Anna Maria & Tony Mazza
The Mazza's opened Macelleria Atlas on St. Clair West in 1969, and now run this local butcher shop with their daughter, Angela.
AUDIO INTERVIEW
TRANSCRIPT
00:01 MARNY (interviewer): Today’s Tuesday, November 5th, 2024. I am Marny Gibson and I'm interviewing Tony Mazza and his wife Anna Maria Mazza, who together run the Macellaria Atlas with their daughter. This interview is for the St. Clair Oral History Project. So, hi, Tony and Adam Maria!
00:22 ANNA MARIA: Hi, how are you?
00:24 MARNY: I'm fine, I’m fine. So, my first question is, where is the Macellaria Atlas?
00:31 TONY: 800 St. Clair.
00:33 ANNA MARIA: 800 St. Clair.
00:34 MARNY: 800 St. Clair. And how did you come to that location?
00:38 TONY: In 1969, we opened a store with my friend, my partner, and we call it "Atlas" because it's a street called Atlas.
00:50 MARNY: Yes.
00:51 TONY: But before, we had 808 St. Clair. Now, I changed 800 St. Clair.
01:04 ANNA MARIA: We moved in 2007.
01:08 MARNY: So how did you find that store with your friend?
01:12 TONY: Oh, we worked 10 years almost together. Then he moved in Italy and then I moved. I take over myself.
01:20 ANNA MARIA: We worked together all these years, then in ‘78.
01:25 MARNY: That's when you opened?
01:27 TONY: No, when I say together, to keep the store together.
01:30 MARNY: I see. I see. When did it open actually?
01:33 TONY: We opened the store in 1969.
01:35 MARNY: 1969. So, you had a few years at home, and then –
01:39 TONY: No, no. She worked for another place.
01:41 MARNY: Oh?
01:42 ANNA MARIA: I knew after he was started the work in the store.
01:48 MARNY: Uh -huh.
01:50 ANNA MARIA: You want to hear my story? The way… I was 17 years old when I come in Canada. I was, my family was a big family, and my father was feeling not well. We are so many children and my mother they can’t look after, they can’t look after everybody. When I was 12 years old, I had no choice. My mother, it was the teacher, the daughter. They needed a babysitter. The grandchild. And they asked my mother, would you send your daughter to watch the kids?
Not at the same town. I stayed five years the house over there with this person. Ah, poor me! I was always like, staying with my parents, my mother they can’t keep all. We have three sisters, four brothers, the sisters, the girls, everybody we went to work out when we was really young. I stayed there five years, and they pay me ten dollars a month. Ten dollars. In these five years, I make this money to come alone in Canada, because my parents they couldn’t afford to pay.
03:19 ANNA MARIA: I used to have a cousin, in Saskatoon. Now, I was not happy to stay there. I went home. When I went home, I see my mother, you know, she was very upset, she was very tired, my father, he never worked, whatever. This cousin, she came from Saskatoon. She see me, I was not happy with my mother. She said to me, "Why don't you come to Canada?" You know, she said like that. You know what? I hear the words of my cousin, she said. No even I stay one year in my house. I said, I call my cousin and say, “Listen, I want to come to Canada. In this country, I have nine children." She asked me, "Come in Canada.”
04:14 MARNY: Wonderful.
04:15 ANNA MARIA: There was no choice. Two things: I was 16 years, 16! There was no choice over there. I was supposed to marry at 16, you know, they want to give me somebody I don't want it, you know. I was no choice. I said, “Listen, I want to leave because you want me to marry this boy,” but I was no like. Because my sister, the little, married at 15 years old. She was no happy. The husband was more 15 years older. They get away from the house. Can you imagine? I said, "No, I don't want to make a mistake with my sister though. I prefer to go to Canada.” I come in Canada. I can stay one year in Canada because every three months I have to go to Immigration to put, to sign. I went to Saskatoon and the next day I find job.
05:16 MARNY: Wonderful!
05:18 ANNA MARIA: I find job right away, but you can’t work at that time.
05:21 MARNY: Oh, because you're on a tourist visa. –
05:23 ANNA MARIA: Yeah. When it passed three months, my cousin, he bring me at Immigration to sign the paper because I want to stay longer. They ask, “You work here?” I'm not supposed to say, yeah. My cousin, I don't know why she said, I work. She said, “You stay? No. You must go back in Italy.” Three months exactly, the same day, you see I tell you, 23 August I went to Saskatoon, I was there. 23 November they're sending me back. The government is, you know, you can’t stay here anymore.
You know what happened? That day, I was supposed to come, you know, leave Canada. I went to the airport to finish the ticket. She said, "Listen, in Toronto, you have to wait four hours in Toronto. But you've got somebody help you in Toronto. They can give you some paper because I went in August and the ticket was higher." They said, "When you come back in November, maybe they give you some money back when you live in Italy."
