I was 6 years old and going to first grade in Italy. Underneath the school was theI remember the first time I went to Naples in 1939, when my brother and sister had to get the boat to come to this country. I was 8 years old. Naples never sleeps. There was music all day, all night, lights, people walking. It was before the war. For somebody my age, I thought it was another world. It was something unbelievable.
We started to get the letters to come [to the U.S.]. It was tough coming here and not speaking the language. I hung around with all Italians down the North End [in Boston]. I learned how to read English by reading comic books. Flash Gordon. Big Boy. T-Man. G-Man. Dick Tracy with the watch. I used to buy three for a quarter. If I knew that they were going to be of value I would be a multibillionaire today.I really did not like the bread.
I made $18 a week when I came to this country. I saved money. I bought my first suit for $18—blue with white stripes. I was 17 years old and stupid. I wore the suit dancing. Dancing with the suit—double-breasted suit, tie, hat, suede shoes. You carried the brush in your pocket to brush out your shoes.
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