86g-Emily Leatrice 1953-1955-The lifestyle of one real 1950s housewife, Part 7-Good Neighbors

Series Note

This posting is Part 7 of “The Lifestyle of one real 1950s housewife” series based on memories and family stories EmilyAnn’s late Mom, Aunties and Grandmothers shared with her as she was growing up. 

Introduction

Emily Leatrice had much to consider before hosting a Coffee Klatch.  During the 1950s a housewife was judged by how well she kept her home.  Neighbors judged her as a mother by how the children were dressed, their manners and interactions with others.  And as a wife she was judged by whether or not her husband was respectful towards her and came home from work on time.  Emily was cautious for good reason. 

The 1950s was a time when silent judgements were made about one’s moral character based on conformance to external standards of behavior.  A good woman was a married woman and a married woman was a good wife when she gave her husband children, a clean home and a meal cooked from scratch.  A woman who divorced a man known to have treated her badly was still stigmatized to such an extent children were discouraged from playing with her children. 

Emily’s concerns were not at such a deep level yet she wanted to avoid attracting a gossip or lazy person into her home.  She wanted to form friendships with women in the neighborhood with whom she felt comfortable and who could be trusted. 

Emily and Frank had moved into a 6-room house with only the furniture from a 3-room apartment.  Their daughter EmilyAnn did not have a fancy layette, baby carriage or even a nursery.  For her there was a changing table and a crib.  Whatever the family had was functional and fulfilled a necessity.  There was no dining room set and not much of a living room suite either.  If Emily was to have someone outside of the family visit, she wanted to make sure they would not take the lack of a completely furnished house as something to gossip about.

Relationship Notes

Emily Leatrice Serrapede married Frank Jesse Terry* in 1950.  She was 19 and he was 23 years of age.  Their first child, EmilyAnn, was born in November 1953.  Up until the fourth month of her pregnancy Emily worked as a legal secretary.  In the months following EmilyAnn’s birth, Emily had many adjustments to make:  living on one salary, being a full-time housewife, and a bad bout of the post-partum Baby Blues. 

Right before EmilyAnn was born Emily and Frank moved into a 1 family house in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, New York. Emily found it challenging to select new friends on the block since she knew nothing about the families.  There was nobody who could advise her on who was good company and who was to be avoided.  As she thought about inviting a neighbor or two to coffee Emily realized she already had friendly relationships with a few women on the block.  She decided to cultivate these women as friends even though others on the block frequently told her to seek out younger women to talk to. 

Family Story:  The Good Neighbors

When Emily Leatrice and Frank moved into the house at the end of the row, they were not anticipating making many friends on the block.  With a baby on the way there was no time for socializing and getting to know new people.  Still, Emily and Frank knew it was essential to be on good terms with all the neighbors in the row since they all shared a community driveway that ran in back of the houses.

It also was to one’s advantage to be courteous to all the neighbors and exchange pleasant small talk since each neighbor kept an eye out for the children during the times they were playing outside.  It also was not unusual for a neighbor to accept a delivery when the recipient was out. 

Sharing the driveway sometimes required a discussion between neighbors when one neighbor was expecting to pull out of the driveway and needed the cooperation of the other neighbor further up to move their car at that time.  This was a situation Frank was often in since he lived at the end of the row.  It would not do to ignore any neighbor and then ring their doorbell only when they were needed for something.  That was not how living on the block went.

Good neighbors also took notice when another neighbor had a complaint about their child.  Only a few neighbors loudly yelled at naughty children who pulled flowers from their gardens or threw gum wrappers onto their stoops.  Most neighbors admonished them but never loudly or in a way to attract attention.  The usual and accepted course of action was for the neighbor affected by the child’s naughty behavior to take the matter up with their parents.  The affected neighbor rang the parent’s doorbell and asked for permission to step inside for a few minutes.  During that time the neighbor relayed their complaint and the parent then took care of disciplining their child.

Emily and Frank had expected the young parents on the block to be the first they became familiar with after EmilyAnn’s birth.  Some couples did acknowledge them but for the most part there were four middle aged people living in three of the row houses who became good neighbors to Frank and Emily.  As EmilyAnn was growing up, Emily often cited these good neighbors for the many small, often unnoticed ways they were helpful and kind.

