Our grandfather came in 1900 at the age of 13, accompanying a younger cousin. The trip consisted of a train ride across Europe to Antwerp, where they boarded a ship to New York. They were met by family, who took them to the baths and, the next day, put my grandfather on the train to Philadelphia. In those days it was apparently not a problem to pin a note to a 13 year old boy (who did not speak English) and trust that the train conductor would make sure that he was delivered safely to his father. In any case, that's what happened.
We don't know much about these early years in the States. The rest of the family, including our great-grandmother and the younger children arrived in the country eventually. As a young man, grandfather tried his hand at several careers, including a stint as a cigar-maker (Philadelphia was once a center for that industry), finally following his in father's footsteps, becoming a cutter in the clothing industry.
Our grandfather launched its own business with his father and brothers, borrowing patterns from their workplace and setting up makeshift cutting tables in their apartment. Further orders allowed them to lease factory space and expand. Originally it was a women's clothing business, but later changed to manufacturing men's suits. Grandpop married Sadie Stein and they had three children, Lewis, Betty, and Eli (our father). Sadie passed away in the mid-1950s.The business more-or-less flourished over the next decades, supporting an extended family.
The founding Jaffe brothers were replaced in time by our uncle Lew, our father Eli, and their cousin Eli, and later our cousin Joel. The company occupied various buildings in center city Philadelphia, the last at 1216 Arch Street. Jaffe Bros. finally closed down around 1980. Uncle Lew and cousin Eli retired to Florida. Our grandfather passed away in 1985, at the age of 99. Our father and our aunt Betty passed away in 1987. Lew passed away in 1997.