1674-12 Jake Schreiber 1f.I.M. .
e u eYSalesmanship
•
e
ver o .
Complete with sombrero,,_gairud.utanikin`_`passengers," he drove the
streets'of Miami Beach, tossing coins into the crowds. Who could have
• guessed the true story behind the legend of Miami's eccentric millionaire?
. tOV 91975 _
By Barbara Greer This was the legend everyone luck, pressed three silver dollarswhile, the money rolled in as pro-
took for fact, a genuine American into the palm of Jake's hand. He motional stunts kept the people
"Who is Silver Dollar Jake?" hero, somewhere between Andrew never forgot the "sensation of se- in the theaters, and — sometimes
boomed the radio voice of Alan Carnegie and Pecos Bill. curity" that moment gave him. — the police knocking on the
Courtney as America the Beauti- But who was Silver Dollar Jake After serving in the Army dur- door.
ful blared in the background. It really? ing World War I (the fighting ' Then there was the time Jake
was 1958, a time when heroes and Mollie was trying to figure it ending just before he was to be met Madgelle Yerdin. She was a
heroics were growing scarce, and out. "Family didn't mean much to sent overseas), Jake migrated to classified ad taker for the Detroit
the voice had come to assure us him. . . He was the different one, Detroit where, through hard work News; he had an ad to place. She
all that the legend was real. But you know. They let him down al- and good luck, he somehow became his ticket seller, then his
assurances weren't necessary. ways. He was always a disgrace to scraped up enough money to buy bookkeeper and, finally, after a
There was hardly a person in the them. He was trying. . . you the Blackstone Movie Theater, a long engagement, they impulsive-
Miami-Miami Beac• , ..... know. . . to prove to them that final-run house on Michigan Ave- ly eloped to Toledo. Ed had a lot
- didn't recogniz: ake Schreiber he could be somebody." Her hus- nue. It was here he discovered his • of respect for Madge. "She was
cruising around in ►• i i . . sus band Ed shook his head emphati- talent for showmanship as he brilliant. She could talk with the
red convertible, his clownish face tally, keeping his annoyance in thought up methods to entice au- highest, with the President of the
peeping amusedly out from under check, "No, no, that's not it." Ed diences away from the deluxe the- United States or anybody. Jake
• the brim of a sombrero. Jacobson was Jake's nephew, a aters boasting the latest shows liked that."
After all, who could overlook a surrogate son, perhaps the person and stars.
car decked fore to aft with closest to him. For him, Jake is Jake and his brother Alexj'�
patriotic posters and assorted still alive in nostalgic reminis- would spend hours in the the- Luring the '30s, the Depression
paraphernalia; a car with mani- cences, in a garage full of memo- ater's basement, constructing affected his business as much as
kins dressed like soldiers riding in rabilia, in old home movies, in eye-catching fronts that would in- any other. It didn't take him long
the backseat, a dashboard resem- pictures and props mounted on trigue the people about the movie to realize that now, more than
. Ming the "control station on an every wall of his Lums-like res- playing inside. As if it weren't ever, the public needed entertain-
ocean liner," and — perched taurant. "He was really very lone- enough to illustrate a juicy seg- ment — but more than that,
above the side mirror — a 70- ly at heart," Jacobson concedes. ment of The Wicked Sultan and many people were in desperate
year-old blind parrot named Mike "If he'd had children, I don't His Slave Girls or Scarface using need of just having someplace to
hanging on for dear life. think he'd have done the things lifelike manikins "performing" go. The Blackstone Theater was
Silver Dollar Ja$e was a legend he did. They wouldn't have let with appropriately loud musical already open 24 hours at an ad-
in his own-lifetime — an eccentric him.- accompaniment — Jake felt com- mission of 10 cents. Jake decided
millionaire who threw silver dol- - 1-'"--"''.- "` --"41.-- pelted-to-add-his-own-brand of to operate three of his plusher
lars into the crowds, who enter- ballyhoo barking at the box office. theaters at reduced rates, ranging
twined tourists at the Beach ho- According to Jacobson, the .Jake's Blackstone became a quick from 25 to 10 cents. At the higher
tels, who celebrated the opening man and the myth were one and success, setting the pattern for priced houses, he would hand out
of a Collins Avenue restaurant by the same. The man was born in the zany promotional spectacle coffee and doughnuts, and would
parading with a pig on a leash. New York in 1891. His family of and stunts that were to become often squeeze in extra screenings
Newspaper accounts applauded nine soon moved to Cleveland, the trademark of not only his by speeding up the projector —
