Caplin, Morris (Apr 1, 1905 – ?) by Angie Wheatley
Morris Caplin
By Angie Wheatley from an interview with Harvey Caplin
Morris Caplin was born in London and immigrated to New York later in his life. He married Pauline Makstein, and both were
Orthodox Jews. He was in the interior
design business much of his life. He was
a great salesman. It seemed like he
could sell anything�even during the Great Depression. However, he was also a gambler, so he made
and lost much money. Morris and Pauline
Caplin had three children: Leonard,
Harvey, and Sonia.
Morris and Pauline Caplin lived
about three to four blocks from the coast in Miami when the big hurricane of (1926?)
hit. It tore the roof off of their
house. Their oldest son, Leonard, was
born in Miami. From Miami
they moved to New Orleans, from New
Orleans to New York, then back to Miami in 1939.
Their second son, Harvey, was born
in New York City. The family lived half a block from the coast
on the second floor of a brick apartment building. One day in (1926?), the ocean seemed
different. Pauline walked out on the
porch, looked around, then told her children they would not go to school that
day. It felt like it did right before
the hurricane hit and ripped their roof off in Miami.
Later that day, without warning, a
40 foot title wave hit shore and swept all the way over to Staten
Island. During the summer,
the beach houses are full, but luckily, they were now fairly empty. Harvey
remembers watching a woman run from the shore with a baby in each arm; the wave
chased her, right at her heels. A man
from Harvey's
apartment building grabbed her and dragged her inside the building to
safety.
The wave hit just as school
released, so many children had to swim home from school. The
streets were completely flooded. Since the roads were flooded,
Morris drove
home from work on the boardwalk that was opened up for traffic.
Harvey doesn't remember any death report, but
there was no record of all the fishermen out at sea that day. There was no warning, and the wave hit
unexpectedly. Luckily, he and his family
were safe in their second floor apartment.
During the Great Depression, Morris
Caplin did very well financially. He had
a knack for earning money; however, gambling led to his downfall. Morris didn't want to own his own
business. He always tried to work for
someone else, but they couldn't stand to pay him because he earned so much
money. They didn't quite understand that
if their employee was making a lot of money, they were, too.
During the Depression, Morris owned
a very successful Interior Design business.
He continued to do well through the Depression because his clients were
millionaires. Eventually, he opened
other stores to for his friends to run.
He wanted to help them out during these difficult times; however, they
didn't run the stores well, and Morris ended up going out of business
bankrupt. Harvey remembers standing out in the street
with his aunt and all of their furniture.
He asked his aunt why they were out in the street. Apparently, they were evicted because they couldn't
pay the rent.
After the business went bankrupt, they
moved back to Miami.
It was during the war in 1939. At this time, the air force took over Miami Beach for
training. Consequently, they ordered
black outs. Morris found this to be a
tremendous business opportunity. Using
his interior design background, he began supplying and installing black out
curtains. He traveled by train to New York to buy yards
and yards of black cloth from his old business acquaintances. He handed them $10,000 to $20,000 cash under
the table to pay for the cloth. He had
to do it this way since there was such demand for cloth. Harvey
remembers big crates filled with material arriving at their home. He also remembers helping his father hang the
curtains.
During the war, all the big, ritzy
sea side hotels sat vacant in Miami. (Harvey
said they closed up in the summer anyway because it was so hot and they didn't
have air conditioning.) After the war, Harvey tried to convince
his father to buy a coastal hotel because they were selling for $40,000. But he said, "What would I do with a big,
fancy hotel?"
There were other times Harvey tried to get his
father to invest in land or back his investments, but he never saw the wisdom
in it. When Harvey and Betty were first
married, they bought a bit of coastal property between Cape Canaveral and Washington lake for $100
per acre. Morris wouldn't invest. Later, Harvey
sold the land to his brother, Leonard, for $1000 per acre. Leonard built a trailer park and made a large
amount of money off of that.
Harvey
also tried to get his dad to buy or give him a down payment for land on Washington lake, but he
wouldn't. Eventually, they placed a big
barge in the middle of the lake and channeled it so each home they built was
waterfront. The owners made millions.
