David Rubins, Tailor (1883-1957)

One of the most enjoyable aspects of studying material culture is the ability to tie objects back to their owners and sharing their stories. This rather plain doubled sided tailor’s sign board came to auction after being bought from a local Oklahoma City, Oklahoma architectural salvage yard. The salvage yard owner claimed that the board came from England and offered little more information about the sign, but in fact there was much more to discover.

Dave Rubins was born to Jewish parents as Rubin Davgovski on May 3, 1884 in the Lithuanian capital city of Vilna. Sometime around 1900, Rubin moved to England where he apprenticed as a tailor and met his first wife Celia Phillips. The couple had one child, Helena Annie Rubins born on August 3, 1904 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Almost immediately following the birth of Helena, Celia died. In 1909, Rubin; now a widower, decided to move his very young family to the United States

On February 27, 1909, 26 year old Rubin Davgovski and his 6 year old daughter Helena went to Southampton, England to board the American Line 10,500 ton ship, Philadelphia. The ship was built by J & G Thomson of Glasgow, Scotland for the Inman Line of Liverpool, making her maiden voyage on October 23, 1888. In 1893 she joined the American Line and had a capacity of 540 first class passengers, 200 second class, and 1,000 third class passengers. With third class tickets in hand, the Davgovskis joined the total 299 passengers onboard bound for Cherbourg, France and finally New York City. The Southampton ship’s manifest also documents the first written record of Rubin Davgovski name change, anglicizing his last name to Dave or David and making it his first and taken his first name Rubins and making it his last. The manifest also listed his occupation as a tailor.

After Eights days at sea, David and Helena arrived in New York City, passing through immigration at Ellis Island. After processing, their ultimate destination was listed as the fairly remote Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Oklahoma City was quickly growing as the industrial center of the newly admitted stated to the Union and in 1910 would become the capital. The Rubins may have been attracted to this area with the newly established Temple B’nai Israel built in 1908 for the growing Jewish community.

Only a month and a half later, the United States Federal Census enumerator caught up with David Rubins. He was listed as a boarder in Oklahoma City at A. F. Douglas’s home with six other individuals. His daughter Helena was not listed. Rubins found work with the tailoring firm of W. M. Williams. Williams, a second generation American, established one of the first tailoring businesses in the Oklahoma Territory. On Christmas Eve 1916, Rubins was remarried by Rabbi Joseph Blast of Temple B’nai Israel to Ida Schwartz and they later had three children:

• Philip Moses Rubins (1917-2009)

  • Served in World War Two earning the rank of 1st Lieutenant with the 96th Infantry Division in the Pacific Theater. He was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart in the Battle of Okinawa. As a research engineer he was awarded the American Rocket Society "Igniter" award in 1961. In 1963 he was the recipient of the Society of Automotive Engineers "Wright Brothers Medal." His work in supersonic combustion research resulted in over a dozen papers and patents. Some of this work formed the basis of the proposal for a "Tokyo Express" plane for flying at hypersonic speeds into space. His work with gas turbine research led to methods of pollution reduction for gas turbine engines.

• Esther Edith Rubins (1920-1996)

• Alfred Emanuel Rubins (1923-2006)

Oklahoma City Directories listed Rubins at the following locations and provided the following information throughout his lifetime. Rubins also advertised frequently in Oklahoma City Newspapers.

• 1911: Tailor, W. M. Williams, Rooms 324 E. 7th Street

• 1917: Tailor, W. M. Williams, Residents 444 1/2 W. 9th Street

• 1918: Tailor, W. M. Williams, Residents 619 W. 23rd Street

• 1920: Tailor, W. M. Williams, Residents 619 W. 23rd Street

• 1921: Tailor, W. M. Williams, Residents 619 W. 23rd Street

• 1922: Forman, Residents 1416 W. 33rd Street

• 1927: Forman Williams Tailor, Home 1420 W. 33rd Street

• 1928: Forman Williams Tailor, Home 1420 W. 33rd Street

• 1932: 22 S. Robinson Ave (Men’s Furnishing - Retail)(Tailors), Home 1420 W. 33rd Street

• 1933: Tailor, Home 1420 W. 33rd Street

• 1935: Tailor, 128 1/2 W. Main Street, Home 1420 W. 33rd Street

• 1936: Tailor, 128 1/2 W. Main Street, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

• 1937: Tailor, 219 N. Robinson Ave, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

• 1938: Tailor, 219 N. Robinson Ave, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

• 1939: Tailor, 219 N. Robinson Ave

• 1940: Tailor, 219 N. Robinson Ave

• 1941: Tailor, 219 N. Robinson Ave, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

• 1942: Tailor, 219 N. Robinson Ave, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

• 1944: Tailor, 219 N. Robinson Ave, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

• 1945: Tailor, 219 N. Robinson Ave, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

• 1947: Tailor, 219 N. Robinson Ave, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

• 1949: Tailor, 206 N. Harvey Ave, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

• 1952: Tailor, 206 N. Harvey Ave

• 1955: Tailor Shop, 309 N. Robinson, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

• 1957: Tailor Shop, 309 N. Robinson, Home 1420 NW. 33rd Street

Dave Rubin continued as a tailor until his death on September 26th, 1957 at age 73. He is buried with his wife at Fairlawn Cemetary in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Do you know more? Please contact me to correct or add information!

Last Update: March 25, 2019