GLASS, MONTAGUE MARSDEN

GLASS, MONTAGUE MARSDEN (1877–1934), U.S. humorist. Glass, who was born in Manchester, England, was taken to the U.S. at the age of 13. He studied and practiced law in New York, but in 1909 abandoned his profession to become a full-time writer. The Jewish clients whom Glass met in his law office inspired a series of short stories which he began publishing in various magazines in 1908. The first collection, Potash and Perlmutter, appeared in 1910 and this was followed a year later by Abe and Mawruss. Though treated humorously, the two clothing manufacturers, Abe Potash and Morris Perlmutter, were sympathetically presented and their entertaining foibles and typically Jewish family virtues endeared them to Jewish readers. Both story collections became the basis of stage successes. The first Potash and Perlmutter play, produced in 1913, had long runs in New York and London. Glass also wrote Elkan Lubliner – American (1912), Worrying Won't Win (1918), and You Can't Learn Them Nothing (1930). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Waxman, Literature, 4 (19602), 974–5; S. Liptzin, Jew in American Literature (1966), 116–7. (Jo Ranson)