Written by LPF (03/2010); Transcribed and Reformatted by JS (03/2010)
Gilbert Rosenzwieg
Gilbert Rosenzwieg passed away on December 26, 2009. He was my adopted big brother whom I’ve known all my life and worked with at Polk’s Hobby for nearly 50 years. Gil was a model airplane hobbyist as a teenager and found my father’s hobby shop in Newark in the early 1930s. He would stop in both after school and on weekends to help Nat out and to talk about model airplanes.
Gil became a member of the famous Bamberger Aero Club run by Irwin Polk and assisted by Nat. When Nat combined his Newark model airplane shop with Irwin’s in New York City, Gil officially started working with them in 1935.
Gil became the go-to guy for radio control for the thousands of hobbyists in the New York area. Roughly 350 hobby shop owners relied on Gil for the latest and greatest model airplane technology. He made the hobby happen and it became an industry in the mid 20th century. Gil devoted his life to model airplanes.
Gil moved into our OEM division, selling engines and parts to manufacturers. He and Irwin put Mabuchi Motors on the map in the United States.
He was the force behind Polk’s Hobby moving into hobby manufacturing. Gil’s perfectionism was instrumental in making nothing but the finest of products for hobbyists. Gil worked with us for more than 75 years and devoted his entire life to the model hobby industry. He will be remembered by thousands of hobbyists he has helped over the years and by his coworkers who enjoyed his company in that time.
Our condolences to Gil’s wife, Shirley. Thank you for sharing him with us. With love and thanks for being part of our company and lives.
-Lewis Polk
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