Yeah... thats pretty risque for 1947.

Sonny was getting drilled at the toll plaza and Papa Vitelli was sittin' on the beach with a hot coochie mama... wanna guess who I'd rather have been?

[restraining self for once]

"drill" is a nice verb, tho.

Thats OK... its only because we were referring to SV's dad that I restrained myself.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I said! But, since he never spoke at all about any of his post-war relationships, I haven't a clue as far as who she was, or her relationship with my father.


I have to confess, I am no expert on ladies fashions as far as swimsuits. The photo might have been taken a couple of years after I thought it was, but it's difficult to say for certain.

But she was definitely hot, whoever she was.

Signor V.

...Bay 2 at Brighton Beach?

I most certainly was changed! And quite regularly, too!

Signor V.

Looks like your Grandma inherited that Lincoln from Sonny's estate. And check out the can of Schlitz--I would have expected Blatz, or maybe Rheingold.

Or Piels... what was their slogan again? "A good drinkin' beer" or something like that?

Quite possibly. After the war, my father moved back with my grandparents, who lived near the corner of Kings Highway and McDonald Ave. He used to tell me that he occasionally went to Coney Island in his younger days, but I didn't know if he actually meant the beach or the amusement area. I assumed both. But, Brighton Beach is certainly a possibility.



Yeah, and remember: When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer! (Now excuse me while I get myself a Coors.)

Signor V.

Yeah, I remember seeing Jimmy Breslin saying that in those TV commercials he did for Piels years ago.

(I can't remember if this was before or after Jimmy "The Gent" Burke tried to strangle him, though!)

Signor V.

I was actually wondering earlier what that can was labeled - considering it's so prominent in the picture...glad you guys can help me out on all the beer info.

Happy to be of service! Here on the BB, we know our suds!

I have some more pictures to post, but first I want to make an observation:

The Godfather covered - in the novel and the first two films - more than just 1946. Therefore, I think it would be only fitting to broaden our horizons to include photos from the earlier part of the twentieth century. The whole "coming to America" experience was such an important part of the novel and GF2.

Is this an excuse for me to post some newly-discovered family photos from that earlier era? Absolutely.

First, though, I want to tell everyone something that may not be commonly known in this cyber-digital age:

In the early part of the twentieth century, often times people sat for photos at a photographer's studio. There were painted backdrops, prop chairs, small pieces of furniture, etc. Photographs were also often printed as 3½" x 5½" postcards - a picture on the back, and space for a message and the address on the front. This has helped me identify several family photos from an album which my family came into possession of after the death of my great-uncle.

Here is a photograph of my great-grandmother Chaika. She was the mother of my maternal grandfather, Morris. This photo was taken at a studio in Paris, France, in June of 1928. (I guess she had not yet come to the USA, but at some point very shortly thereafter she did.) On the reverse is written (in English): "Souvenir of love to my dear son Morris from your dear and loving mother."

No, it's not Meyer Lansky or Hyman Roth! This is a photo of my great-uncle Saul (1901-1982) taken in 1922 when he was around 21 years of age.

Man, these are all such great pictures. It gives you a warm, tingling feeling just thinking back on the great occasions when these pictures were taken. It's wonderful everyone has copies of these moementos. I may not get any work done today just looking through this thread.

This is super. We have another comic in our midst.

OK... I'll go back further (to include Vito's birth).

From 1889, my great grandparents about a year after they arrived from "the old country". (They arrived separately through Ellis Island in the end of 1887 and moved up to Kingston, New York just before the Great Blizzard of 1888 - the snow drifts were 25 feet high). They married in 1890 and their first child (of eleven) followed in 1891 (my grandmother). (She was born some two weeks after Don Vito would have been born - December 21, 1891).

Great grandma died in 1941 shortly before my sister was born; my sister is named after her; great grandpa died three years later. My mom speaks of her grandparents often - she says her grandmother was the warmest soul she ever met.

