Rubel started his career selling coal and ice with a horse-drawn wagon in the tenements in the East New York section of Brooklyn.

Eventually, the ice companies folded, and Rubel switched his focus to other fields (such as brewing).

He was president of the Ebling Brewing Company at the time of his death and his net worth was estimated at $8,000,000.

He covered it with a horse and wagon... Up the tenement stoops Mr. Rubel personally carried his cakes of ice and bags of coal.

The same year Mr. Rubel bought the Ebling Brewery then in trouble with prohibition authorities for the manufacture and sale of beer.