One of the Good Neighbors was{

• Mrs. Robertazzi, a widow, who lived at the end of the row.

What these Good Neighbors had, Emily always emphasized to EmilyAnn, was consistency in how they behaved.  There were never any doubts about them meaning what they said and meaning what they did.  Their thoughts, words and actions all carried forward in a predictable and respectable way.  That, Frank often added, was a mark of a reliable person.  One could even extend trust to them should the opportunity arise to become better acquainted.

EmilyAnn was instructed to always call them by their proper name and use Mrs. or Mr. according to who she spoke to.  With the exception of Mrs. Robertazzi, who was a real firecracker when she got worked up about something, the other Good Neighbors were very focused and conversed in a low-key manner.  Together, these Good Neighbors helped Emily re-engage with the outside world after experiencing a post-partum slump into which she retreated in early 1954.

85g-Remembering our community-Dr. Ettore De Tata

Introduction

In this posting, we have pulled together as much information as we could find about Dr. Ettore De Tata.  He was the physician to the Serrapede family starting in the Great Depression and continuing until his retirement and move to New Jersey sometime in the late 1950s.  At Uncle Sammy’s prompting, I gathered together what I could from official documentation at Ancestry.  These provide facts.  The golden find in the research, though, came in the form of a chapter in an online memoir written by Jason C. Mavrovitis.  In Chapter 5 of his memoir Out of the Balkans, Jason recounts how Dr. De Tata became not only his family’s trusted physician, but a lifelong friend of the family as well.  Jason’s memoir is compelling reading because it is based not only on facts but the personal, first hand experiences of his family members which he recorded in the memoir.  There is a rough, unfinished, and magnetic forcefulness in the memoir because it is written from the heart.  A link is included here and in the Resources section to navigate you to the site where Jason’s memoir is hosted.

In our discussion, Uncle Sammy shares his memories of Dr. De Tata to complete our tribute to this dedicated man who was motivated by a spirit of service to humanity and his country. 

Relationship Notes

Josie and Sam Serrapede were born in Agropoli, Italy in the early 20th Century.  Josie’s family immigrated to America in the 1910s.  Sam came later, in the late 1920s.  They married in 1930 and settled in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, NY.  The Serrapede family lived in different apartment houses throughout the 1930s through 1950s with most being situated within the neighborhood of 65th Street between 11th to 13th Avenues. 

Josie and Sam’s children featured in our posting:  Emily Leatrice, Gerald and Sammy.  In the early 1940s the Serrapede family moved to 1168 65th Street.

Dr. Ettore Joseph De Tata practiced medicine in the community of Dyker Heights with his office located in his parent’s house at 1147 65th Street.

Beginning our search for Dr. De Tata

During our initial discussions about Dr. De Tata all Uncle Sammy and I had was his last name and the street where his office was located.  At first the name searches were tricky because we had to use Detata, De Tata, de Tata and other variations.  The 1950 Brooklyn Telephone Directory gave us the correct spelling and confirmed the address:  1147 65th Street.  Now that the address was confirmed we could proceed to review Federal and New York State Census records with confidence and know we had the right family.

Meet Dr. De Tata’s parents, Raphael and Anna

The following overview of Dr. De Tata’s family is derived from the Federal Census for 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940.  For 1925 the New York State Census was used.

Raphael De Tata was born in Italy c. 1871 and came to the U.S. in the early 20th Century, prior to 1910.  Circa 1900, in Italy, he married Elisa.  In different census years, Elisa appears as Lizzie or Elizabeth.  No information about Elisa’s parentage was available on other De Tata family trees at Ancestry.  We also are not in a position to verify any information about Raphael’s lineage.  So we focused on the family after they came to America. 

In 1910, the Raphael and Anna lived in an apartment at 10 Broome Street in Lower Manhattan.  Raphael was a tailor by trade but had been out of work for 14 weeks.  He continued to work as a tailor and by 1920 was employed at a coat shop.  At this time the family was living at 329 Broome Street.  Life changed within the next 5 years when Raphael and Anna joined the wave of immigrants leaving Manhattan for a better quality of life in the boroughs.  For them the move proved a good one because they went to the community of Dyker Heights which had a solid working class and middle class demographic.  The family lived at 1147 65th Street as recorded in the 1925 New York State Census.  Raphael continued to work as a tailor.

