"The Best Keep Secret"

"Happy Halloween" everyone. When I was very young, about 5..there was no Halloween and if there was, we were never told about it. I remember going around one Thanksgiving morning to the neighbors on our block. I remember only one time that I did that. I wore my oldest ratty clothes (which consisted of most of my wardrobe) My father burnt a cork and dirtied my face and I was allowed to wear a beat up old Fedora of my his and "voila", I was an instant hobo. I remember Big Donnie and his sister Jay also dressed as hobo's...Guess we all had the same wardrobe available to us...I remember going up the block, the second house from the corner, my godmother's, mother..Zia Gracielle.. lived there. At the time I guess they had a little more then most families.She had, what I thought was fancy stuff.. I remember walking into her hall way which ran the length of the house. It was a white tiled floor ( one inch tiles) with a border of black tiles.She invited me in. I remember a fruit bowl full of oranges and apples. She gestured to me to take some. I took the biggest orange I could see. I thanked her and had to kiss her...and ran home with my loot. That is the only recollection of anything close to trick or treating I have. I guess Pumpkins were not invented yet....

"Our Great Grand Father"

THIS IS A PICTURE OF OUR GRAND FATHERS, FATHER, MICHAEL. I GUESS HE IS THE GUY THAT STARTED ALL THIS. I DON'T THINK ANY OF US EVER SAW HIM, I KNOW HE DID VISIT AMERICA, BUT I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHEN.

THIS, I AM SURE IS A PICTURE THAT NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN. LOOK AT ALL THE HAIR, COULDN'T I HAVE TAKEN AFTER HIM...LOOKING AT A LOT OF THESE OLD PICTURES, I DON'T THINK SMILING HAD BEEN INVENTED YET...

"Nonna and Grandpa September 20, 1936"

I don't think we ever realized how pretty Nonna was. This picture was taken on my parents wedding day, 71 years ago. They were both 42 years old at the time.

I think we tend to remember them as always having been old and grey. Maybe this is the way we should try to remember them.

"Smile, you are on Cianciaruso Camera"

OVER THE WEEKEND I FOUND 100'S OF OLD PICTURE OF THE FAMILY. A LOT OF THEM ARE FADING AND I AM AFRAID, SOON WILL BE GONE. MY INTENSION IS TO SCAN THEM INTO MY COMPUTER AND THEN BURN CD'S FOR THE FAMILY MEMBERS INVOLVED. IN THE MEANTIME I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE SOME OF THEM WITH YOU NOW. IN CASE SOME OF THE FACES ARE NOT FAMILIAR THEY ARE, LEFT TO RIGHT: ME, DOM, ANGELA, JEAN, JIMMY, DOMINIC, GEORGE, CAMMIE AND VINNY. i THINK THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN ABOUT 1957, I REMEMBER IT WAS GRANDPA'S BIRTHDAY. I WILL ADD MORE PICS AS I GO ALONG. WE ALL LOOK SO HAPPY...WERE WE REALLY EVER THAT YOUNG ?.....ENJOY

"It's Bean a long time"

I was about 3 when this happened. My grandmother was staying in Port Washington for the summer and my Aunt Rosette was at home, doing all the cooking, cleaning and running the house in general. She had just finished cleaning the entire kitchen when my Uncle Vinny come home and wanted to cook something for lunch. My aunt yelled and said that she just got done and he would make a mess and she warned him not to dirty the stove or anything else. So my uncle, ignoring her, took a can of pork and beans but also not wanting to upset his sister, had a great idea. He would place the can of unopened beans in a pot and heat them up. This way, the pot would not get dirty and there would be no mess at all. He placed the pot on the stove and turned it on. The next thing I remember was hearing a load explosion and my aunt screaming. My mother and my aunt Millie went running into the apartment, there was my uncle, looking around and my aunt punching him. The can of beans had exploded and there were beans dripping off the ceiling, all over the walls and floor and the stove top was frying the beans that landed all over it. They told Vinny to get out and they try to quiet Rosette down. Needless to say, it took the three of them all afternoon to clean up the mess. I remember that Vinny was missing for about 5 hours, afraid to come home and Rosette still screaming that he would never eat in her kitchen again. Eventually, Vinny came home and Rosette settled down and life went on at good old "521"....oh yes,everyone was warned never to tell my grandmother when she came home. I guess the motto of the story is, "when you have beans, can a loud explosion be far behind ?".

note: the picture of the stove is almost a replica of the one my grandmother and all the others in the house had. I remember my mothers was much bigger. It have 3 or 4 ovens and 6 burners on a smooth flat top, much like to modern electric stoves of today. It was an oil stove, made of cast iron and coated in green enamel. An oil tank stood in front of the stove to the side and that is how you cooked. In the winter it was the only source of heat in the entire apartment. There are other stories about these stoves but that is for another time.

"Funny Movie"

http://www.mindofchester.com/animationpage.cfm?animid=18


ON LEFT SIDE OF PAGE IS A BOX WITH A "WATCH THIS MOVIE" BOX...CLICK ON THAT...I THINK WE ARE RELATATED TO THE

MOMMA...COULD THAT BE ????

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

"I'm sitting on top of the Wurl.....litzer"

In 1942 the radio was the only form of entertainment available to our family. I was about 3 and was able to speak fluently for the past year or so. My mother would listen to the radio and I would hear the music, after awhile I knew the words to all the popular songs. So I guess I became another form of entertainment, my mother would take me to St Mary's School and I would sing songs for the Nuns..I had more religious medals than the Vatican.


