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A group of Sephardic men socialize while eating seafood inside the garage of
Pacific Fish & Oyster Co. (1940-45)
A group of Sephardic men socialize while eating seafood inside the garage of Pacific Fish & Oyster Co. (1940-45)
Nessim Alhadeff in 1904 became the first Sephardic Jew to immigrate to Seattle from Rhodes. He sold fish out of a basket, then a pushcart, and eventually a horse-and-buggy. Nessim spoke fluent Greek, making it easy for him to connect with Pike Place Market vendors who had emigrated from Greece. He opened Palace Fish Co. along Seattle’s waterfront in 1912, selling product to his Market contacts, local restaurants, and (on Thursdays and Fridays) to corner grocery stores that had a lot of Catholic customers. His three sons – Charlie, Jack and Ike – eventually ran the family’s seafood business under the name Pacific Fish & Oyster Co. The brothers distributed salmon and halibut nationwide, buying fish directly off the boats that docked at seaport towns. They also operated salmon canneries in the states of Washington and Alaska.
