He had been born in Istanbul in 1909 and he arrived in New York in 1913 as the son of a rug merchant.
From the guardian.co.uk
How could a mere Persian rug merchant resist him?
From the washingtontimes.com
His father became a rug merchant after emigrating to the United States, and expected that his son would go into the family business.
From the en.wikipedia.org
A teacher of theater at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport, he's playing the role of the rug merchant, who sells the girls magic carpets on which they can fly home for the holidays.