True Tales from Canton’s Past: Red, White & Blue

Domenico Marino was 22 years old and with false bravado he held the small hand of his wife, Francesca, tightly as they wound their way through the port city of Naples, Italy. It had been a long journey from their small village of Messina. Both of these young travelers knew the life they were leaving behind in Sicily was far different than the new life they were about to embark upon. They were coming to a place where they could neither read nor write the language.

An enduring symbol of Canton’s rich history and the immigrant dream (Collection of the Canton Historical Society)

Like so many immigrants that had made this same trip, this young couple, newly wed, were presenting themselves to America with dreams of fortune that glistened in their mind’s eye. Just days before, Domenico’s father had nodded as his son set off through Piazza Duomo. Francesca had insisted that they stop at the Orion Fountain, which had been in this same place since it was built in 1553. Francesca remarked that the fountain in their village was older than America itself. Domenico paid no heed. Their hearts were set for a life that would be far different that any they could imagine.

The dark hull of the ship laid low against the dock and the Marinos walked gingerly up the gangway. Clutching only a small valise each, they brought very little with them on this voyage. In reality they had only been married a few weeks at most, and this was a life together from scratch. The S.S. Cretic was part of the famed White Star Line and made the trip from Naples to the Azores and then onto Boston or New York, depending upon the schedule. The ship was less than 600 feet long and 60 feet wide, and quite slow. Their tickets cost around $20 each and they traveled second class. The date was July 17, 1909, and the next 14 days would bring them into a whole new world.

Arriving in Boston, they rented an apartment on Flagg Street in the 12th Ward, and Francesca’s younger brother joined them and shared the small flat. The couple immediately began having children: Gaetano in 1910 and Anna in 1911. By the spring of 1914, Francesca was pregnant with their third child and the decision was made to move the burgeoning family from the city to a more suburban environment.

The choice to move to Canton may have been in great part due to the fact that the height of the Italian influx to the town was in full swing. Between 1892 and 1924 Canton saw the largest group of immigrants from any single community in the world settle in the town. These families were all from a small town at the foot of the Alps named Gattinara. More than 50 individual Italian families representing hundreds of individuals immigrated to Canton during this time period. And although they were from the north and nowhere near Sicily, the Marino family would feel quite comfortable in Canton.

Domenico was a barber, and he was quite good at his trade. Opening up a small shop across from St. John’s Church, the business did quite well. By 1915 a large wooden barber pole rose from the sidewalk alongside Washington Street. A newspaper account described it as “gleaming with peppermint-candy stripes.” It was the red, white and blue calling card that would become a Canton landmark for over 60 years.

The Canton of the early to mid 20th century was a melting pot of both the Irish and Italians. The common faith of Catholicism bound them in the pews and in business such that both nationalities would flourish. These were risk takers, and not so much entrepreneurs as industrious men and women that were building upon the promise of a better life for their families. A walk through the center of the day included Grimes Livery and Stables, Verity’s Hardware Store, Dunlop Tires, and then the “Italian Block” owned by the Pesaturo family. Here side by side was a Chinese laundry, Brown’s Lunch Room, and Joe Morro’s meat market. And in that same place was Pesaturo’s Fruit Stand, and of course, Marino’s Barber Shop.

The Italian barber did well, and his family grew as two more children were born in 1914 and 1915. At first they rented a house on Endicott Street, and by 1920 they had moved to 62 Revere Street. In 1921, the family bought a house on the southerly side of Pequit Street by taking out a mortgage with the Canton Co-operative Bank for $2,000 and an additional mortgage of $400 from the seller. It was the American Dream personified: come to the United States with absolutely nothing, learn the language, build a family, open a business, buy a house, and prosper.

And prosper they did. Domenico joined forces with his brother-in-law, Joseph Ammendolia, and together they cut hair. In February 1923 a massive fire gutted the small shop, forcing relocation to a new shop across the river on Washington Street. By March 1927, the Marino family sold the business and their house at 34 Pequit Street to Francesca’s brother, and Joseph Ammendolia continued to cut hair as well as sell candy at another store across the street. The barbershop moved up Washington Street and continued until 1984.

The decision for the Marinos to leave Canton may have been precipitated by the ailing health of Domenico’s father. A 1917 draft registration card indicated that Domenico’s father was solely dependent upon him for his health and welfare. In 1927, Domenico and Francesca once again held hands and walked up the gangway and this time made the trip back to Sicily. Gazing out across the North Atlantic, the pair, now in their early 40s, knew what their lives had become. They reflected on their beautiful family of two boys and two girls, a new house in Boston that would meet them upon their return, and the promise of success based on hard work and industry. Domenico watched as his homeland came into view, and yet he knew that his real home now lay thousands of miles behind him.

The barber pole that was placed on Washington Street more than 100 years ago has been preserved in the Canton Historical Society. Once known as “the beacon that called the bearded and long-haired to its proprietor’s shop,” today it stands as an enduring symbol of the classic — yet true — immigrant parable that has even greater meaning and resonance today in these times of strife and trouble. May it forever be a reminder of the principles and ethics that stand behind the red, white and blue.

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Posted by George T. Comeau on Jul 22 2016. Filed under Canton History, Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.