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My father read the newspaper without fail. He used to sell lace and tassels under the window coverings and muslin drapes that we call roller shades now. He would buy big packages of strings, go to specific women and manufacture tassels according to demand.
And I and my older sister put knots together in the house. He sold ribbons of lace along with the tassels. There was a market in every neighborhood every day. In Fatih, in Sariyer, on Tuesdays in Karakoy, on Fridays in Kasimpasa, there were markets. My father would gather up this merchandise in the evenings, put it in a trunk [he had his name on the trunk], and in the morning the trunk would go to the other place. We worked on Saturdays too. We went to the market in Besiktas.
We rested on Sundays. Until 1929, the official holiday was Friday... until it changed and became Sunday. My older sister Rejina started working at the tailor, and did housework on Sundays.
And I and my older sister put knots together in the house. He sold ribbons of lace along with the tassels. There was a market in every neighborhood every day. In Fatih, in Sariyer, on Tuesdays in Karakoy, on Fridays in Kasimpasa, there were markets. My father would gather up this merchandise in the evenings, put it in a trunk [he had his name on the trunk], and in the morning the trunk would go to the other place. We worked on Saturdays too. We went to the market in Besiktas.
We rested on Sundays. Until 1929, the official holiday was Friday... until it changed and became Sunday. My older sister Rejina started working at the tailor, and did housework on Sundays.
Location
Beyoğlu/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Nesim Levi