candies, cookies, and cheeses.