him as the ballyhoo showman who then on to Toledo where his par- chain of theaters, but of the man not only for the silent films, but
had sold millions of dollars' worth eats operated a combination hotel himself. the talkies as well. (Ed was willing
of war bonds, who had solicited and saloon. His father was mur- Ed often finds himself saying to admit that"kinda mumbled up
more than a thousand pints of dered by hold-up men and young "then there was the time. . . " to the sound.") Then he instituted a
blood, who had entertained thou- Jake began selling newspapers on describe the Detroit theater days. special series of contest nights
sands of wounded veterans at his Toledo streets to help support the • He came to work for his uncle as from which he earned the lasting
own expense. Most of the outra- family. He remembered his busi- an usher at age 11 and was even- title, "Silver Dollar." In addition
geous tales about him were true. est nights as being when McKin- tually promoted to doorman. "I to the film, perhaps Mondays
This was a self-made man who ley was shot and when San Fran- worked nine to nine, seven days would be grocery night, Tuesdays
had made his fortune as a "movie cisco suffered its devastating at $12 a week. Twelve hours a day family night, Wednesdays bank
mogul" in Detroit, whose friends earthquake. for $12 a week — that was some- night, Thursdays feather night,
included Presidents Harding and The myth was born a few years thing!" As the years went by, Ed and Fridays "Screen-O," a game
Roosevelt, whose Palm Island later when Jake rode the rails watched as Jake's showmanship similar to bingo. Once a week, an
home was "like a museum," who west in search of his fortune. earned him the Fine Arts Theater, amateur show would begin at
once kept a bear in his basement. Tired, hungxy and forlorn he then the deluxe Colonial, the Ma- midnight and continue to about 5
BARBARA GREER is a Miami magazine stopped a Las Vegas gambler and jestic, the Garden, the Forest, and a.m. Each act was paid one silver
writer, and has also written the screen- asked for a dime for a cup of cof- finally the tiny Blackstone II, a dollar for which they had to risk
plays for two Walt Disney movies. fee. The gambler, high on his gem with only 250 seats: All the the hook, the bell, and the hot
lb 14
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'4Nli Jake, in full regalia, with a vet. Round the GI's
4„ ',{ neck is Jake's "Order of the Silver Dollar”
a
VI JAKE
Continued
i"-h: e � .�' ,;;, r� seat as well as boos and catcalls if their perform-
. �, • :y' ances failed to please.
10• \ All through the '30s, Jake and Madge spent their
4.40
.4 ;:, winter vacations in Miami. It was on one of these trips
that they met John G. Slye, Secret Service Chief to the
� ''� `' `� \ 1 President. Through him, they met Harding and Roose-
' ! f -,a t .x' . 0 velt.
r ,>r M rte► An ardent Roosevelt admirer, he worked tirelessly
j j;�,. in Detroit to insure FDR's election and re-election,
,` r! 6 r brought his vaudeville show annually to the President's
T'-'. ... .
`. t. summer retreat, and once sent him a five-foot kosher
' -,-;,4,` , • salami for his birthday. He would write a letter of con-
1
t.,,, _rir te gratulations to almost everyone elected, would inform
t �j A`�''"lc ' ,."-./ A'`c. • the President as to how a newsreel about him was re-
r:, , �ir 4t�^„ .'� ceived in one of his theaters, and would send a three-
•� .,41y . ' ti �\ ,,,;: ,4 '�,' page telegram to the war department with advice on
-, N. p , ,4 1 / i '" i i ways to improve a poorly presented arms exhibit.
� . 1 ' 111 ` �.4 `,i f :'' It was no surprise then that, although "retired" to
. ;r h c ,.• -1„k, ►,; his Palm Island mansion in Miami since 1938, he found
a 1, t i{'> \ ,' 1 w `,.4 �. himself ready and willing to enlist his special talents at
'`, '` ' ' ' . the outbreak of World War II. Too old to don a uni-
• �'' ' '�` r r ;,,,�,,r�' form, Jake dressed up like a senior version of the Frito
• ,/, �� ; t . . r ' 7i:; Bandito — silver dollars dangling decorativelyfrom
�. g g
\ � , i` � r � the brim of his sombrero, belts of bullets around his
�II i.;, , % • . 4,'I .1/ _ neck, pistols at his sides.
i`1a '�!.+ i Too old to drive a tank, he turned his car into an
' ' • eight-cylinder animated advertisement to buy bonds
j s 1 rfL. and give blood. With his unique talent for salesman-
f •�� �� _ ship, he raised millions of do'_!s.,:s from war bond sales,
�� -.-. • ..- .- and solicited more than one thousand pints of blood,
t '`"""� 'S rte`` - awarding donors a silver dollar for their trouble. Much
A ,� ` ,.� .`'',{ W` r' Isd of his pitch was adapted from old theater days — at-
,. _2• , tractingpeople with his car, his antics,
0} p p his costume, his
--r.e' ballyhoo, and an ever-present assortment of show girls.
