Growing up Italian/Sicilian in Orange County... In the beginning mom and dad arrived in the USA about 1890, but they didn't meet until years later in New York, where they married in the Catholic church... Italian style, meaning my father was the macho man, cigar and all. 
Our first realization into new technology is that it can replace our jobs.
The newspaper companies starting placing racks in markets so when the papers would arrive the market clerk would simply place the papers on the rack and then the customer were forced to go into the market to buy it thus not needing paperboys to hawk their newspapers on the corner.
The war was over and people were happy and business was good. In the years from 1945 until even now I was always attracted to music, and my first influence was the military and other marching bands that were in the Huntington Beach 4th of July parade. Sitting on the curb in front of our business/ home on Main Street in Huntington Beach I can still remember how the drum section would just vibrate my whole body and I new I wanted to play the drums. It took a few years until I could afford a set of drums and lessons by Professor Murry Spivack to teach me but I finally did. I auditioned and made the drum line my first year of high school. I felt as thought I was in heaven. Playing in the high school marching band had many benefits such as going to other city's to march in their parades and this meant riding on our school bus along with the cheerleaders, song leaders, which were all females. Needless to say this experience got my physical attention like nothing else. My being a first generation American, I remember how much I loved my family my lifestyle and my Italian heritage .
My father Alberto was a craftsman shoemaker, more on that later, stay tuned. About 1936 they moved from New York to the great city of Huntington Beach. Being Italian and coming from a country that the USA was at war with didn't go well with the locals but my parents were so lovable that they soon were accepted and began to prosper. My mother, Vita was a total bundle of ambition and eventually she bought her first restaurant... what is today called the Sugar Shack. She was the first to introduce Italian food to Orange County.
Growing up Italian I'm Orange County.
My Mother restaurant was doing a swift business and my father was repairing and making shoes and boots for even the Hollywood elite.
Meanwhile my brother Sammy and I would spend our days at the beach, collecting discarded coke bottles to buy our lunch usually a hamburger and fries like you never tasted before. The intire summer I only wore a red bathing suit. And the only rule we had was to be home by dark.
Sundays we would have to dress up to go th church with momma.
At some point Sammy and I became alter boys and what a mean priest we had.
Being a alter boy at that time was good because after mass people would give us tips/ money so that made it worth putting up with the mean priest. Our church was the original St Simon and Jude's CC on tenth and olive st. That church is still there and has a many loyal followers. Growing up Italian and good catholic boys dosent mean we were really good boys. More to come .
Chapter # 3
The first 7 years of my life was living on main st in our make shift apt behind the shoe repair shop. We had a partioned off bedroom and bathroom but no kitchen or bathtub. We always ate our meals in moms restaurant and for our twice a week bath my mother would take my brother and I across the street to a sm hotel and mother would pay the owner maybe .25 cents to let us use the hall bathtub. My brother Sammy was 3.5 years older than I and he was supposed to be my babysitter. Because Sammy was a rough hell raising kid ...He got us into a lot of trouble from stealing candy and fruit from the local market ect ect. We even took a joy ride in a USA post office car and drive it up and down airplane hill...nobody ever new the car was missing, But I'm not sure about that.
We would spend our summer days surfing and riding the waves and jumping off the pier. Back then the life guards had a rope ladder hanging off the pier and we could use that ladder to climb back up to the top of the pier and jump again....Some of you may remember the great Buddy Belchie a long time HB lifeguard.. Well Sam would hang with buddy because Buddys dad was the chief of police of HB . Sam new even then the importance of having friends in high places. Lol but true .
Sammy would always get a job and then make me do the work. One job I well remember was selling the news paper.... The Los Angelus times..at that time newspapers were was the only media to read at 5 cents each... So through flat out intimidation Sammy secured a prime location on Main Street where ...(The Standard Market) was..to sell our papers and he made me the hawker to yell out the headlines of the day .. I can only remanber one headline and that was Japan Surrenders ... We sold out all of our papers so Sam goes and works a deal with another paper man on a different Corner to take his left over papers to sell. We got paid by how many papers we could sell every day . Sam realized the value of having me yelling and hawking because I was so small and cute. The customers would simply throw 5 cents in our radio flyer wagen. But because of me people would sometimes throw dimes or quarters.
More to come .
Chapter. 4.
Our first realization into new technology is that it can replace our jobs.
The newspaper companies starting placing racks in markets so when the papers would arrive the market clerk would simply place the papers on the rack and then the customer were forced to go into the market to buy it thus not needing paperboys to hawk their newspapers on the corner.
The war was over and people were happy and business was good. In the years from 1945 until even now I was always attracted to music, and my first influence was the military and other marching bands that were in the Huntington Beach 4th of July parade. Sitting on the curb in front of our business/ home on Main Street in Huntington Beach I can still remember how the drum section would just vibrate my whole body and I new I wanted to play the drums. It took a few years until I could afford a set of drums and lessons by Professor Murry Spivack to teach me but I finally did. I auditioned and made the drum line my first year of high school. I felt as thought I was in heaven. Playing in the high school marching band had many benefits such as going to other city's to march in their parades and this meant riding on our school bus along with the cheerleaders, song leaders, which were all females. Needless to say this experience got my physical attention like nothing else. My being a first generation American, I remember how much I loved my family my lifestyle and my Italian heritage .
