Amalia Rutner, Business Owner

My grandmother's aunt and uncle, Abraham/Adolph and Amalia (Kassirer) Rutner, brought significant documentation with them to the United States from their time in Budapest; their son gave me copies a while back.  Among the papers are documents showing that Amalia was very self-sufficient, applying for various business licenses in her own name.  Initially I thought that this would have been after her husband left to America, but he did not leave until 1925, and these documents were from earlier that decade and the previous decade.

Amalia Rutner Grocery Store Permit

Translation: Budapest capital city VI. district council no. 41263/1918, trade register no. D 395/1918. Official Permit Mrs. Abraham Ruttner nee Amalia Kaszirer, resident of Budapest, having certified that she meets the qualifications for the below-named trade as set forth in act XVII of 1884, per decree no. 3678/1917 is hereby authorized to pursue the trade of grocer direct to the public. For this reason Mrs. Abraham Ruttner nee Amalia Kaszirer is registered in our trade register under no. D 395, and we issue her this official permit. Budapest 1918 Oct. 1. The 6th district council, as 1st degree trade authority: unreadable signature, town clerk, in place of district superior. Item no. 1967/1920. I attest that this copy matches the one presented to me by Mrs. Abraham Ruttner as the original. Dated in Budapest, 1920 Aug. 5. [signature]

The first document (above) is a 1920 document attesting to the fact that Amalia Ruttner (sic) was given a grocer's permit in 1918.  And her endeavors expanded from there:

Amalia Rutner Police Registration, August 1920

Translation: Writs from the Office of Registration of the state police. No. 065376. Writ. Applicant [blank] is hereby notified that in Budapest capital city, Mrs. Abraham Rutner nee Malvin Kaszirer was registered from Aug. 1, 1911 to Aug. 12, 1912, from Jul. 8, 1914 to Jun. 28, 1915, and from Sep. 13, 1916 to Feb. 4, 1917; is registered since Aug. 20, 1917, last address since Jun. 4, 1919 at VI [district;; could be VII, can't quite tell] Próféta [Prophet] street no. 9. Budapest, Aug. 3, 1920.

The above document, also from 1920, shows that Amalia had a police background check as part of applying for a permit.  It notes the dates in which she was registered in Budapest (in translation above).

Police report as part of the application process for a liquor license, 1922

Translation: Budapest Hungarian Royal State Police Superintendent office. No. 10942 [unknown abbreviations: fk, l], 1922. Certificate. Mrs. Abraham Rutner nee Malvin Kaszirez, born in: ?zpélrova [too faded to make out the beginning, and I'm not too sure of my reading of the rest, either], religion: Jewish, marital status: married, occupation: merchant, application for: liquor license [literally "drink-measuring permit"]; I attest for the purpose of the license request that during her stay here from 1912 [too faded to make out month or date] to today [or May, the fold-tear isn't helping; can't make out anything in the day field in any case], her behavior has been morally and politically unobjectionable from a police standpoint. [Note that "politically" is a handwritten addition.] Dated in Budapest, 1922 May 6.

The above document shows that in 1922, Amalia expanded from her earlier grocery selling to selling liquor.  It also notes that she had been in Budapest since 1912.

In December 1925, Abraham/Adolph left to America.  In September 1928, Amalia and the couple's two sons joined him.  Presumably she continued to support herself and the children during that three year gap as well.  More on the family's emigration in a future post.

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