According to the 1930 Federal Census, the De Tata family had achieved a milestone in living the American Dream:  they owned the two family home at 1147 65th Street which was valued at $1,200.  Raphael continued to work as a tailor. 

Elisa and Raphael’s first two children, Susan and Ettore were born in Italy.  Their other children were born in New York City before the family moved to Brooklyn according to the census records we found.  They were:

Susan (Assunta), b. 1891
Ettore, 1904-1987
Edward, b. 1905
Elsie, b. 1908
Esther, b. 1909
Olga, b. 1919

By 1940 only Elsie and Olga lived at home with Raphael and Elisa.  Both daughters worked as Drapers for a dress manufacturer.  Drapers are skilled patternmakers who use cloth to create fashion patterns, rather than drafting on paper.  Draping is not only a form of patternmaking but an art that requires great sensitivity and dexterity plus a solid knowledge of textiles.  In their work as drapers Elsie and Olga created the first pattern using fabric directly on the form, pinning and shaping it until it took the form the designer envisioned and provided in a sketch. 

In 1941 Elisa passed away.  The family continued to live at 1147 65th Street where Ettore lived in after he married Anna Nesi on June 11, 1932.

Meet Anna Nesi, wife of Dr. De Tata

The information about Anna’s family comes from the 1930 Federal Census.

Anna Nessi was born on June 19, 1904 in New York City to Italian immigrant parents, Archimedes John and Assunta (nee Trotta) Nesi. Archimedes immigrated to the U.S. in 1900 and earned his living as a barber.   The family moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn and as of 1930 were living in a rented apartment at 1520 75th Street. Anna’s siblings were:

Catherine, 1906
Alice 1907-2006
Olga, 1910
Romeo, 1913
Linda, 1917
Albert Peter 1919-2012

Prior to her marriage to Dr. De Tata, Anna worked as a milliner in a hat shop.

84e1 Pt 5 – Junior’s School Days – Lassie and Rin Tin Tin (early to mid 1950s)

Introduction and Shared Memories

During the preparation of posting 84e1-2 Serrapede Family-Junior’s School Days-Homework vs. TV, Uncle Sammy and I realized we had not covered a very important part of the life of a little boy or a little girl during the post WWII years.  Different breeds of dogs have enjoyed long popularity as suitable pets and members of the American family.  It was during the Post-World War II Baby Boom years of the late 1940s and all through the 1950s that the idea of the dog as a member of a middle-class family gained even more widespread appeal and acceptance due to television.

The Great Depression of the 1930s put pet ownership out of reach for many American families.  Due to the economic hardships caused by sustained unemployment, many families limited their focus on how to obtain the money essential to keep the family sheltered, fed and clothed.  There was simply no money to feed a pet in many families let alone take care of its health needs, bedding and toys.

As America transitioned out of the economic growth of the WWII years and society focused on a peace time economy, the families achieving Middle Class life began to consider the acquisition of a dog in a different way.  It is true that dogs were seen as protector animals, ever ready to alert the owners to a trespasser.  There were, though, other factors playing into the growing favor given to having a dog in the family.  The move to the suburbs provided many families with a small garden or backyard where children could play with a dog.  Then, for some, there was the status of owning dogs of certain breeds.  Whatever the motivations were, the popular culture supported the presence of a dog as part of a healthy family life. Young children learned that pet ownership taught responsibility and cultivated their ability to love and care for another creature.

Uncle Sammy did not have a dog when he was growing up.  Neither did I.  But the presence of so many dogs of different sizes and breeds in the movies and on TV gave us some idea of what the relationships with dogs might be like.  And as movies and TV shows often do, they created dreams and ideas about some dogs that became so much more in our imaginations than they were in real life.  We are specifically talking about Lassie and Rin Tin Tin.  At Uncle Sammy’s prompting, I researched both dogs in an effort to find out if any of the former stars on these shows gave interviews in later years that revealed what it was like to work on the set and with the celebrity dogs of our childhoods.

Relationship Notes

Junior was Uncle Sammy’s nickname as he was growing up.  Born in 1943 he is the son of the late Sam and Josie Serrapede.  Sammy grew up in the Italian-American community of Dyker Heights where dog ownership among the Blue Collar and Middle Class families became more common as the economy prospered in the 1950s.

