Birth of the 'Immigrants' Daughter'

                                                            ©2010 by Rexino Mondo

Time passed. Gaetano was in his twenties and proud to be an American. As he enthusiastically watched the San Francisco Fourth of July parade one year, he caught sight of a young pretty lady on the other side of the street. He tried to cross over, but the continuous marching bands never seemed to give him an opening. The pretty lady was Maria Longo, and was known as “Mary,” a designer, model, seamstress, and an Italian immigrant from Salina. Her outstanding outfit and gait gave creditability to her talent as a designer and model.


As Mary moved through the crowd on the other side of the street, Gaetano followed on his side. At times she’d be lost in an enthusiastic multitude pushing to catch a glimpse of the next moving ensemble. She noticed him waiving to her. She smiled and hustled along through the mob. When he lost sight of her, he started running, trying to get through all the spectators. When the parade fi nally ended, he crossed over. She was nowhere in sight. Disappointed, he turned to leave and there she was, looking in a store window with her back to him. The sun, reflecting off the window, vividly outlined her hourglass figure. She saw his refl ection in the window coming toward her. Just as he started to speak, Mary turned, smiled, and said, “What took you so long?” Mary, always calm, in control, and with a good sense of humor, loved the fl irtation. He walked her home and met her parents.

In 1913, after months of proper courtship, a shave, and a haircut, they were married in a very formal church ceremony. A huge Italian reception brought forth the best wines, champagnes, all the Italian food one could eat, and extraordinary petit Italiano pastries. The orchestra’s musicians were made up of Gaetano’s relatives who came from everywhere. Swirling bustles under long, colorful gowns mated to black tuxedos with tails, glided across the dance floor with Gaetano and Mary in the center of the waltzing wheel.


Their love soon led to the birth of the immigrants’ daughter on November 15. She was their first child, Anna Maria Mirabito, born under the sign of Scorpio, descendant of the Rabito Knights and dukes of Palermo, and was named Princess Anna Maria of Lipari by order of King Vitorio Emanuele II.


Gaetano handed out cigars to all his customers and friends and a box of cigars to his special friend, Amadeo Giannini. Anna Maria was baptized at Saint Peter and Paul’s Church. Her parents called her Anna for short. As Anna grew, she spent almost every day with the lady in the upper flat learning Italian. At the end of each lesson, if Anna got a good grade, she was permitted to choose one of the special candies from a large bowl that sat in the center of the table, allowing Anna to ogle while learning. Anna was able to speak fluent Italian before she spoke much English. By the time she started first grade, she had mastered both and was curious to know how her mama designed and made outfi ts from all the many yards of colorful materials. Anna was full of energies and curiosities. She wanted to know everything and she was in to everything.

Gaetano's Produce Store

                                 
                                    San Francisco and Birth of a Business
                                           ©2009 by Rexino Mondo

                                         

                                                            Gateano's produce store in San Francisco.
                                                                        Gateano is on the right

Gaetano found a broken pushcart at the junk yard, worked on it until he got it in one piece, found wheels in another spot, put them all together, went to the wholesale market, bought his produce and said, “I’ma now ina business.” Every day, early in the orning, Gaetano moved from one street to another in San Francisco yelling, “Presente la frutta fa bene eh—get-tah youra fresh-a, fresh-a vegi!” Whenever he’d tell the story, he’d break up laughing. “You see-a. He was gonna put the poor thing out, how tu say, misseria? Mi pay ten dollar for-a old sway back horsa. Got more biga wood cart at junkiyard. Mi business grow more and a mora.”

One day a man came to see him. He said he was interested in helping the little guys. He loaned Gaetano enough money to have his own small produce store. He, too, was Italiano. The man’s name was Amadeo Peter Giannini, founder of the Bank of Italy (now Bank of America). Giannini and another banker visited Gaetano almost every day, sitting on crates and eating Gaetano’s grapes, but not the good ones. With their penknives, they would cut off the spoiled part of bad grapes and one by one toss them into their mouths as they told all the stories from the old world to the present, laughing and trying to top each other. Stagecoaches, the Pony Express, opera houses, gangsters, and saloon girlie shows. San Francisco’s Wild, Wild West held many stories, including the unforgettable 1906 San Francisco earthquake.


When the 1906 earthquake hit, Gaetano was seen running down the railroad tracks out of town as fast as he could. He said the tracks were bending and bowing out of shape as he ran and the shaking was worst than Mount Vesuvius. When the fires started, Gaetano was one of the men who helped move Giannini’s money and bank’s contents across the bay. Giannini and Gaetano became best friends. Gaetano’s business started to grow.


Back in New York, on April 11, 1908, the ship San Giorgio from Messina docked at Ellis Island, where Santa, age eleven, and her sister Anna, age sixteen, the duke’s daughters, were anxiously standing in line for hours as they waited to be examined. Their eyes were as big as saucers, taking everything in, and they gibbered on in Italian as they waited to see Papa’s America and feel his hugs and kisses once again.


In San Francisco, Amadeo Giannini was introducing Gaetano to the stock market. In time, Gaetano owned a fleet of trucks and was selling wholesale in three other states. With a baseball bat and his fist, he was constantly beating off racketeers who wanted protection money.


A sweet young woman came to his store, often in a flirtatious manner. Being a healthy young Italian bull, what was Gaetano to do? They started seeing each other after the store closed. Then came a diamond engagement ring, followed by a big Italian wedding. Angelique Messoni looked very attractive in her long wedding gown. Gaetano was in a tailor-made tuxedo. All his customers, a huge delegation from Chinatown, and all his Italian relatives attended. It didn’t take long for his new bride to start complaining. She was angry because Gaetano would go to bed at nine o’clock each night and get up at five in the morning to get to the produce market for the best buys. Angelique wanted to go partying all night and dance until dawn. While Gaetano was at the market, she ran off with Gaetano’s best man at his wedding and was never heard from again. Gaetano received an annulment through the Catholic Church.