Another interesting story concerning the feather industry in New York details a ‘gentleman’ by the name of Isidor Cohnfeld –subsequently known as ‘the Feather King’ whose word became law in the feather trade. Cohnfeld, originally a penniless immigrant from Germany, was responsible in 1886 for the construction on the corner of Bleecker and Greene Streets in Manhattan of what was to become known as the Cohnfeld Building, where he employed hundreds of young women in the bleaching, dying, sewing and trimming of feathers. The New York Times called it ‘The finest feather factory in the world’. Only one year later in 1887 however, Cohnfeld, mortgaged up to the hilt and finding himself in serious financial trouble, apparently did a runner to Canada – with more than $250,000 in his suitcase. His factory became known as ‘Cohnfeld’s Folly’! The New York Times who, just twelve months previously, had been singing his praises, now referred to him as ‘the ostrich feather plunger!’ and just to add insult to injury, the Cohnfeld Building burned down in 1891.
Meanwhile, on New York’s Lower East Side, the feather company of Lowenstein and Gray had serious, on-going problems with workers (many of whom were of Russian Jewish descent) striking over wages and conditions. An excellent book on the subject of the world feather industry in general, and New York in particular, from the Jewish perspective is Plumes by Sarah Stein (Yale University Press).