Topics Researched

When you do a Google search for Rin Tin Tin or Lassie the results are immediate.  Page after page of sites, blogs, news coverage, interviews and opinion pieces are available.  How to consolidate and summarize our discoveries was not easy to do.  There is so much enjoyable reading and trivia that we took a very streamlined approach we hope enriches our readers as it did us.

It turns out that Lassie and Rin Tin Tin have quite a history that goes back way before the movies and television even came onto the scene.  We decided to provide a snapshot of the historic background about how the character of the dog developed and which medium it debuted in.  From there we go forward to some tidbits picked up from news archives that provide some of the behind-the-scenes insights Uncle Sammy was looking for. 

We highly recommend you check out the links under Additional Resources.  We located the first episodes of the first seasons of “Lassie” and “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin”.  Links to a later episode for each show are also provided so you can see how the story line evolved. 

Please note that these shows are products of a specific time period.  Gender roles and racial identities were defined much differently than they are today.  In “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin”, the complexity of relationships between Native Americans and Caucasians is reduced into a very flat, one dimensional universe of all good (Caucasian) vs. all bad (Native American). 

In a like manner a similar mindset of typecasting was typical of the United States during this period:  the Cold War era belief that any deviation or criticism of American politics and diplomacy meant you deserved to be suspected as a Communist or at least a Communist sympathizer.  A startling revelation about the role of this thinking and how it impacted the writers of “Lassie” was revealed by June Lockhart who starred on the show during its most popular period.  She shared these memories with a New York Times reporter during a 2004 interview.  Of all the results our research turned up this one provided the most insight and supports the direction we are taking to show how the Cold War era shaped Uncle Sammy’s pre-teen and teen years and my early childhood years.

The topics are grouped according to each dog:

Part One:  Rin Tin Tin
–Strongheart, Celebrity Dog of Silent Movies and Forerunner of Rin Tin Tin
–Rin Tin Tin, the dog who saved Warner Brothers Studios
–Rin Tin Tin comes to TV, 1954-1959

Part Two:  Lassie
–Lassie:  From the English countryside to America’s Hollywood
–From the Miller Family to the Martin Family, Lassie continues to be a hit on TV!
–McCarthyism reaches the storywriters of “Lassie”

For a short introduction to what the Cold War was about and how it affected American life and popular culture in the 1950s please refer to our previous postings:

84e1-Serrapede Family-Junior’s School Days 1947-54, Part 3

Introduction

When we look back from this early part of the 21^st century and take in the movies and pop-cultural images of teenagers in the 1940s through early 1960s we see them congregating and sharing a meal or a snack in an ice cream parlor, soda shop or hamburger joint. These establishments were part of the approved meeting places where young people could congregate because they were local, owned by businesspeople in the same community and frequented by people of other age groups as well.  These are the images that predominate today and each establishment is seen as a separate entity.

When Junior (Sammy) was growing up, though, there were rarely establishments that were exclusively just a soda fountain, just a candy store or just a hamburger joint.  Instead there was the local a candy store that incorporated one or more elements from the soda shop, the hamburger joint and the ice cream parlor.  The usage of the name candy store brings to mind a setting reminiscent of an old fashioned sweet shoppe filled with glass jars of candy and strips of licorice and bowls filled with gumdrops.

In Brooklyn, New York during the 1930s through early 1970s the candy store could actually grow and become much more than even a combination of hamburger joint, soda shop or ice cream parlor.  The services and merchandise offered at the local candy store could also cross over into a different establishment known as the luncheonette.  A luncheonette could be small like a soda fountain in that it just had a counter and some swivel stools.  It could also occupy more space and include tables and booths which made it look like a miniature version of a diner. 

In addition to offering beverages, counter-service, toys and candies the candy stores and luncheonettes of this time also acted as community centers and places where periodicals, greeting cards, and very often tobacco and cigars were sold.  The owners and customers knew each other and so local news was often exchanged.  Since the businesses were run by local businessmen and women the term “Mom and Pop” store was applied to this kind of business.  The owners were looked at by the teenagers and children as a second set of parents in some cases since the more the teens and children congregated there, the more the owners got to know them and visa-versa.  The relationships could be so familiar that advice was freely asked for and given.