� Often drawinga crowd on Fla ler Street bypersonally
', .,-0-,..'r•2 .�_ *, !1) ._.>r 8
. _ ;,, _ ,, ,; ,ar - buying one bond for every one sold, he became a
; is a;•� Miami legend. Once when one of his manikin "passen-
Try today S Eve T: `,h , ,` gers" — a doll holding a flag and sign reading "Please
- save my daddy. Donate blood" — was stolen out of his
Flowers on the outside. 1 , car, he put up a $5 reward for information on the "kid-
LA.,,..:---;, .._ -i,' •. 'it
napping." Miami sentiment was so strong against the
Flavor on the inside. t =; ,�S ` ?> .•..� "meanest thief alive" that the man responsible anony-
• , , • f ' mously left the doll with a hotel clerk — along with a
! $10 contribution to the war effort.
? --51 t, = ,;. . Decked out in one of his 200 costumes, a bevy of
is ` + s, bathing-suited beauties in tow, he welcomed the Pur-
ple Hearts while they were still lying on their litters at
• • the Miami Airport, waiting for the ambulance. Pulling
S' - out a stethoscope, one of a dozen props on hand, he'd
hurriedly give each of his "patients" an "examination,"
a questionable diagnosis and an amusingly hopeful
Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined prognosis. Before leaving, the vet would be decorated
That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health. . ad:•.•: with a silver dollar looped on a red.,vhite and blue silk
. , ... :,: . .: : • :- --. u-. .. ribbon.
Through the war years, Jake gave dozens of victory
lb Continued on Page 23
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JAKE
Continued•hom Page 16
shows, enlisting the help of Sophie Tucker, Martha
Raye, Sally Rand and other performers'in the area.
He'd arrive dressed in some costume with half-a-dozen
nightclub girls, offering anywhere from 35 to 300 silver
dollars as prizes. Watermelon eating,hula and jitterbug
contests, bobbing in a tub of flour, and pinpoint bom-
bing with raw eggs were just part of the program.
Although the world could hardly fail to know the
public Silver Dollar Jake, few, if any, knew Jacob
Schreiber,the man. Some figured that behind the spec-
tacle was insecurity, a man who tried to compensate in
public for what he didn't have in private. Ed Jacobson
thinks that Jake's behavior changed significantly after
his divorce from Madge in the early '408. "That's what
caused Jake to do a lot of things. . . after-they got di-
vorced, he became the beachcomber of Miami Beach.
Before that, his showmanship was great, but it was
after the divorce that he started in on flashy cars and
silver dollars and giving away his money. . . and it
was after that he always had beautiful women hanging
around him."
The facts surrounding Madge and Jake's breakup
read like the screenplay for a B-movie. Elements of
loneliness, suspected infidelity, and blackmail weave
the fabric of a divorce that was either the cause or ef-
fect of the illness that Madge would suffer for years to
come. Ed Jacobson recalls how, after the divorce,
Madge went to live with her father in Chicago. Later,
when Ed visited her there, he found her sick and living
under dilapidated conditions. By phone, Jake ordered
him to put her on a plane and send her back to Miami.
Although they never remarried, she lived in the house
on Palm Island for the next 25 years, the remainder of
Jake's life, where she was provided with the best of
medical care. It seemed that Jake was ',somehow des-
tined to be surrounded by drama — Val as well as
manufactured.
During the years before Jake died:Ed used to
drive from his new home in Houston to Miami about
once a month, just to see how the old;.showman was
getting along. Jake hated to see him go. "I'll give you
$700 to stay another week," he once offered with his
usual brusqueness.
Lthe final years, having suffered a stroke, Jake
slowed down somewhat — but not enough to stop him
from taking fishing trips t ; Key ;=Jest, entertaining at
the Saxony, or saluting the cruise ships as they left the
Miami harbor.
Every Friday afternoon,he used to drive down Mc-
Arthur Causeway — Mike.the parrot-clutching his
perch, feathers ruffling in the wind — as they followed
alongside a luxury liner en route to the Bahamas. At
the end of the causeway, he'd stop, wait for the ship to
signal with three long blasts of its horn, and then sig-
nal back with three blasts of his own and the wave of a
flag.
On August 16, 1963, a cruise ship left the Miami
harbor. It made its way down toward the end of the
causeway, paused, then sounded its horn three times.
This time, it was Ed who signaled back. Earlier that
day, at Jake's funeral, the rabbi had spoken about the
extraordinary man who had so "dramatized his own
life," the man who had so completely merged himself
into his myth.
"We shall remember the picturesqueness, the ex-
citement,",said the rabbi,"the flamboyance that gave a
spotlight, a drama, to the commonplace lives of those .
around him. A drama which their lives otherwise may
have denied them."
Today, 12 years later, .Ed Jacobson sums it up
more simply, his face reflecting the affection that col-
ors his recollections of Jake Schreiber. "He was a soft
touch, you know. Just a warmhearted man. . . " ❑T
TROPIC—November 9,1915