MEMORIES OF LITTLY ITALY (continued)
              Money and Other Missing Valuables
      We never had any money. We knew it existed but we never held title to it. But let me correct that, lest I be struck down, on occasion we did have temporary possession. This happened when during our early youth, a relative or friend endowed us with a coin of the realm or perhaps even paper currency. When the donor of that money was no longer present, the temporary possession was surrendered to an unnamed female parent, - for fear of heavenly retribution if she was identified - who became a trustee with no reporting requirements to be made to the child. I trust and know such endowments were put to good use by the trustee.
      In our early years it cost only ten cents to go to the Broadway Movie Theater. It might as well have been one hundred dollars because no ten cents were around. However, the back exit door held the key to Cinema Paradiso because once in a great while one of our guys paid his way and then allowed another five or so of us to enter that home of the feature film, the weekly chapter of Fu Mouchu, Captain Marvel, etc. Once we achieved our entrance we never failed to see each program at least twice.
      The swimming pool at Patterson Park cost 5 cents to enter. The fence and good climbing ability cost nothing.Getting back to the movies, I remember having a pass to gain legal entry, which I put to use on a Saturday at about 2:00 p.m. At about 8 o'clock that evening I was tapped on the shoulder by my mother. I wasn't used to that kind of entertainment and was determined to make it last as long as possible. As I grew I realized that one or two viewings were okay. My mother thought probably that I was kidnapped but having received no ransom notes she obviously knew I was at the theater enjoying my 5th or 6th showing
      .My first job paid the great sum of $3.00 per week for delivering papers. Until then I never realized you received money to work. In my family no child labor laws applied and if they did they would not have been followed. At about age 14 I secured a position unloading lumber at Goddard Millwork during the summer. Rate of pay was $.50 per hour for a 46 hour week and the six hours were paid at straight time. After several failures over a three-week period, in which I failed to produce a Social Security Number I didn't have, I was fired.
The weekly pay of twenty-three dollars was surrendered to my dear mother and at the going exchange rate I was endowed with three dollars. The three dollars lasted about two to three hours according to how the pinochle cards ran that day. If they ran okay there was no problem; if not favorable, a messenger was sent on my behalf to my mother's place of employment to request an advance on next weeks pay. The advance was always granted and thus it was so.

                Sex and the City
     Where do I begin? Should I start with the stork or the other virgin birth. Well let me begin with the statement that sex was a topic of discussion that never happed in our house besides the naming of a person's gender classification, e.g. boy or girl, man or woman.Well after reflecting, lets start with the manner in which children were conceived.In the 8th grade at St. Leo's we were given information (not too detailed) that our parents engaged in some secret act that eventually produced a child. I don't remember any details other than they were the responsible parties that brought conception to bear. After we left class that day a fellow student and myself professed that we didn't believe what we had been told and that knowing our parents they would never have participated in such conduct.
     Sometime later I posed the question to mother as to how babies arrived. Confirming my opinion she said the nun was mistaken and babies didn't appear in that manner. So, of course, I asked, well how do they get here. The answer, of course, which I took as gospel for many years. The STORK!! Thank God I didn't ask about delivery fees and or stork stations.
      Now to the Virgin Birth. - The Second One-The mystery of life's arrival and its method of conception was still unknown to me when I heard of the second virgin birth. Here's how I heard of it. Bill Platerote, nicknamed of course, as Mr. Bill advised me that he was aware of a second Virgin Birth. He advised that a certain lady in the neighberhood had recently had a baby and that she wasn't married. The obvious conclusion, of course, to any intelligent being, if there is no husband then an act of divine intervention must be responsible. Or speaking logically a Virgin Birth had taken place.As a sophomore in high school, I espoused this theory in chemistry class and was told by Brother Marcellus that I needed to have a talk with my father. I never did that but I found out from other sources - my peers - that I was joking or extremely naive.
Maybe I was right, who knows?

More of LITTLE ITALY MEMORIES

Group Picture-1932