For Junior, the luncheonette was the go-to place once he began Junior High School.  We will share some of Uncle Sammy’s memories and then take a look at the characteristics of the candy store, luncheonette and soda shop and discuss how they all came together in Brooklyn during the 1950s when Junior began his teenage years.

Relationship Notes

Junior was Sammy’s nickname as he was growing up.  He is named after his father Sabato Serrapede who used the name of Sam after coming to America.  Junior’s name in Italian is Sabbatino which translates to something like “Little Sabato”.  Born in 1942, Junior attended elementary school at P.S. 187 which is located across the street from the apartment house where the Serrapede family lived.  Upon the start of Junior High School one of the big changes in his school life was that he could no longer go home for lunch due to the time it took to travel between school and home.

Junior’s parents were Sam and Josie (nee Muro) Serrapede.  His sister was Emily Leatrice Serrapede.

Family Story:  The Little Luncheonette after school

In elementary school Junior went home for lunch every day.  He lived right across the street from the school so he was able to enjoy almost the full hour with his mother, Josie.  During the time he attended school children were permitted to leave the school grounds at lunch time and go home or to a local candy store or luncheonette for the mid-day meal.  Contrary to what most people today would think almost all students returned to class after lunch hour was up.  Those who did not return were an exception.

84d-The Serrapede Family in Brooklyn Early 1950s-Junior and the Dumbwaiter

Introduction

Before the 1980s, when the public became more aware about child abductions, Brooklyn was a borough where most children played outdoors from mid-morning until dinnertime on days when school was not in session.  During the school year, once the children came home, they went outside for a half hour or more and engaged in sports, races or walking up and down the block with their friends.  Homework was done before or after dinner when one or both parents were available to answer questions and review the assignments the children were working on.  That is the way Emily Leatrice and her brother Junior (Sammy) engaged in a healthy balance of physical activities, socializing and schoolwork throughout their childhood and adolescence. 

When the weather was not agreeable to outdoor activities, children found many ways to occupy their time while indoors.  It was during one such day that Junior and a maternal cousin found a new use for a common feature that was widespread in apartment houses at that time.  While they enjoyed using it during their playtime they were unaware of the dangers that accompanied their activity. 

Relationship Notes

Josie and Sam Serrapede lived at 1168 66th Street during the early 1940s through the 1950s.  This 4-family house plays a special role in our family history because it was where Junior grew up.  His sister Emily Leatrice lived here until her marriage in 1950.  Josie encouraged her children to use their imaginations and transform ordinary objects into wonderful toys to pass the time.  She may not have expected just how far this reach would go as we’ll see in our family story.

Junior (Sammy) is the youngest child of Josie and Sam Serrapede.  He is EmilyAnn’s Uncle Sammy.  Only the closest family members and relatives called him Junior.  In Italian his name is Sabbatino, a derivative of his father Sam’s name of Sabato in Italian.

Philomena was Josie’s younger sister, the daughter of Nicola (Nick) and Letizia (nee Scotti)Muro.  At the time of this family story Philomena had already come up to Brooklyn from Wilmerding, PA.  She was married and the mother of one son near Junior’s age. Philomena lived one block away from Josie and on the same block as her sister Rosie.  Rosie was also married by this time with two sons who also visited the Serrapede family.  Philomena was delicate and sometimes sent her son to stay with Josie when she needed rest or was under a doctor’s care.

Family Story:  The Dumbwaiter

This family story took place during the late 1940s – early 1950s.  During this time period, Josie’s younger sister Philomena frequently needed medical care.  Her son came to stay for overnight visits with his Aunt Josie and Uncle Sam when that happened.  Josie’s nephew loved to stay over.  He was a quiet child who enjoyed reading through the volumes that comprised the My Book House collection Sam and Josie purchased for their daughter as a child.  Junior, in comparison, loved to be active in his playtime.  One day the boys went outside of the apartment and found a brand new object of fascination right there in the hallway. 

The Serrapede lived in the back apartment on the first floor of a three story, 6-family house.  There was a dumb waiter in the building which ran from the basement up to the third floor.  Mr. Correnti and his family lived in the front apartment.  He was in charge of all the janitorial duties for the building such as getting the furnace started in the mornings.  He also supervised the use of the dumbwaiter which was used to send the trash down to the basement from the first through third floors.  Mr. Correnti then had to sort through the disposables and organize them prior to putting out for collection by the New York Department of Sanitation. 

