Potash and Perlmutter

Potash and Perlmutter (1913), a comedy by Montague Glass (and Charles Klein, uncredited). [Cohan Theatre, 441 perf.] Mawruss Perlmutter (Alexander Carr) and Abe Potash (Barney Bernard) are partners in the garment trade. And, oy, have they got problems! Like the customer who says, “I can send a check, but you'll have to wait for the money,” to which they can only retort, “Send the money and we'll wait for the check.” They also must find a new designer and a new salesman. But their biggest woe comes with the news that an employee, wanted by the Russian government on a murder charge, seemingly has reneged on the $20,000 bail Abe has paid and brought them close to bankruptcy. They put aside their perpetual bickering and finagling to save their firm. As a bonus, the new designer, Ruth Snyder (Louise Dresser), proves so wonderful that Mawruss marries her. Based on Glass's short stories in the Saturday Evening Post, the work was hailed in a Times headline as “Indescribably Enjoyable Entertainment.” The A. H. Woods production was a big enough hit to prompt the sequels Abe and Mawruss (1915), Business before Pleasure (1917), His Honor Abe Potash (1919), Partners Again (1922), and Potash and Perlmutter, Detectives (1926). Barney BERNARD (1877–1924), a short, balding, mustachioed man with very slightly crossed eyes, was born in Rochester, New York, and began his career as a Jewish‐dialect comedian in vaudeville. He played in San Francisco for many years, then found growing renown in a variety of productions. His greatest success came with these Abe Potash and Perlmutter comedies, but he died at the height of his popularity.