I said, "Listen, I'm not speaking English. I don't know who's supposed to help me." My cousin, she said, "My cousin is in Toronto. Why we no write?” Not now, the phone. That time, you have to write the letter. But I write the discussion. I said, "Listen, I have to pass from Toronto. You know, you come see me over there.” But I don't explain everything. Just, you know, they write the letter, and she said, "Yeah, I come see. I come to the airport. Yeah.” But when I was on the airport, I look around, I no see nobody. I call this lady, "Listen, I’m in Toronto, I'm at the airport. What do you think? You're here?” She say, "Oh, I'm sorry, I can't come. I can't come 'cause my husband is working. But I ask another cousin over here.” She send, she called, she send -
07:29 MARNY: Tony?
07:30 ANNA MARIA: Tony. She say, “Listen, somebody's supposed to come from Saskatoon, some girl, Saskatoon, somebody, you can go pick her up?” And he says, he asks him, "You want to go get this girl, you know?" –
07:46 TONY: Oh, of course, of course. Why not? Yeah.
07:49 MARNY: No problem!
07:50 ANNA MARIA: They asked the boss because he was working. He said, "Let me go, this and that." "Sure, sure, why not?" And this lady, she said, "I'm sorry, he's not there, but what are you gonna do?" That’s it. We close the phone and…
08:04 TONY: But I was there, at the airport, look for her.
08:06 ANNA MARIA: That time he was already there, they look around, they knew. We come in the same town, but we don't know. We don't know.
08:16 TONY: We don't know. She was small. I was in Switzerland too for a couple of years - three, four years.
08:21 MARNY: Oh, you were in Switzerland…
08:24 ANNA MARIA: He come closer to me. He said, "She changed the name”. I don't know who changed my name. They call me Antonietta. My name is Anna Maria. I don't know why the name. She said your name is Antonietta. I was scared, I see the boy, whatever, you know. I was alone, I never go nowhere. It was first time, I was driving. And second time they come to the front to me, he said, "You, your name is Antonietta, you come from Saskatoon, and I'm the guy that can come to pick up you.” Uh, oh, I don't want to go with him because I see alone, I don't see no woman. I don't think, I make excuses, I say “No, that's okay, After three, four hours, I go home, I leave with the plane.” I make so many excuses, I don't want to go with him. He said, "Listen, somebody tell me to come pick it up, we have four hours, you can come." He said, "You can come the whole day, I'll bring you back."
09:36 TONY: Okay, because I said, my auntie said, "Go this girl, go pick up this girl and bring her here." Yeah, that's one thing. So, I said, “My auntie said, ‘Go pick her up and bring her here.’ I come back in the airport again.” I said, "I'll take you there and then come back in the airport again. What you going to do?" I said. And then my aunt, you know what she do? Because she told me -
10:01 ANNA MARIA: I want to finish the words. I want to say, because after I ask him, I say, "You come the same town. What's your name, your father, your parent?" Yeah, he say, you know, “Michela Mazza, my mother is.” I said, “You have a sister, she's called Lida?” That one, she was, we were same age. That sister, she was, I said, when I come into Canada, I say, “You know, Lida I say goodbye because I go to Canada”. She say, “Where are you going?” I said, “I'm going to Saskatoon.” “Did you know, I have two brothers in Toronto?” And that's why I was thinking it was him. He was my friend's brother. And like that, I went with him. I went to Toronto. My aunt, she's so nice. She knows somebody, they let us stay over here, some lawyer. But you have to pay money. When we went to this house, my aunt, she called the lawyer. She said I have a girl, this and that, you want? He said, “Bring over here the girl.” And they bring me over there.
11:10 MARNY: Right then?
11:11 ANNA MARIA: Then.
11:12 TONY: Straight then. My aunt lived at Regal Road, close here. Same day, yeah, same day.
11:22 ANNA MARIA: Went there, the lawyer, he said to me, "You like to stay here?" I said, "I like it." And they said, "You like it, but you stay now, because you think you go back. Because when they put me in a plane, some letter is supposed to go to the Immigration. This letter, they no went there. Somebody there, the Immigration, they went to my cousin and said, "Where’s the girl? Because the letter is no here.” My cousin, she said, "Listen, they leave from here, you want to watch the house? See, you find her if you want to watch. You no see it, we don't know. She left, we don't know, no idea where she went.”
At the lawyer she said, “Listen.” I say, “My mother is waiting me in Italy, you know, this and that.” She said (I have, you know, the stuff.) she said, “Don't worry. The baggage, we'll get it later. Right away, they send you home.”