81e-Serrapede Family-Early 1950s-Sabatucch from Sea Beach (Part 1)

Introduction

While Emily and Frank settled into married life during the period 1950-1952 many events occurred in the Serrapede family that challenged Josie, Sam and Junior (Sammy).  In this posting we will focus on Sam’s mid-life change when he had to adjust to a long commute to a new job in Manhattan. 

Relationship Notes

Sam Serrapede was born in 1900 to Gennaro Serrapede and his wife, Emilia Pappalardo Serrapede.  Sam emigrated from his ancestral home town of Agropoli in Campania, Italy during the late 1920s.  He married Josie Muro in 1930. 

Sabatucch (pronounced Sabatooch) was a nickname Sam was given by members of the Muro family in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania.

Emily was Sam’s daughter, and Frank was his son-in-law.

Junior was Uncle Sammy’s nickname as a child.  He was also called Sabbatino by the older Italian relatives.

Michael Muro is the son of Raymond (Raymie)and Frances (nee Di Fiore) Muro.  Michael’s paternal grandparents were Nicola (Nick) and Rosina (Rose)(nee Aiello) Muro.

Michael Muro is a cousin of Sammy and EmilyAnn.

Family Story:  Sabatucch from Sea Beach

Sam’s profession is described as bootblack in the 1940 Federal Census.  Bootblack is what many people think of when imagining an old fashioned shoe shiner.  It meant more, though, than just shining shoes.  According to The Bootblack Wiki, the term originated in the 19^th century and designated a class of workers with knowledge about the care and maintenance of leather boots, shoes and other goods made from leather.  The term bootblack referred to a person with the skills to take care of leather goods, especially dress boots and shoes in the 19^th century.  These were always black, and had to be very shiny.  Thus the person who not only shined them but knew what they needed for their maintenance was called a bootblack.

Uncle Sammy shared with EmilyAnn, as Emily used to do, memories of Sam getting up early to work as a bootblack in a local barber shop.  Uncle Sammy added that Sam was the go-to person for everything that went on in the barber shop from cleaning it up to getting supplies for the barber or running errands for the owner.  Sam put in very long hours 6 days a week.  The trade-off was that he worked in Brooklyn, close to home, and did not have a long commute.  We think the barber shop may have been within walking distance.  The one detail we still do not have is where the barber shop was located and who the owner was.

76d-Serrapede Family in Brooklyn-Emily’s Walks to Owl’s Head Park and Shore Road 1944-1945

Introduction

Emily Leatrice Serrapede attended Bay Ridge High School in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, NY from the Fall of 1944 to the Winter of 1947.  After classes she loved exploring the surrounding neighborhood filled with charming step streets, courts, terraces and other interesting little side streets.  I know something about this area because Emily was my Mom.

The school is located about a 5 minute walk from Owl’s Head Park and Shore Road, both places Mom loved to go on weekends as well as after school.  We have two undated photos taken sometime between 1944 and 1946.  In one photo Emily is standing on the Promenade below Shore Road.  In the second photo, which unfortunately is blurry, she is sitting on the wall of Owl’s Head Park.

On Monday, February 20, 2017 I took a walk along the same streets Mom had walked through over 70 years ago.  I was able to see some of the sights she did and be taken in by their appeal.  The culmination of this walk was reaching the highest point on the hill in Owl’s Head Park.  From there I enjoyed a beautiful view of a large vessel sailing along the Narrows.  Beyond Staten Island was clearly visible against the clear, blue sky.  All the scene needed were a few gulls gliding on the wind to create the kind of scene Mom told me inspired her to keep achieving and keep seeking new horizons.  She had high hopes for her future as she advanced in her high school studies.

The photos of Mom during the mid-1940s look like they were taken in late Spring or some time during the Summer based on her clothing.  I decided a winter time walk was a good way to understand How Mom enjoyed her walks even when there weren’t any leaves or flowers in bloom.  I was blessed to have a bright, clear day with hints of early Spring in the air as I took this walk. 