I remember one night Uncle Vinny asked my mother if he could take me for a soda, she said yes and off we went. I remember he took me to a store, I guess it was a combination soda shop and food place. It was next door to "The Dumps" movie theatre. I remember when you walked in there were tables and chairs and an "L" shaped counter, on the far left wall was a Jukebox. Having never seen one before I was fascinated by the colors and the bubbles moving around the colored tubes. It must have been a hang out for teenagers and there were about 4 or 5 girls and guys there sitting at the tables and counter. Uncle Vinny, who was about 17 took me over to the jukebox and sat me on top of it...Wow, I really felt like a big deal sitting up there. Some of the girls came over on the pretense of talking to me but I soon realized they were interested in my uncle. He was a very good looking guy and always attracted the girls. He was talking to them and suggested they put some money in the jukebox and pick any song and he bet them I could sing it. I remember singing song after song and loving the attention, something that we never had a lot of. I had a soda and I think a frankfurter but I am not sure about that. We were there quite awhile and loved all the girls attention, my uncle picked the one he wanted to hang with that night. I remember walking home with him and his "date"...After he dropped me off the two of them went out....and I went to sleep.....wow, I was a chick magnate even then..... But I had a great time that night, thanks Uncle Vin.

"October 21st"

Sunday the 21st is Toni's Birthday

Have a Wonderful Day Cuz

"Mummy Dearest"

Monday, October 15, 2007 ..a reprint from the Farrell, Conlon Cianciaruso Blog

"Mummy Dearest"
The cast of characters are, Joey Conlon 10,
Janet Conlon, 7 (aka JAFA) and me, 7.
Supporting cast includes Kate Conlon and Liz Cianciaruso.
One afternoon, the three of us went to the movies. The name of the movie house was "The 4th Street Dumps"...I honestly don't know what the real name of it was, we always called it "The "Dumps. It was a very small theatre, no balcony and in front of the theatre to the left of the screen was the candy counter. During the movie the man operating the candy counter would walk around with a tray held by a strap around his neck selling Ice cream cones, melting as he walked up and down the aisle.
There was a matron, and old woman ( we thought she was old, thinking back now see may have been about 40) dressed in a white dress and white shoes and her hair in a bun, her name was Mrs Sapienzza. She carried a flashlight and watched all the kids to make sure there was no fooling around. If you talked too loud, she would shine the light on you and give you a loud SHUSHHH.
If you were really being mischievous, she would walk into the row and warn you that she would tell your mother....so, by and large most kids were well behaved. Oh yes, the price of a ticket was ten cents and on Wednesday afternoons it was five cents. For that large amount of money ( and at the time it was) you saw, 2 full length films, 10 cartons, a serial feature ( a weekly movie that brought you back each week to see what happens ) and on Tuesday nights the adults got a free dish. I know a lot of families built their china collection with those plates, but I digress.
One of the two movies we saw that afternoon was "The Mummy" staring Boris Karloff. Although the movie was made in 1932, we saw it for the first time in 1946. I loved that movie, (I actually bought the DVD last year)...at that time it was very scary, but fun. Every time the Mummy appeared on screen, Janet would cover her face and moan a bit...Joey and I would laugh at her and pull her hands away from her face. Walking home after the movie, it had to be winter, it was already dark, we teased her and said the Mummy was going to come to her house and take her away, ( a scene in the movie, where he took the girl and hid her in a cave)...she cried almost all the way home.
At that time my mother's clothes line ran her our kitchen window to my aunt Kate's kitchen window, and my mother had sheets hanging on the line. Being winter it took many, many hours, sometimes days for large things to dry. That night Janet looked out the window and seeing the sheets flapping in the wind, in her mind, the Mummy was coming to get her. She became hysterical and screamed, he's coming, he's coming....when they finally got her calmed down, she told my aunt that we told her the Mummy would come and take her away......so needless to say that night Joey got a beating and the next day when my aunt told my mother, I got mine. When Joey and I were finally allowed to go outside to play, we laughed like hell...it was worth every whack we got. and till today, Janet gets nervous just making a bed....

"October 11th Update"

Today is my son Michael's 47th Birthday

Wishing you a Wonderful Day

Love You

Dad

"The Master Bathoom"

Most of us grew up thinking a bathroom was a room with only a bowl....

based on that, none of us ever knew what a shower or a bath was, while we were living at 521....

My first recollection of a "bathroom" was a room, at the most 3 foot by 3 foot, between two apartments which we shared with our Aunt, Uncle and various cousins...

We were washed in the kitchen sink...yes, and it had the generic name of a "Sponge Bath"....

but as I recall, none of us had ever seen a sponge either...

My mother would sit me in the kitchen sink...a large porcelain vessel about 4 foot long with large round legs...with a curtain, hand made by my mother which was hung with a piece of string to cover the bottom.....and when the water was turned on, it was either cold or freezing depending on the weather..

In really cold weather my mother would heat a pot of water on the oil stove which was built into an alcove next to the sink. The stove was the only source of heat in the entire apartment.

It was also about 4 feet long and used an oil tank that stood in front of it to supply the energy...after I were bathed I would be placed on a part of the sink which was the drain board, also made of porcelain ...

wrapped and dried in a much used towel. We all thought this was the way it was for everyone and guess what ,it was, so it was normal for us..

After I was asleep in the railroad room next to the kitchen,my mother would take her "Sponge Bath" again, sans sponge....

and to my surprise, we all survived and became almost, normal adults...today I live in a house with 3 full bathrooms for one person..we have come a long way and oh yes, I do have sponges also...but I do prefer a shower to sitting in the kitchen sink..and actually I would be afraid to now, it has a garbage disposal....