A picture postcard of the proposed new City Hall.

These photos were taken around the time the story takes place.

On the left, Camden Policemen line up in front of the Convention Center.

Two pictures (immediately below) of the streets in the 1930's.

Below those photos are others which show Campbell's Soup and RCA Victor in the same time period and the the Ben Franklin Bridge under construction from an aerial view.

Again, these pictures are intended to give the reader a greater point of reference.

Antonio Mecca was born in Italy on November 26, 1873. He immigrated to America in 1888. He moved to Camden in 1890 after picking berries in Hammonton for a year. Mr. Mecca married around 1894 to Isabella Gargano.

Mr. Mecca wore many hats such as a notary public, when needed he interpreted legal and other documents for fellow Italians as well as assisting them in unfamiliar Camden courts. He was well known for helped neighbors get citizenship papers and waived fees for funerals if families did not have sufficient funds.

"Tony Mec" as he was known in the neighborhood by almost everyone, he also started a pre-paid funeral plan for working class families at fifty cents a week. He also operated a limousine rental service. 

The White House at 819 South 4th Street is a two story structure designed in the style of a Mediterranean Villa and still stands today. As the neighborhood changed, the building changed and fell into disrepair. By the early 1990's it was totally unusable.

Due to the efforts of Sal Scuderi the building is now restored. In May of 2001, it opened again to the delight of some hundred current and past residents who turned out for its dedication. Efforts are now being made to designate The White House designated as a National Historic Monument. The building represents many things. It and its original owner helped countless immigrants. It is a microcosum of Camden; it went into desparate straights as Camden did and now stands as a beacon and a point of reference to what Camden can be.

Gaining National Historic Site designation would go far for Camden and the neighbors in the area. Sal and I are working to make this happen and am confident we'll be successful.  

Below is a photo of how the structure appeared in the 30's and how it looks today. 

I think Mr. Mecca, who helped my family as many others, would be proud.

Left, the sign at Sciamanna's establishment

The Sciamanna family posing for the camera.

William Roydon was originally a grocer from London, England. He had apparently been interested in the development of the New Jersey colony as early as 1676. One of the largest landowners in West Jersey, he was selected to be a member of the first Council of Proprietors. When it was decided that regular ferry service should be established between Camden and Philadelphia, William Roydon was selected and granted an exclusive license to conduct ferry business between the Newton and Cooper’s Creek.

601 4th Street was not listed as a bar in the 1918-1919 Camden City Directory, however, a Giulio Cinelli was operating a saloon there, as evidenced by the 1920 Census and a 1921 Camden business directory. Giulio Cinelli had left the bar business and moved to Haddon Heights NJ by April of 1930. It is very possible that he was one of the Cinelli's who opened Cinelli's Country House on Haddonfield Road in what was then Delaware Township in 1935. By 1926 Giacinto Sciamanna was running the bar, and the Sciamanna family appears to have remained involved in the establishment into the early 1970s. 601 South 4th Street reappears as a tavern in the 1978 New Jersey Bell Telephone Directory as the Spanish-American Cafe. This listing was continued until 1981. The bar then reappears in the 1983 Directory as Chic's Cafe.

South 4th and Royden Streets became a notorious drug corner in the 1980s. Today the building is vacant and boarded up, and appears to have been vacant for many, many years.

This was the office where Manny and his partners did business every day. The numbers racket was run out this very building.

Various photographs of push carts and trucks of the day. Typically the wife would only purchase enough provisions for one or maybe two days. 

The ice trucks delivered ice for the primitive "ice boxes" every or every other day to ensure what little food they had and other provisions were kept cold for future use.

Money concerns and refrigeration considerations prohibited a typical family from "buying ahead' for future days. the produce proved to more fresh as well.

Mt. Carmel Church in the early days.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is now known as Our Lady of Fatima and has a mostly Latino congregation. I've attended several services there and was amazed to see many of the Italians from the old days return to the church. 

Much like the White House of Antonio Mecca's, this church was and is an oasis in a land ravaged with the effects of time and neglect. It's a beautiful church with a very exuberant congregation.

Manny and just about all the members of the family were baptized, confirmed, and attended this church.

Marco Reginelli did many things for this church when it fell on hard times. He did everything from paying to have the heating system replaced, filling the coal bins when they ran low to having a new roof installed. These are just a few of the deeds Reginelli did while the Under-Boss (for Angelo Bruno in Philadelphia) for the area and a member of the church, asking nothing in return.

Unfortunately when Reginelli died, the Father at the time would not allow his body to have a Christian Service inside the church due to his "questionable" past. Rather, they permitted his casket to be brought to the front steps of the church for Father to sprinkle Holy Water on his remains. His body was not permitted to enter the church.

Most of the photos on this page were obtained on Phil Cohen's website <http://www.dvrbs.com>. I encourage you to visit the site.