Giuseppe’s Stories #5
The Early Years: 1914 through 1917
What was life like for this growing family? Giuseppe and Caterina started to build a business. Since people would always need to eat, they decided to start a grocery store. Initially, Giuseppe sold produce directly from his wagon. Very early each morning, Giuseppe went to Water Street and Fulton’s Fish Markets to purchase fresh stock. When he was older, Vito went with him to help. Caterina, a working mother, helped run the business while caring for her children. She was the bookkeeper. Caterina had the math genes in the family–a trait she would pass on to daughter Teresa and son Vito. My father, Vito, marveled over how she could add up a whole page of numbers in her head and never make a mistake!
In 1910 the population of Chicago was over 2 million. How very different from the 4,000 souls in Gasperina! Giuseppe’s family was growing in a community of paesan’--fellow countrymen–who forged bonds that would serve them for generations. Four of the five families were established by the mid-1910s.
Brothers Gregoria (George) and Francesco (Frank) found a place in the local tailoring profession. Hart Schaffner Marx opened a men's clothing factory in Chicago at Franklin and Monroe in 1872. The company had a Chicago presence until the COVID-19 pandemic. Giuseppe and Saverio (Sam) would both establish family owned trucking companies.
The Hull House welcomed immigrants, created community, and helped clear a pathway to the American dream. The children participated in Hull House activities. Son, Vito, probably has the distinction of being the first child to escape from Hull House. It was the summer of 1915 when Vito slipped away from the watchful eyes of Caterina, busy with infant son Gregorio the second, (uGeorge). Four-year-old Vito wandered into the Hull House through the front door. One of the women who worked there was surprised to see that he was so young, and so alone. Since it was a warm day, she brought him into a large, cool parlor with the windows open and curtains billowing. The nice lady told the youngster to sit there and she would bring him some milk and cookies. In all probability, Vito did not understand what she was telling him. All he wanted was to get out of there. As soon as she left the room, he climbed out the window and ran back home. (Incidentally, those were probably the only cookies Vito ever turned down!)
Vito and his siblings visited the Hull House and attended performances and classes. His sister, Mary, dragged him to dance class. She needed a partner. It may have been at the Hull House that Vito was first introduced to the violin. Musical performances were frequent. He reported that he played basketball there. (That one certainly didn’t stick.) His first glimpse of their mechanical drawing classes might have prompted his future career as a design draftsman.
The family attended ethnic cultural events on Hull House Evenings. These events provided some leisure and socialization for newcomers. Programs helped preserve their cultural history for children who would never meet their grandparents. Such events validated the immigrants’ sacrifices.
Carl Sandburg, captured the joy and dignity of honest labor in his poem, “Fellow Citizens,” as he compares Chicago’s rich and powerful to a simple, honest Italian immigrant instrument maker. This is probably the only poem written that has ever mentioned Gilpin Place.
“Fellow Citizens”
I drank musty ale at the Illinois Athletic Club with the
millionaire manufacturer of Green River butter one
night
And his face had the shining light of an old-time Quaker,
he spoke of a beautiful daughter, and I knew he had
a peace and a happiness up his sleeve somewhere.
Then I heard Jim Kirch make a speech to the Advertising
Association on the trade resources of South America.
And the way he lighted a three-for-a-nickel stogie and
cocked it at an angle regardless of the manners of
our best people
I knew he had a clutch on a real happiness even though
some of the reporters on his newspaper say he is the
living double of Jack London’s Sea Wolf.
In the mayor’s office the mayor himself told me he was
happy though it is a hard job to satisfy all of the of-
fice-seekers and eat all the dinners he is asked to eat.
Down in Gilpin Place, near Hull House, was a man with
His jaw wrapped for a bad toothache,
And he had it all over the butter millionaire, Jim Kirch
And the mayor when it came to happiness.
He is the maker of accordions and guitars and not only
makes them from start to finish, but plays them after
he makes them.
And he had a guitar of mahogany with a walnut bottom
he offered for seven dollars and a half if I wanted it,
And another just like it, only smaller, for six dollars,
though he never mentioned the price till I asked
him,
And he stated the price in a sorry way, as though the
music and the make of an instrument count for a
million times more than the price in money.
I thought he had a real soul and knew a lot about God.
There was light in his eyes of one who has conquered
sorrow in so far as sorrow is conquerable or worth
conquering.
Anyway he is the only Chicago citizen I was jealous of
that day.
He played a dance they play in some parts of Italy when
the harvest of grapes is over and the wine presses
are ready for work.*
Chicago…Hull House…Gilpin Place. Dance lessons, basketball, and old Italian songs. These experiences were woven into family stories that were told and retold. Happy childhood memories to counterbalance hardship and sacrifice, poverty, loneliness, and long nights of uncertainty.
I’ve written of Mary, Vito, and George. What of the oldest son, Dominick?
This photo was taken in early in 1910. Dominick, named after Giuseppe’s father as custom demanded, was the joy of his parent’s hearts. He was an active, clever, and mischievous little boy. He and brother, Vito, would make “bombs” to scare the horses drawing cargo in the Chicago streets.
DO NOT TRY THIS ON YOUR OWN. They would fashion the bombs with carbon (probably left over from coal or wood fires), string, and a bullet (one of Giuseppe’s). Once made, the two boys would place them on the street, or on streetcar-tracks. When a wagon or truck rode over the bomb, BOOM! The two boys would run away laughing, to plan another attack. (I don’t think that a “bomb” caused Dom’s accident, but you get the idea that the two boys often played in the street.)
