Russ & Daughters

181 East Houston Street | also 185 East Houston Street | Lower East Side | built 1900

Open on the map3 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1933

    Joel Russ renames the shop Russ & Daughters and makes Hattie, Anne and Ida his partners

    Russ and his wife Bella had no sons, so in 1933 the shop's name was changed to include the three daughters who had worked in the store since they were small children. Shops of the day were usually called "and Sons". Joel Russ framed the move as a practical matter of making a living rather than a statement about women's rights, and he kept the store open seven days a week.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 2014

    A documentary, The Sturgeon Queens, premieres with Joel Russ's two surviving daughters

    The Sturgeon Queens, a film about the shop, premiered in 2014. Its name came from Joel Russ's own nickname for his daughters, and it featured Anne Russ Federman, then 92, and Hattie Russ Gold, then 100, the two daughters still living. In May of the same year, cousins Josh Russ Tupper and Niki Russ Federman, the fourth generation to run the business, opened a cafe on Orchard Street.

    “The Sturgeon Queens was Joel Russ' affectionate nickname for his daughters.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 2015

    January 7

    The state Senate honors Russ & Daughters on its 100th anniversary

    The New York State Senate drafted a resolution in June 2014 to mark a century since the family opened its first storefront in 1914. The staff of Russ & Daughters received it formally on January 7, 2015. By then the business was in its fourth generation of family ownership.

    “In 2015 the New York state Senate honored Russ & Daughters with a resolution marking its 100th anniversary; ... presented ... on January 7, 2015.”

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 78 buildings with stories in Lower East Side