That whole second generation is gone now... all dead. My mom (the third generation) is their oldest living relative now.

My mother, taken from a school picture; sometime around 1924 in Brooklyn, New York. (This was about the time that the Corleones went back to Sicily - when Vito killed Don Ciccio).

Dig that haircut! They were poor and didn't have money to send the kids to a barber (or beauty parlor) to have their hair cut... it was cut at home. I joked my mom that her mother put a bowl on top of her head and just cut whatever came below the bowl.

I think everyone used to get one of those "bowl" haircuts. With so many families having a lot of kids school yards were filled with the same haircuts. I know my grandmother did all her kid's hair, and my mom used to cut ours. Until we realized we were all bigger then her and tackled her to the ground to stop that madness.

I'll add two more at the risk of boring everyone. Forgive the quality of these... I had to take digital photos from photos (my scanner is shot).

The first one is my dad circa 1935. He's on the beach in Coney Island, a respite from the hot streets of his native Brownsville (Brooklyn neighborhood). This was the summer he graduated from high school where he was on the track team; he ran the 100 yard dash in a respectable 10.1 seconds. He got some track practice while running from the cops (he was a self-proclaimed "hooligan"):



.

The second is my grandfather (my father's father). Here he is posing in front of a sign for his gym (he opened a gym for the neighborhood kids in Brownsville in which they could work out - one of the kids who wandered in was Dan Lurie who later went on to become a nationally known bodybuilder). This picture was taken in the late 30's when my grandfather was pushing 50 years old.



A quick story about him - (my dad and his sister swear its true): When my father was a young boy (probably about 1925 or '26) his father took him to Coney Island. They were walking on the boardwalk when they came across a large crowd watching "The Mighty Atom" (a famous strongman of the period who put on acts of strength like lifting heavy objects). He had just bent a horseshoe out of shape and he passed it around the crowd to show the onlookers that it was a real horseshoe. My father grabbed it and gave it to his father saying, "C'mon, Papa, bend it back". Onlookers laughed at the request but my grandfather took the shoe (and without benefit of the rags that The Mighty Atom used to grip the shoe) bent the shoe back into shape.

He must have gotten all bent out of shape. *bada bing*

Great pics! Great looks run in the family it seems.

Those are all SUCH cool photos. I almost love the stories that go with them more than the pictures themselves!!

What a great thread!!

I just got back from Florida and haven't even logged on for about a week, so when I opened this thread it really got to me, especially my Bronx paisan SB's family pics. I mean, married in uniform, during WW II? It does NOT get any more romantic, patriotic or moving than that.

TB and SV are running neck and neck in the Bugs Bunny "Baby Faced" Finster look alike contest, but TB gets all the style points. Sorry SV.

I'll get the scanner out later on tonight and hope that SC can talk me through re-sizing some pics of my own family and their little addition to the immigration experience.

Again, unbelievable idea, SC!

I must've left my old pic's of my parents In VA. I can't find any here.

I just love the fedoras!

Vitelli, looks like that girl that your dad was with had the ability to hit one with "the thunderbolt!"

Piels had the cartoon brothers, Burt and Harry, who were stars of some of the most amusing commercials of the '50's.

Nah, he looks like a young Christian Slater.

...a tecnnique later adopted by the Fab Four.

Great stuff, SC!!
As we discussed privately, Dan Lurie, not Dagmar, had the biggest boobs on TV in the Fifties. The Mighty Atom died recently.

Oh yeah? Well, if I can just find a particular photo (which has thus far failed to turn up), I may just give our esteemed Turnbull a run for his money - and you may just eat your words!



Absolutely! Hell, I got hit by "the thunderbolt" when I first found that photo! I've always regretted that I never did find out who she was or anything about her relationship with my father. I suspect it ended badly or else he wouldn't have been so tight-lipped about her and given me "the look". I mean, after all, they didn't get married. So that says something right there.

Signor V.