When Harvey was sixteen years old, Morris left the
family. Pauline and the children really
struggled to make ends meet. Morris
eventually married Alice. Leonard and Sonia never forgave their father
for leaving the family, and they never had anything to do with Morris' second
wife, Alice. Harvey eventually
Morris Caplin was a tremendous
businessman; however, he was also quite a gambler. Throughout his life he made and lost great
amounts of money. He could sell
anything. Whenever he was low on cash,
he would go out and sell something. In
the end, he died in a rehabilitation center owing about $20,000 or $30,000
dollars to the bookies (those who kept the betting books).
Towards the end of his life, Morris
reached a point where he could not even make a decision. Although throughout his life he made choices
everyday to run successful businesses, the gambling corroded him. He physically could not make a decision about
anything. His tongue would swell up, and
he could not speak.
Caplin, Harvey (Jun 22, 1929 – ) by Angie Wheatley
Harvey Caplin
By Angie Wheatley
December 27, 2004
I was just talking with Grandpa Harvey Caplin, and he shared
some memories that I thought I should write down.
His parents lived in Miami when his older
brother was born. They then moved to New York City where
Grandpa Harvey was born. Later, after
his father's (Morris Caplin) business went bankrupt, they moved back to Miami. They lived half a block from the coast on the
second floor of a brick apartment building.
One day in (I believe) 1926, the ocean seemed different. Harvey's
mother (Pauline Makstein Caplin) walked out on the porch, looked around, then
told her children they would not go to school that day. It felt like it did right before the
hurricane hit and ripped their roof off in Miami.
Later that day, without warning, a
40 foot title wave hit shore and swept all the way over to Staten
Island. During the summer,
the beach houses are full, but luckily, they were now fairly empty. Harvey
remembers watching a woman run from the shore with a baby in each arm; the wave
chased her, right at her heels. A man
from Harvey's
apartment building grabbed her and dragged her inside the building to
safety.
The wave hit just as school
released, so many children had to swim home from school. The streets were completely flooded. Harvey's
father (Morris Caplin) drove home from work on the boardwalk that was opened up
for traffic.
Harvey doesn't remember any death report, but
there was no record of all the fishermen out at sea that day. There was no warning, and the wave hit
unexpectedly. Luckily, he and his family
were safe in their second floor apartment.
During the Great Depression, Morris
Caplin did very well financially. He had
a knack for earning money; however, gambling led to his downfall. Morris didn't want to own his own
business. He always tried to work for
someone else, but they couldn't stand to pay him because he earned so much
money. They didn't quite understand that
if their employee was making a lot of money, they were, too.
During the Depression, Morris owned
a very successful Interior Design business.
He continued to do well through the Depression because his clients were
millionaires. Eventually, he opened
other stores to for his friends to run.
He wanted to help them out during these difficult times; however, they
didn't run the stores well, and Morris ended up going out of business
bankrupt. Grandpa Harvey remembers
standing out in the street with his aunt and all of their furniture. He asked his aunt why they were out in the
street. Apparently, they were evicted
because they couldn't pay the rent.
They moved back to Miami during the war (1939). At this time, the air force took over Miami Beach for
training. Consequently, they ordered
black outs. Morris found this to be a
tremendous business opportunity. Using
his interior design background, he began supplying and installing black out
curtains. He traveled by train to New York to buy yards
and yards of black cloth from his old business acquaintances. He handed them $10,000 to $20,000 cash under
the table to pay for the cloth. He had
to do it this way since there was such demand for cloth. Harvey
remembers big crates filled with material arriving at their home. He also remembers helping his father hang the
curtains.
During the war, all the big, ritzy
sea side hotels sat vacant in Miami. (Grandpa said they closed up in the summer
anyway because it was so hot and they didn't have air conditioning.) After the war, Harvey tried to convince his father to buy a
coastal hotel because they were selling for $40,000. But he said, "What would I do with a big,
fancy hotel?"
There were other times Harvey tried to get his
father to invest in land or back his investments, but he never saw the wisdom
in it. When Harvey and Betty were first
married, they bought a bit of coastal property between Cape Canaveral and Washington lake for $100
per acre. Morris wouldn't invest. Later, Harvey
sold the land to his brother, Leonard, for $1000 per acre. Leonard built a trailer park and made a large
amount of money off of that.
Harvey
also tried to get his dad to buy or give him a down payment for land on Washington lake, but he
wouldn't. Eventually, they placed a big
barge in the middle of the lake and channeled it so each home they built was
waterfront. The owners made millions.
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