Relationship Notes

Emily Leatrice Serrapede was born on April 18^th, 1931 to Josie and Sam Serrapede.  She was:

Junior (Sammy’s) sister

EmilyAnn’s Mom

The Serrapede family lived on the first floor of a multi-family dwelling on 66^th Street in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, NY at the time Emily attended Bay Ridge High School.

76c-Serrapede Family in America – Emily goes to Bay Ridge High School 1944 – 48

Introduction

Josie and Sam Serrapede guided their children to use their educational opportunities as a springboard for personal development as well as preparation for a profession.  When their daughter, Emily Leatrice, was accepted into Bay Ridge High School they felt a great sense of accomplishment as parents.  They also had a sense of hopeful optimism for her future since the school had a very good reputation under the tenure of Principal Fitzpatrick who was known to value the many cultures that comprised the student body. 

For Emily it was the beginning of a new phase in her adolescence as she travelled further away from the neighborhood and came into contact with the children of Irish, German and Scandinavian immigrants as well as Italian immigrants.

Relationship Notes

Emily Leatrice Serrapede circa 1944.  Note the ankle socks and lace-up shoes.  During WWII rationing of nylons and shortages of leather caused teenagers to favor cotton ankle socks and saddle or lace-up shoes.

Emily Leatrice Serrapede was born in Brooklyn, NY on April 18, 1931.  She was the daughter of Josie and Sam Serrapede and:

–Big Sister to Junior (Sabbatino, Sammy)

–The Mom to EmilyAnn

Family Story:  Discovering new places

Vintage post card.  Photograph of Bay Ridge High School circa 1920.  Public Domain.  Wikimedia Commons.

Emily always remembered how the campus of Bay Ridge High School impressed her from the minute she saw it.  At first she wondered if she would ever be late to any of her classes since the building was so very big.   Those worries dissipated very quickly.  She looked forward to going to school each day.  When the weather was good she might take the bus to school and walk home.  On cold or rainy days she travelled by bus both ways since the school was a little more than a mile from home.

Everything about Bay Ridge communicated that she was in the midst of a different community.  There were Lutheran Churches with simple architecture and stores selling newspapers in Norwegian.  The side streets were lined with homes that had simple gardens devoid of the garden shrines so popular in the Italian-American neighborhood of Dyker Heights.  There was a sense of simplicity and understatement, too, amongst the girls from the Scandinavian community who went to school with Emily.  They were not given to speaking too loudly or gesticulating with their hands when involved in a conversation.  Emily liked this understatement and adapted it as part of her own behavior when interacting with others from outside of the Italian-American community.

75a-Serrepede, D’Agosto and Muro Families in the 1940s

Introduction

Starting with this posting we will present photos of the extended family from the collection Josie left us.  We have a nice selection that will enable our readers to put a face to the names you’ve become familiar with.  Now you can meet the relatives and cousins who played a big part in Sammy and Emily Leatrice’s childhoods and teen years.  A photo completes the word portraits we have done our best to create of the first and second generation members of our Serrapede and Muro families.  It also gives all the readers a chance to see how well cared for Emily and her cousins were.  And in the backgrounds there are sometimes glimpses of the homes or neighborhoods where the photos were taken.

We begin by recapping the events in the life of Giuseppe and Philomena D’Agosto from 1940 through 1943.  After this we share photos of Philomena and her children.  A few highlights from their lives during and after the 1940s are also presented.

As we analyzed the photos little details began to come to the fore causing us to dig a little deeper into the stories behind these photos.  This led to some enjoyable evenings spent researching these details.  At the end, our findings led to some new things we learned about the time period in which the photos were taken.  Uncle Sammy and I hope this approach helps other researchers who are looking to build a story around the photos left to them when there are only scant details provided.

Relationship Notes

Josie and Sam Serrapede were:

• Sammy’s parents
• EmilyAnn’s maternal Grandparents

Filomena’s Serrapede D’Agosto was Sam’s eldest sister.  In 1923 Giuseppe D’Agosto returned to Italy to marry Filomena.  They returned to the United States and raised their family in Brooklyn, NY.  They had 4 children:

• Frank
• Lillian
• Martha
• Emilia

Recap of the D’Agosto Family 1940-43

Giuseppe D’Agosto had been living in the United States for 27 years when the 1940 Federal Census was taken.  He was still working as a truck driver for the New York City Department of Sanitation, a position he had for almost 20 years.  His income for 1939 was $1,872 which placed the D’Agosto family into the middle class.  In 1940 a yearly salary of $1,000 per year was average for those who lived a modest lifestyle and were considered part of the middle class. 

