Samuel Rubel

Samuel Rubel (1881-1949) was an immigrant from Russia in 1904. In the 1920 U. S. Census his occupation was described as "Coal Miner & Ice Retailer." Rubel emigrated to America in 1904 from Riga, Latvia, at the age of 23. Rubel started his career selling coal and ice with a horse-drawn wagon in the tenements in the East New York section of Brooklyn.

Samuel Rubel married Dora Nachumowitz; the two had two daughters.

Rubel became the head of the Pocono Mountain Ice Company based in Hoboken, New Jersey, which became the leading ice company in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area, buying up many of the smaller ice companies. Beginning in the 1930s with the advent of refrigeration, the harvesting of the ice from lakes became less and less profitable. Eventually, the ice companies folded, and Rubel switched his focus to other fields (such as brewing).

Rubel died on April 29, 1949. He was president of Ebling Brewery at the time of his death and his net worth was estimated at $8,000,000.

Rubel was a supporter of the Boy Scouts of America. Samuel Rubel donated a large tract of land around Stillwater Lake in Pocono Summit, PA to the Bethlehem Area Council; the land was presented to the Scouts on May 27, 1949. The land, which is now known as Camp Minsi, is still in use by the Boy Scouts today.

• Former Rubel Corp building in Coney Island