12:23 TONY: I bring you home. Don’t worry about that, the suitcase, you bring your bag.
12:27 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, she say, “I want 350 dollars. 350 dollars, but 250 at the beginning tonight. And 100 dollars when I call you in Immigration, they put the thing.” I still have the money, my cousin, they put little things inside here. I make money, just $300 to live in Canada. $350.
12:52 MARNY: You had just that amount of money?
12:54 ANNA MARIA: 350 dollars.
12:56 MARNY: Compared to, if you had stayed in Italy, it would have been 30 dollars.
13:01 TONY and ANNA MARIA: Yeah, yeah!
13:03 ANNA MARIA: I said, what are you gonna do? The money, I have, but I have inside here. At the moment I say to the person, “Listen, it’s at the house.” At that time, they used to have the money in the pocket, him. He said, “Don't worry. I can give it to him if you want it. You go home. You give your money to me. That time, they have a money.
13:30 TONY: I always have money in my pocket. Like in Italy, my father similarly. So, I spend five, but I keep always five. People, like say you give $1000 they spend $1005. I no spend! I save all the time. I no like to spend all my money. That's why I keep. I'm like that.
13:58 MARNY: So, you had enough money to lend?
14:02 ANNA MARIA: Yes. Yeah. After when we go home.
14:05 MARNY: First wedding present!
14:07 TONY: No!
14:08 ANNA MARIA: It was nothing yet, at the moment, anyway. And we went home. I stayed because this aunt she was so good. They don't know me. Maybe my mother, she used to know. She'd take responsibility to have me in this house.
14:25 TONY: Because my aunt, she knows somebody.
14:27 MARNY: So, you had a job right away, again?
14:29 ANNA MARIA: Right away again.
14:29 TONY: Because of… What do you call it?
14:32 MARNY: Work visa?
14:33 TONY: Work thing so you can work.
14:38 ANNA MARIA: Yes. Yeah, I have no problem. I can work here.
14:39 TONY: No problem.
14:40 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, the lawyer she say, “You can have social insurance number, and you have no problem. You can have a job right away, you want it.” And after, you know, after we stay three years and a half, we work. Three years and a half. After, we married.
14:59 MARNY: So, you were about 19 or 20 when you got married?
15:02 ANNA MARIA and TONY: Yeah, yeah.
15:03 MARNY: And Tony, were you already a butcher at that time?
15:06 ANNA MARIA: Oh, yeah.
15:07 TONY: I was, well, I was a start. I was know a little bit, and then I worked for these people, at St. Clair and Dufferin.
15:16 MARNY: Oh, yes.
15:18 TONY: it was three partners in there. And then I worked six months, I was working nighttime and I worked there, I learned because I was not professional butcher. So, after six months he happened to, he say, “We have too many we here. My big boss has a place in Mississauga at Highway 10.”
15:44 MARNY: Oh, yes.
15:45 TONY: “If you want to go there.” I go there almost one year.
15:47 MARNY: Yes.
15:49 TONY: All by myself. It was a Supermarket; it was a small butcher shop. I got all myself meat there. And then, after one year I stayed there, one of the boss there is separated there and he open store over here at 800 St. Clair. He was living upstairs, him, and then he said, “I want to open store over there. I want you come with me to work, partner or whatever you like.” He see me before then when I work, I was nice boy. I went there with him. So, he told me, so I was a little boy, so I said, “Of course some money” and then I was up a little share, a half. So, we worked here almost ten years together, and he said, "Tony, I want you to take the store,” and I take the store. I pay the rest, I pay, and I take over. 1968, it's when we opened.
16:45 MARNY: Okay, okay. '68, so, it's now nearly - 60 years? It's coming up, coming up for 60 years - wow!
16:56 TONY: That's 69, but we opened '68.
So, he moved to Italy, so then we took over. Me and her, we have a couple of boys who work with us, help us, and it was okay. Nothing wrong. It was nice. It was fine.
17:17 ANNA MARIA: You know, we have four kids.
17:20 MARNY: Four kids.
17:21 ANNA MARIA: Yeah.
17:22 MARNY: I know two of them.
17:24 TONY: Yeah, Mike and Angie.
17:27 MARNY: Mike and Angie have both worked in your store.
17:29 TONY: Yes. The other two came when we make Salsa on St. Clair, where they help, but maybe you don’t know about it.
17:35 MARNY: No, I don’t know them. Okay, so you've been involved in Salsa on St. Clair, family business.
17:41 TONY: Yeah, almost every year.
17:44 ANNA MARIA: All the years, they don't come everybody, but all the years, all my family, the kids, they come.
17:52 MARNY: That's great.
17:53 ANNA MARIA: And Angela liked it, to do these things.