In the mid 1910s, there weren’t many trucks driving on Gilpin Place. Children were often in the streets: playing, crossing, working. Dominick was one of those children when suddenly the squeal of a truck breaking, the warning shouts, the woman’s scream, and a cry of agony stilled the children’s laughter. Dom was struck by a passing truck, his leg crushed under one of its tires.
The damage to his lower leg was severe but the leg could have been saved. A woman named Yolanda ran to the child. To help staunch the bleeding from the open fracture, she removed her apron and wrapped his leg with it. The apron was dirty–very dirty. Its grime and black dye infected the wound, causing blood poisoning.
At first the doctor told Guiseppe that the leg had to be removed just above the knee. Giuseppe fought the advice, but when the blood poison reached Dom’s upper thigh, there was no choice. Complete Amputation or Death. Thereafter, Dom walked with a limp caused by his “wooden leg.” It was very common for him to unstrap his prosthetic limb at family gatherings. It often hurt so he’d remove it, seeking temporary relief. He would prop the “leg” against the wall or a nearby table for awhile. No one in the family thought anything about it. It was what it was. And it didn’t interfere with whatever Uncle Dom wanted to do. He lived a full life with a good job, a loving wife (Aunt Marie), and two children (Joan and Joe) who loved their dad.
No one knows exactly when this happened, but it did occur when they lived on Gilpin Place and before he was 10. My best “guestimate” is between late 1914 and early 1916. [My thinking on it? The family’s address on Giuseppe’s Naturalization Certificate, dated February 1916, lists a residential address on Gilpin Place. As you will read in story #6, the family moved to ‘Pucci Street in 1917. The purchase of their first building was made possible–in part–with money received in settlement for the accident.]
Dominic’s accident could have been viewed as a result of “the Overlook” or Malocchio, better known as the “Evil Eye.” Southern Italians were, and still are, very superstitious.
“Malocchio is deeply rooted in fatalism..(it) reflects a pessimism that perceives threat by almost anyone and assumes that good fortune cannot endure…to prosper is to invite envy…(which) invites ill feelings that may result in harm befalling its target.”**
Hand gestures are often used to ward off the Evil
Eye. Or you can carry a charm like a cornicello (See below). Often gestures are made behind the back.
An example of the gesture (upper left)
We were raised to believe that certain actions and/or phrases would bring “bad luck” and should be avoided. “There is a limited amount of luck…If something good happens, the fatalistic southern Italians gird themselves for bad to follow…Bad luck has no limit (and) there’s likely more to come!”***
⧫ Avoid putting a hat on a bed. ⧫ Be careful not to spill salt but if you do, quickly toss a bit of the salt behind your back, preferably over your left shoulder. ⧫ If a bird flies into your home, it’s a sign of bad luck to follow. ⧫ Never open an umbrella in the house.
⧫ Avoid the numbers 13 and 17. If 13 people are seated at a table, one will die within the year. Number 17, in Roman Numerals, is XVII, an anagram for the Italian word, “VIXI.” That means “I have lived” so it is associated with death.****
Omens of bad luck include “hearing a dog baying while one prayed, encountering a female hunchback, dropping a scissors, finding an open safety pin…killing a spider. Sprinkle salt around the house to avoid bad luck. If you find a coin, be sure to spin it around before putting it in your pocket. Meeting a male hunchback is good luck. (Hmm..) Having a butterfly land on you is very good luck as is seeing a cat sneeze (black cats excepted).*****
My grandmother, Caterina, told me that I should plant when the moon is
full. I always plan my garden with that in mind. So far, the crops have been good. Especially the peppers and the tomatoes!
1916 was a special year for Giuseppe and his family. They became citizens of the United States of America! Giuseppe and his family were Naturalized. I don’t know why the children are specifically included in the document because they were born here, but they’re all listed. See a “doctored” copy below. I removed the family name.
They’d done it!. They were Americans and would never look back. They were now free to build a secure life for themselves and their children. uDom’s tragic accident helped build that future. There was a lawsuit filed because of the devastating and permanent injuries sustained. And there was a settlement.
Nothing could give Dom his leg back, but he and his brothers and sisters would have an easier time and a more secure future–with money saved, good credit, and a financial settlement.
In 1917, Giuseppe and Caterina said “addio” to Gilpin Place. They purchased a two flat on ‘Pucci Street, large enough for a growing American family.
Great uncles George (Gregorio) and Sam (Saverio) moved their families to ‘Pucci as well. George opened a tailor shop at the back of his and Jenny’s home. Nicola would live with them before his wedding. Sam raised his family across the street from George, only a few steps from the church. Brother Frank would live nearby. After their marriage in 1920, Nicola and Teresa moved to the top flat on the corner. It was a comfort to have family close. Throughout the years so many of us basked in the warmth and security of family being together–on ‘Pucci.
Next Time: Story #6 - Making a Life in Chicago, 1917 - 1920
* Sandburg, Carl. op ci, pp. 60-61.
**Malpezzi, Frances and William M. Clements. Italian American Folklore (American Folklore Series, W. K. Mc Neil, general editor). Little Rock, Arkansas: August House Publishers, Inc., 1992. Pp 117, 129.
***Malpezzi, p. 129.
****Montillo, Francesca. “Italian Superstition: ‘It’s Not True, but I Believe It!” (Italian Sons and Daughters of America). https://orderisda.org/culture/stories/Italian-superstition-its-not-true-but-I-believe-it/ 2024.
*****Malpezzi, pp 129-130.
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