Posts Tagged penny candy

    Frank Paglia (also known as Frank Straw) had the commercial building at 817 Second Street built in 1918 for his store. Frank’s first wife died in 1921 and he remarried Linda Giovanno of Naples, Italy. The two of them along with Frank’s children, operated a store in the two story brick building. After Frank’s death, the property was sold to Nick and Emma Rocco who owned the Rocco Store across Second Street at the time. Mrs. Paglia took her share and invested it in a small store with a house at 32 Line Avenue (corner of Line Avenue and Smiley Street). Many people have shared their memories about Paglia’s store across from Barry’s.
    We have heard that Mrs. Paglia was the only store in Hazel Dell that would give you the refund on empty soda bottles and PEM Morris shared how his mom often sent him to Paglia’s for milk and DeRosa’s bread. He also recalled getting his first baseball cards of the season at Linda’s as she always seemed to get them before anyone else.
    He also shared with us his memories of years later taking his own children to Paglia’s store when they were small to pick out penny candy. Linda, as always, waited patiently for them to make their choices. For the young children, it was one of the highlights of the family trips to Ellwood City and they still remember it today.
    If you would like to share your memories of Paglia’s store, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    We have driven past the building on the corner of Fifth Street and Hillside Avenue and could tell that the house was previously a business of some sort but could only speculate. I vaguely remember a sign on the side that once read Rocco’s but it has since been covered and the building would remain a mystery. That is until we talked to a couple of the people in the neighborhood who had lived there their entire lives.
    Ms. Carmel Conti ran her corner grocery store there for many years. The store was originally called Conti’s until Ms. Conti married Mr. John Rocco and the name of the store was changed to Rocco’s which is what many of the people remember it as.
    The memories of the store and of Mrs. Rocco were all very kind and she is remembered fondly by those that depended upon that store. We spoke with Mr. Hockenberry who recalled as a child going into the store for penny candy and spend an hour looking at the glass display case with a nickel trying to solve the difficult decision. He recalled the whole time he would stand there, Mrs. Rocco would stand there patiently waiting upon him never rushing him, all for only a nickel.
    Another memory that the locals have of the store was the running bill that Rocco’s kept for all the families in the neighborhood. At anytime a mother could tell a child to run down to Rocco’s to get a loaf of bread and Carmel would simply add it to the families tab to be settled up on payday. This was a common practice in Ellwood City at the time, but Rocco’s took it a little bit more personal and actually looked out for the families in the neighborhood. As the mill workers seemed to either be laid off or on strike every two years, Rocco’s helped when they could. One gentleman told us that when his Dad was laid off Carmel would let the family keep a tab for the extended time until he was back to work and was able to pay the bill off.
    If you recall Rocco’s and would like to share your own memories, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

North St

Back when you had to drive around that silly island at the end of the 5th St Bridge, this little “business section” of the Northside was home to many different little shops that served the community well.
     If you look at the picture closely, you can see on the left side the original Dom’s grocery store with Mel Guy’s Service Station on Wampum Ave to the south of the store. To the north of Dom’s was a garage that at one time housed the Borough’s street sweeper before Weiz’s Hazel Manor sponsored race car. The entire corner is a 7-11 convenience store today.
    On the right side of the picture is the Laundromat Suds n Duds and another little business to the south but we will need a little help from you with what was located there.
     In the foreground, you can see a number of businesses that lined Wampum Ave. Going from left to right in the picture was the Northside Cafe, Felino Pharmacy, and then a pizza place (Mary’s?). Then in this picture, Teolis Shoe Repair is next in line then a bar. The name of the bar changed over the years but the names include McDowell’s, Jim’s Cafe, and Eddie’s. Then on the end of the row was a little triangle shaped building that housed the Triangle News newsstand next to the 5th St Bridge. The old 5th St Bridge is just out of view on the right side of the picture. 
       We have heard from two people of other business that were located in this area. One remembers their dad taking them to a gym down a flight of stairs off of Wampum Ave to see the boxers spar. The other guest remembers going down stairs to watch their dad play pool. After looking into this a little further, we discovered according to Ellwood’s prohibition daily newspaper called The Enterprise, It was Wilson’s Bar that had the boxing ring in the basement and the same building during Prohibition was a “speakeasy”. A speakeasy was an establishment which illegally sold alcoholic beverages during Prohibition (1920–1932). During this time, the sale, manufacture, and transportation (bootlegging) of alcohol was illegal. The term comes from the way customers ordered an alcoholic drink without raising any suspicions as they knew to be quiet or “speak easy.”
    We have also heard a long list of other business that at one time called this section of Ellwood City home. T&S (Tony & Sam) Bicycle Shop was here a number of years before moving to Lawrence Ave. T&S was also home to the areas finest slot car race track. Other business include Cosmo Geneviva’s Arcade, May’s Pizza, Jim’s Café, Tony Straw Agency,  and another shop in the little triangle shaped building that sold penny candy and other popular items including paper kites for $0.10 and plastic models.
     Of course it is difficult to talk about the business at the end of the old Fifth Street Bridge without mentioning Red Hots. The home of the giant “small” chili cheese french fry Red Hot Restaurant called the Northside home before moving to Sixth Street when the new bridge was built. Before Red Hot occupied the little restaurant at the end of the bridge, it was known as Ionellie’s. Ted’s Hamburgers preceded Ionellie’s and in the 1940′s when the big shootout took place on the Fifth Street Bridge between the Ellwood City Police and some bank robbers, the building was occupied by Mayflower Lunch.
    We would love to hear about your memories of the “business” section of old Hazel Dell. Whether they are about the business listed, the ones that we forgot, or even about cement dummy at the end of the old bridge (actually, originally there was a dummy at each end of the bridge).  Please share your memory with us by leaving a comment below or email us by CLICKING HERE.