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1 Beverly Hills Gothic
THE SALTERS
Little is known about the heritage of my father, Mike Salter, though it is assumed to be Russian. The name Salter was Anglicized, and the original name has been lost. Mike’s parents, Rachel Rittenhaus and Israel Salter, had six children: Esther, Sarah, Bessie, Mike, Jack and Louis. It is not certain whether the children were born in Russia or the United States.
THE PELHAM CAFE
In the spring of 1904, at a relatively young age, Mike opened a snazzy place in the heart of New York City’s Chinatown: the Pelham Café, located at 12 Pell Street. The Pelham Café became famous for many reasons: It was a center of political activity in the area, it was more than a restaurant, and it was where one of the nation’s greatest songwriters, Irving Berlin, got his start.
IRVING BERLIN
Born Israel Baline in Russia, one of Irving Berlin’s first jobs in New York was performing as a singing waiter at the Pelham Café. He worked there for a while when, at Mike’s request, Izzy wrote the lyrics and another waiter wrote the music to an original song, “Marie from Sunny Italy.” This was the start of Berlin’s career. He became fully Americanized and went on to write such classics as “God Bless America,” “White Christmas” and “Easter Parade.”
Izzy Baline described his job as a singing waiter: “I was paid a flat $7 a week, and my hours were from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. or whenever Mike fell off his stool.” Izzy had been working there for two years when, one dawn,
mike salter
by Max