Fred L. Mandel Jr.
{{short description|American businessman (1908–1973)}}
Frederick Leon Mandel Jr. (1908–1973) was an American businessman who owned the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1940 to 1947.
Early life
Mandel was the grandson of one of the founders of the Mandel Brothers Department Store. He graduated from York High School and Notre Dame University. He contracted polio on a trip to China and was confined to an iron lung for a period of time.{{cite book |last1=Chittenden |first1=William Howard |title=From China Marine to Jap POW: My 1,364 Day Journey Through Hell |date=1995 |publisher=Turner Publishing Company |page=15}} In 1931, Mandel and his brother Leon Mandel II sponsored an expedition led by ornithologist Ernest G. Holt which collected 803 birds, 96 reptiles, and 37 mammals from the Orinoco Delta for the Field Museum of Natural History.{{cite book |last1=Julião |first1=André Gomes |title=Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo |date=2021 |publisher=Doutorado Em História Da Ciência |location=São Paulo |url=https://sapientia.pucsp.br/bitstream/handle/24290/1/Andr%C3%A9%20Gomes%20Juli%C3%A3o.pdf |access-date=3 March 2023}}
Business
Mandel was an executive in his family's department store and in 1934 was elected to the company's board of directors.{{cite news |title=Mandel Jr. Elected to Mandel Board |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=April 7, 1934}} In 1940, Mandel purchased the Detroit Lions from George A. Richards for $200,000.{{cite news |title=Detroit Lions Sold in a $200,000 Deal |work=The New York Times |date=January 17, 1940}} He was the NFL's first Jewish owner.{{cite book |last1=Riess |first1=Steven |title=Sports and the American Jew |date=1998 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |page=55 |isbn=9780815627548 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3wX21fXD-QC |access-date=3 March 2023}} The 1940s saw the Lions win only 35 games.{{cite book|first=Matt|last=Tustison|title=Detroit Lions|url=https://archive.org/details/detroitlions0000tust|url-access=registration|year=2010|page=[https://archive.org/details/detroitlions0000tust/page/12 12]|publisher=ABDO Publishing Company|isbn=978-1617140112}} The low point was when they went 0–11 in 1942. The 1942 team was so bad that they only scored five touchdowns all season, were shut out five times, and never scored more than seven points in a single game.{{cite web|first=Richard|last=Bak|title=The 1942 Lions were a winless, toothless mess|url=https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2015/11/22/the-1942-lions-were-a-winless-toothless-mess/|website=Vintage Detroit|date=November 22, 2015|access-date=March 11, 2020}}{{cite web|title=Detroit Lions 1942 Game Log|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/1942/gamelog/|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com|access-date=April 15, 2019}} On January 15, 1948, Mandel sold the team to a seven-person syndicate.{{cite news |last1=Sheehan |first1=Joseph M. |title=Syndicate of Business Men Acquires Detroit Lions Football Club |work=The New York Times |date=January 16, 1948}}
Personal life
On March 14, 1935, Mandel married Lois Klafter. They had one son, Stephen. In 1938 the Mandels moved to a French Eclectic house in Highland Park, Illinois, designed by Lois' father, David Saul Klafter.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140202105255/http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/pdfs/164915.pdf Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]{{cite book |title=Who's who in Chicago and Illinois |date=1945 |publisher=A.N. Marquis Company |page=495}} The home, known as the Mr. Fred L. Mandel Jr. House, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 2009. The couple divorced in 1944.{{cite news |title=Fred Mandel Jr. wife files for divorce |work=Detroit Free Press |date=March 29, 1944}}
Later life
In 1960, Mandel Brothers was sold to Wieboldt's.{{cite news |title=Edwin Mandel, Ex-President Of Mandel Brothers, Chicago |work=The New York Times |date=July 18, 1963}} Mandel and his second wife, Edna, moved to Honolulu, where he operated the Hawaii Stamp & Coin Shop.{{cite news |title=MANDEL, Edna Bunt |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/MANDEL-Edna-Bunt-2867150.php |access-date=3 March 2023 |work=SF Gate |date=March 8, 2002}} In 1967, Mandel sold a Hawaiian Missionary at auction for $17,000.{{cite news |title=$284,689 Stamp Auction |work=The New York Times |date=April 28, 1967}} Mandel died in 1973.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Detroit Lions owner navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandel, Fred L.}}
Category:20th-century American Jews
Category:American businesspeople in retailing
Category:American stamp dealers
Category:Businesspeople from Chicago