Giuseppe and Filomena rented an apartment in a 2 family house at 1170-65^th Street.  The house was owned by by Frank Errico, the brother-in-law of Elisa Scotti Errico who also lived on 65^th Street.  Elisa was the favorite Auntie of Filomena’s sister-in-law Josie Muro Serrapede.  The ties of kinship between the Errico family and the Muro family began in Wilmerding and remained in force when the families moved up to Brooklyn.  This relationship extended outwards to include the D’Agosto family.  The ties of kinship and blood were at work in the second generation as well.  The children of these families played and went to school together.  They weren’t just cousins to each other, they were best friends, too.

74-The Serrapede Family in Brooklyn-Life during WWII, Part 5a

Introduction

Emily L. Serrapede was 10 years old when WWII started.  As the constrictions and concerns of wartime life set in she began to enter that stage between childhood and adolescence which we call the ‘tween or pre-teen years.  It is a time that sees children exhibit the first spurts of growth towards adulthood.  Emily shared many glimpses of her life as a ‘tween from 1941 through 1943.  In this posting we’ll look at some of the fads, trends and fun that were part of Emily’s life. 

Relationship Notes

Emily Leatrice Serrapede was the daughter of Sam and Josie Serrapede.  She was the older sister of Junior (Sammy) and mother of EmilyAnn.

The world of her pre-teen and early teenage years was centered around Dyker Heights, Brooklyn New York.  In the summer Coney Island was the place she loved to be the most.  Emily did not discover the appeal of the upscale restaurants and the many ethnic neighborhoods in Manhattan until her later teens when she was engaged and went out with her fiancee’s family.

Frank, Lillian, Martha and Emilia D’Agosto were Emily’s first cousins along the paternal line.  They were the children of Giuseppe and Philomena (nee Serrapede) D’Agosto.  Philomena was the older sister of Sam Serrapede, Emily’s Dad.

Rita Errico was Emily’s first cousin along her maternal line.  Rita’s mother, Elisa Scotti Errico, was the youngest sister of Emily’s maternal grandmother Letizia Scotti Muro.

Alma Rodgriguez was Emily’s best friend from elementary through high school.  We’re hoping to find some background information about her family through the census records.  If and when we do there will be a short posting about Alma since she played an important part in my Emily’s life.  Alma was quick with a joke and enjoyed word games.

The world of a Brooklyn pre-teen during WWII:  Emily Leatrice Serrapede’s anecdotes and memories

Emily lived in a multi-family dwelling on 66^th Street between 11^th and 12^th Avenues.  The apartment was located in the back of the first floor, down a long hallway.  As you entered the apartment you passed by a very old fashioned bathroom that had a raised bathtub with clawed feet.  Josie assigned Emily more demanding housecleaning chores as she grew older.  Once she was a pre-teen cleaning the bathroom was the biggest job she had.  Emily loved cleaning her own small bedroom which was off of the bigger bedroom Sam and Josie shared with Junior.  But cleaning the bathroom was tedious and very boring.  Emily began to dislike the small tiles on the floor and the narrow space under the bath tub. 

Josie always found Emily’s cleaning lacked what she considered a diligent approach, especially when reaching into the corners of the narrow bathroom.  This was the very first subject mother and daughter had major disagreements over.  Josie expected the tub and the tiny tiles on the floor to be perfectly clean down to the corners where the tiles met the wall.  Emily passed a rag that had been soaked in hot water and soap all along the tiles and the corners of the floor.  The only place she used the scrub brush Josie gave her was inside the bath tub and the small sink.  Josie termed Emily’s approach to cleaning the bathroom as “top cleaning”.  Whenever Emily was asked to clean up the small living room, Josie would yell at her because all Emily had done was what Josie called “tidying up” and “cleaning on the go”.  Emily dusted around whatever was on the end tables and the rest of the furniture.  If anything was left out of place like a pair of socks, keys or toys Emily threw whatever she could into a draw.  Other times she would put things into a box or into the closet.  Emily’s mind wandered to other things that she thought were much more interesting and loads of fun.