Excerpt from the interview of
native-born South Plainfielder,
Michael Santoro
"My father, John Santoro, was born in Italy, and my mother, Theresa Lauria, was born in New York City. My grandfather, John Lauria, may have immigrated to the United States from Italy around 1900. He lived in Hell's Kitchen, New York. Grandfather had three wild boys, so he decided to bring them out here. He bought the lots and built a house. He had a chicken farm on Roosevelt Avenue off New Market Avenue by Harris Steel.
"Then he started raising chickens and growing strawberries. He had a horse and wagon and went around selling them in Westfield. He was one of the first guys to electrify chicken coups with incubators. He died of pneumonia in the late '20s. My grandmother came to live with us.
"My father, John Santoro, served in the Italian Army. There was a war with the Turks from 1911 to 1912. Things were getting hot in Europe in 1915, so grandfather Santoro sent all his boys to the United States. My father was the last one to come here after serving in the Italian-Turkish War. They settled in Lyndhurst.
"My Uncle, Frank Santoro, was known locally as the ice man. When refrigeration came along, my father was the last guy to have an ice box because he used to buy ice from his brother. I remember every time you turned around, you'd have a flood in the kitchen from the melting ice.
"My father came here in 1916 and married right away. He worked in Spicer's drop forge. In Italy, before joining the army, he was a shepherd. He ended up as a crossing guard in Roselle Park. He got bad lungs from the passing trains of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. My father was well-educated for the education he got. He probably only went to the equivalent of the third grade.
"My parents moved to 419 Hancock Street around 1917. They were the second owners of the home which was only a few years old.
"I went to first and second grade at the portables.* They were very primitive. Outside toilets, a pump for water. We used our hands for drinking cups. Talk about sanitation! It was cold in the winter because they had one stove and in the summer time it was brutal. Steamy hot!
"They were WWI temporary barracks. War surplus. Then they converted them to houses. There were three of them. Outside toilets were separated for boys and girls. At lunch the parents would bring lunch pails to the kids. Mr. Peluso did janitorial duties and maintained the coal-fired stoves in winter."
*The "portable" schoolhouses were located on Camden Avenue. They served the growing school-age population on the southside of town until Roosevelt School was built around 1928.