last word
Rich Wexler
ARCHIVES JEWISH CULTURE
Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
Courtesy of Rich Wexler
R ich Wexler is always looking for
little-known stories in American
Jewish culture like this one:
With a knack for finding musical
talent, Jewish-American
record company executive and producer
Henry Stone discovered groups such
as KC and the Sunshine Band. His
son, Joe Stone, had a different musical
legacy. Alongside Eric Lambert, Joe Stone
founded 2 Live Jews — a parody of
Miami-based hip-hop group 2 Live
Crew — and performed for decades as
a parody and comedy duo.

This information is hardly popular
culture. However, the Jewish Vintage
Annals Archive and its accompanying
podcast are replete with information
about the band and its history, as well
as dozens of other moments in Jewish
American culture.

Wexler, a West Philadelphia resident,
has run the project and podcast, an
offshoot of the Vintage Annals Archive,
for only a month, but the Vintage
Annals Archive has been around for
almost 13 years, a treasure trove of
self-proclaimed “obscure, weird,
historical, and inappropriate stuff since
2010.” First an Instagram account, the
archive soon became a website and
then a podcast, with guests such as
actor Stephen Tobolowsky and Guns
N’ Roses founding member Tracii
Guns. The archive’s Instagram page
boasts more than 36,000 followers.

Each post and episode is dedicated
to a specific little-known moment in
American culture. The Jewish iteration
of the project does the same.

“I’ve always loved thrift stores; I’ve
always collected old photos. Really,
I’ve always just liked the history of
things,” Wexler said.

A photographer for the past 15 years
and a former teacher, Wexler, 52, loves
the stories that pictures tell. He wants
to feel like the cool older brother or
teacher, getting people interested in
the weird and wacky.

Vintage Annals Archives started as a
way for Wexler to catalog his collection
of photos, memorabilia and trivia. In the
page’s first five years, it only had about
400 followers until actor Amy Sedaris
reposted a picture from the page on
her account. The next day, Wexler woke
up to nearly 5,000 followers. Since
then, celebrities such as Paul Reubens,
better known as Pee-wee Herman,
and Netflix’s “Wednesday” star Jenna
Ortega have followed the account.

Though the Vintage Annals Archives
has only had its Jewish offshoot since
March, the project has always had a
strong Jewish influence.

“I would say being Jewish is a big
part of my life, but in terms of being in
the culture, living Jewish ideals, Jewish
stories, but not so much practice in
formal ways,” Wexler said.

Wexler wanted to profile a triptych
of Jewish artists and creatives, includ-
ing photographer Arlene Gottfried
(also the sister of famous voice Gilbert
Gottfried), for a Vintage Annals Archive
series. Through Wexler’s research and inter-
views, however, he realized how many
people he thought weren’t Jewish
actually were.

“There were like two or three situa-
tions where I had no idea that person
was even Jewish,” Wexler said. “And I
interviewed them, and I started looking
at all my stuff, and I’m like, ‘Sh–, I have
a lot of Jewish content, even though
that wasn’t the plan.’”
A series featuring three Jewish
artists quickly grew. By formalizing the
Jewish Vintage Annals Archive, Wexler
gave a home to the Jewish cultural
content he had curated over the years
and plans to curate in the future.

He’s protective over his Jewish
identity, especially in a time of rising
antisemitism. Showing off what he
thinks are the coolest parts of Jewish
culture was a way to show Jewish
pride. Along with additional projects
featuring LGBT people and people
of color, Wexler wants to celebrate
marginalized identities and show
people what they offer.

Wexler can’t explain what draws him
to the material that so many people
overlook. He grew up a Conservative
Jew in Northeast Philadelphia, attend-
ing Hebrew school and BBYO, which
exposed him to the Jewish art and
music world.

“I was always a bit of an artsy, weird
kid,” he said.

Dyslexic, reading books was
challenging and uninteresting to
Wexler, but documentaries and pictures
were replete with stories. They were
an access point to an esoteric world.

But as a teacher, Wexler didn’t want
to keep his collection and knowledge
to himself. He had a strong hunch that
his collection was one that needs to
be shared.

“I’d pay like $100 for old Super 8
(mm) film from the ‘70s that I had no
idea [about]. I paid 50 bucks at a thrift
store for 200 photos of people I don’t
know,” Wexler said. “It felt like I needed
to give a home to them.” ■
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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