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CHAPTER 5
FJD as Entrepreneur:
Business, investments and Real Estate Expertise,
Legal and Notarial Career
 FTER
FJD'S STINT IN POLITICS, he got very interested in homesteads. He
had no faith in the stock market, but he did believe in investing in city and state bonds. As Ruth likes to remind
us, her father "really used to say that property ownership was the most secure investment" --both for
individuals and for the city. Investments, therefore, played an essential role in FJD's routine, since he believed
in investing any money beyond that absolutely essential for living well. He did not want to spend everything that
he earned, and he refused to put Julia on a budget because he felt that that only encouraged someone to purchase
goods or services up to the amount designated. Instead, he gave Julia whatever amount she needed for a specific
purpose, and, according to Ruth, her mother learned to manage very well with that. As Ruth likes to describe their
relationship, Julia and FJD were very different personalities, but completely complementary. Julia excelled at
housekeeping and maintained a perfectly smooth household. Whatever monies existed beyond the needs of his family
and household went directly into savings and investments. Later on, FJD was always very generous in giving his
children stocks in homesteads and other investments. When George was 24, Julius was 22, Caroline was 20 and Ruth
was 18, FJD gave each child $25,000 in principal, with the interest to be used as an allowance for any personal
expenses. Ruth feels that her parents taught them to manage their money well. In those days, $25,000 was a considerable
amount of money, a secure nest egg for the future.
True to his frugal nature, FJD wasted nothing on frivolities. Grandchild Carol Eiseman recalled walking on the
Atlantic City boardwalk with her grandfather. She would say to him, "'Grandpa, will you buy me a curio I see
in the shop window?' Though I knew he could afford to buy it, I already knew his answer. 'You know I don't waste
money on things like that" Ruth reminds us that one of his favorite sayings was, "A bargain is not a
bargain unless you really need it."
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