Subject: Business enterprises -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh -- History

Billhead of M. Oppenheimer & Co., dated October 23, 1899. The billhead features a lithograph of the nine-story Oppenheimer building located at 233 Liberty Street and 811 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It lists M. Oppenheimer, James K. Jacobs, and A. M. Oppenheimer as principals. This billhead is part of the Kaufman, Oppenheimer & Co. Archive, a collection of billheads, receipts, and broadsides documenting the evolution of this influential Jewish manufacturing and wholesale clothing firm from the late 1870s through 1902. Founded in 1851 as Klee & Kaufman by Simon Kaufman and his father-in-law Jacob Klee, the firm became Kaufman, Oppenheimer & Co. in 1865 with the addition of Moses Oppenheimer as a partner. In 1879, Simon Kaufman withdrew, resulting in the firm's name change to M. Oppenheimer & Co. The firm had substantial revenue (approximately $8,000,000 in 2016 dollars) and employed 150 people in its manufacturing operations. Both Moses Oppenheimer and Simon Kaufman were active members of the Pittsburgh Jewish community and founding members of Rodeph Shalom Synagogue.

Billhead from Rauh Brothers & Co., manufacturers and wholesalers of men's furnishing goods, located at 800-802 Liberty Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dated December 17, 1894. The principals of the firm were Enoch, Marcus, Abe I., and Chas. M. Rauh. Enoch Rauh was the leading figure in the company. The company's history included an earlier dry goods store on Second Avenue, run by Solomon Rauh (c.1822-1880) and his brother-in-law, Abraham Lippman. Enoch Rauh and his brothers, with the support of Abraham Lippman, established the wholesale men's clothing business around 1879/80, initially on Wood Street, later expanding to 800 Liberty Avenue and 951 Penn Avenue. By 1886, it employed over 100 people and had a branch in New York, serving Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. After Enoch Rauh's death in 1919, the Enoch Rauh Club, a social and philanthropic organization, was formed in his memory.

Broadside consisting of two letters, dated March 25, 1899 and an undated letter from early April 1899. The first letter announces the consolidation of the Pantaloon business conducted by W. E. Klee & Co. into M. Oppenheimer & Co., effective April 1, 1899, to be known as the Pantaloon Department. The second letter, from W. E. Klee & Co. to its customers, assures them that M. Oppenheimer & Co. will employ all of Klee's workforce and continue the same lines of business. This broadside documents a significant event in the history of M. Oppenheimer & Co., a prominent Pittsburgh clothing firm that evolved from Klee & Kaufman, founded in Allegheny City in 1851 by Simon Kaufman and his father-in-law Jacob Klee. This broadside is part of the Kaufman, Oppenheimer & Co. Archive, a collection of billheads, receipts, and broadsides covering the firm's evolution from the late 1870s through 1902.