Pacific Seh Hotel Supply Co., 46 10th Ave., between 13th and 14th Sts., New York, 2003  

The Pacific Seh Hotel Supply Co. began around 1919 as S. & G. Hotel Supply Co. 924 6th Ave. The S and the G were Sol Solomon and Abraham Goodman. The 1925 New York City Directory listed not only S. & G. Hotel Supply (where Abraham Goodman was now sole proprietor), but also Pacific Hotel Supply Co. at 352 W. 14th St. At Pacific Hotel Supply the partners were Abraham Goodman and Edmund Silz. The 1933/34 New York City Directory listed Thomas A. Jobbagy as proprietor at Pacific Hotel Supply, 352 W. 14th St. Pacific Hotel Supply stayed in business at 352 W. 14th St. from 1925 to 1968.

Meanwhile, Edward Seh in 1948 became the head of Gotham Hotel Supply nearby at 401 W. 14th St. Gotham Hotel Supply was owned by Wilson & Co., where Seh had worked since 1908, and from which he retired in 1959. According to Peter Samson, a grandson of Edward Seh, in an email dated 15 Feb. 2018, "My grandfather had hoped that his son, Edward Seh, Jr., would take over as head of Gotham, but Wilson & Co. did not agree to that arrangement, and so instead Edward Seh Jr. opened his own business, in 1960 with his father's help." Edward Seh Jr. "meats" was listed at 55 Gansevoort St. in 1960. Edward Seh Jr. moved to 428 W. 14th St. in 1962, and to 444 W. 14th St. in 1968, and it was this business that merged with Pacific Hotel Supply Co. to form Pacific Seh Hotel Supply in 1970.

(Wilson & Co. were a Chicago-based slaughter house and meat packing company with a New York abattoir located at 1st Ave. and 45th St. in the 1920s. The following is from the Encyclopedia of Chicago, "The giant Chicago-based meatpacker Wilson & Co. began as a New York slaughterhouse in the 1850s called Schwartzchild & Sulzberger, which expanded to Kansas City in 1893. After the company hastily opened slaughterhouses in the early twentieth century in places like Chicago, Oklahoma City, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it quickly fell into financial trouble. In 1916, control of the company went to Thomas E. Wilson, a former president of Chicago-based Morris & Co. packinghouse, and the firm's health was soon revived. The company's name changed to Wilson & Co., its headquarters moved to Chicago's Union Stock Yard, and it joined Armour and Swift at the top of the American meat industry.")

Edward Seh appears as "with Wilson & Co. 816 1st av" in the Polk 1933-34 New York City Directory. A story in the New York Times, 23 April 1980, cited Edward Seh and Edward Jobbagy as co-owners of Pacific Seh, 46 10th Avenue.

As of 2004 Pacific Seh Hotel Supply was still listed in the telephone directory at 46 10th Ave., but the 2003 photo above seems to show the location abandoned.

Edward Seh (1894-1979) was born in New York City, the son of Abraham Seh, a butcher who immigrated from Germany in 1883. Edward Seh registered for the World War I draft in 1917 when employed as "Receiving and Shipping Foreman, Wilson Co., 45th St. & 1st Ave., NYC." In 1942 he registered for the World War II draft when he was employed at the Gotham Hotel Supply Co., 401 W. 14th St., New York, NY. Edward Seh Sr. died in March 1979 and received the following death notice in the New York Times reading, "Seh - Edward, Sr., beloved husband of Sophie Baar Seh, dear father of Rosalie and David Samson and Carmen and Edward Seh, Jr. Devoted grandfather of Verne and David, Jr., Peter and Thomas Samson, JoAnn and Charles Berman and Ellen Seh. ..." His son, Edward Seh, Jr. (1927-2005) was one of the original owners of Pacific Seh when it was formed in 1970.

Thomas A. Jobbagy (1883-1938) received the following obituary notice in the New York Times, 18 June 1938, "Thomas A. Jobbagy, president of the Pacific Hotel Supply Company, with offices at 352 West Fourteenth Street, died yesterday at the Park West Hospital at the age of 55. Born and educated in Hungary, Mr. Jobbagy came to this country as a young man and became associated with Swift & Co. He was vice president of the Metropolitan Hotel Supply Company until ten years ago, when he established the Pacific Hotel Supply Company. He lived at 2,720 Grand Concourse, the Bronx. Surviving are his widow; a son, Edward, and two daughters, the Misses Johanna and Dorothy Jobbagy." Thomas A. Jobbagy used the name Anton Tomas Jobbagy when he registered for the World War I draft in 1918. At that time he was employed as "Manager, Metropolitan Hotel Supply Co., 432 West 14th St., NY, NY." In 1924 he applied for a passport under the name Anton Jobbagy. The application says he was born 13 March 1883 in Virlo, Hungary, that he emigrated from Bremen, Germany, 1 Sept. 1902, and that he became a naturalized citizen 27 June 1916. He asked that the passport be sent to "T. A. Jobbagy, 432 West 14th St., New York City." Anthony Jobbagy was recorded in the 1930 U. S. Census, age 46, born Hungary, Butcher, living at 2407 Morris Ave., the Bronx. His son, Edward Jobbagy (1912-2004) was 18 years old at the time of this census. It was Edward Jobbagy who was cited as co-owner of Pacific-Seh, 46 10th Ave., in the Times article in 1980.

Edmund Silz (1893-?) was probably related to the better known August Silz (1874-1921), a poultry and meat dealer. ("At the news of Mr. Silz's death, flags on hotels were ordered at half mast by the Hotel Men's Association," New York Times, 29 March 1921.) Both men were immigrants from France. Edmund Silz, of a later generation, was possibly a nephew. Although both were engaged in wholesale food supply, they do not appear to have worked together. August Silz's business was known as the Franco-American Poultry Company.

Copyright © 2014 Walter Grutchfield