This is a poster advertising a Purim masquerade ball taking place on March 21, 1932 in Haifa. The ball was held at the En-Dor Theatre and featured two bands, games, and prizes. The members of the bands were given the names of characters from the Book of Esther on which the holiday of Purim is based: for example, “Mordechai on the violin,” “Haman on the bass” and “Esther on the piano.” The programme of the evening’s festivities is listed on the poster and includes dancing, prizes, skits, and more. The presence of “Shayna Sheindel”, perhaps a reference to a character in Sholom Aleichem’s writing, is announced on the poster, on which she is depicted as an old woman with a large nose, glasses, an apron, and a shawl. The poster is printed in red and green and the text is written in both Hebrew and English, as was common during the time of the British Mandate. It is interesting to note the phone number at the bottom of the page – Tel. 614. This indicates that the total number of telephones in 1932 could not have been more than 999!
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Purim - Purim is celebrated on the 14 Adar as the day the Jewish people were saved from destruction during the fourth century BCE. The heroine of the Purim story, Queen Esther, worked together with her uncle, Mordechai, to reverse the decree of genocide issued against the Jewish people by Haman, the vizier of Persia. It is the tradition on Purim to dress up in costumes, distribute small food packages known as mishloach manot, give charity, and listen to the reading of the Megilla – the Book of Esther.
Haifa – Haifa is a city situated on the northern coast of the Mediterranean on the slopes of Mount Carmel. Archaeological findings show that the area was inhabited as early as the late Bronze Age. Throughout history, the area has been inhabited by Israelites, Phoenicians, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, British, and now Israelis. Due to its location on the Mediterranean Sea in a natural bay, it has been a major port and thus a centre of commerce and industry since historical times. The size of the settlements in the Haifa area varied throughout history. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Jewish and Arab migrants came to Haifa, and the city began a process of urban and industrial development which included the port, a railway service to other parts of Israel and even to Syria, and a power station. The city became known as a largely workers’ city and was therefore dubbed “Red Haifa.” In 1919 the Technion Institute of Technology was established along with various cultural institutions. The city with its mixed population of Jews and Arabs was a place of conflict towards the end of British Mandate, and many Arabs left the city. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, new neighbourhoods and institutions were built, turning Haifa into the regional capital of northern Israel. Today Haifa is Israel’s third largest city with a mixed Jewish-Arab population of around 300,000, who mostly coexist peacefully despite sporadic tensions that arise especially at times of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