17:59 MARNY: Yes. So I'm just very curious about how the business has changed over time, like have you noticed much difference in the neighborhood and…
18:10 TONY: Started to change when they built the street, that's when it started to change.
18:17 MARNY: The streetcar? When they made the streetcar - dedicated?
18:20 TONY: Yeah. That's when it started to change.
18:22 MARNY: Before that it was pretty stable?
18:24 TONY: Before that, it was fantastic. Then it started to change, I think. A little bit late.
18:29 ANNA MARIA: Even when they opened Sunday, the store was a bit different. You know, when people missed every day, you know, Sunday was closed. At that time, we feel a little bit changed, because people, you know, we say we have to, we go Sunday. They don't want to come Friday. Yeah, but it was busy from four o'clock. It was busy seven and nine o'clock nighttime. They open Sunday - it changed.
18:59 MARNY: I see. So that's the first change.
19:02 ANNA MARIA: Yeah.
19:03 MARNY: … and it affected your business in a bad way.
19:05 TONY: Yeah, a little bit
19:08 ANNA MARIA: The people they come too, you know. They don't come one day, they come another day.
19:14 MARNY: But then also the streetcar, when they built that-- -
19:16 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, yeah.
19:18 MARNY: But now it's built, it's-- -
19:20 TONY: Built but still, because people, they can’t park. Number one. Plus, you make the thing for the restaurant, you no parking for the people. –
19:28 MARNY: Right.
19:29 TONY: It's good for the restaurant, bring the table outside. But all the variation, all the dust, how can people eat outside? I don’t understand.
19:40 MARNY: I don't know, I don't either. I agree with you. Right on St. Clair. But in any case, it cuts off more parking spots.
19:46 TONY: It cuts more parking, people complain no parking, delivery people complain that they can’t park…
19:53 ANNA MARIA: Some people leave, they go buy one chicken legs, they turn around and the police –
20:00 TONY: They get ticket. $60.
20:02 ANNA MARIA: They want to take it out the car.
20:03 TONY: Take it out of the car. –
20:07 MARNY: Towed her car?
20:08 TONY: Towed the car. At 4 o’clock, park, they towed the car.
20:12 ANNA MARIA: Poor lady, they come there to get a couple of things, not even $20. The car, they take it away.
20:20 MARNY: So, most of your customers drive to—
20:22 TONY: Well now, not too many people drive. But lots of people, young people, shop, walk, but people, they have to drive from far away, no parking and no car.
20:33 MARNY: Yes. Yes. Well, that's too bad. But every time I'm there, you're busy.
20:39 TONY: Yeah. I no say we no busy. But before was more.
20:43 ANNA MARIA: Before it was much better.
20:45 MARNY: Much more.
20:46 ANNA MARIA: Forty years ago. People buy lots of meat.
20:50 TONY: Now people eat less meat, too.
20:52 MARNY: So, people would eat less meat, that’s another change.
20:55 TONY: That’s change.
20:56 MARNY: When did you start making things for your store?
21:00 ANNA MARIA: I think it's seven years, now. Yeah.
21:02 MARNY: About seven years.
21:03 ANNA MARIA: Yeah. Seven years I started to do lasagna. I make, I do all from my hand.
21:14 MARNY: You never tasted lasagna like that. It is the finest ground meat. It's very beautiful. So yes, but you make fresh sausages.
21:24 TONY: Fresh sausages we make. –
21:26 MARNY: Beautiful. Yeah, and is that very popular?
21:31 TONY: Yeah, we make three, four kinds. We make them lamb. We make pork, just pork hot and sweet. We make finocchio sausage, we make rapini sausage, chicken sausage, beef sausage; somebody wants a beef sausage.
21:48 MARNY: So, you have a pretty big mix of customers, the people that come in your store, they're from different cultures, I would say. Do you have, is there one kind of group of people that you would say you see more, like do you see more Italians? Or other…
22:06 ANNA MARIA: Italian is not much now anymore. A lot of customers, all die, go now. We have not too much. But still, they come with the grandchild. They come, grandchild, they remember the grandparents used to buy meat at our store. To see these young people! They say, “My mother used to come here...” To see the grandchild! They come to buy, you know, used to buy the groceries, you feel so good to see these young people. Even some customers, so years we don't see it. Another day they show one customer. So years and years, still remember us. You know how happy we are? Even after so many years, you remember our store, our name. It's beautiful.
23:02 MARNY: It is. Yes.
23:03 ANNA MARIA: It's beautiful. It's beautiful. I can't believe it. That's why I never want to be ending there. But one day...
23:10 MARNY: You're tired. There's some days you're tired.
23:13 ANNA MARIA: I don't say, we won't tell. You know, because maybe close. Maybe soon.
23:18 MARNY: Oh, boy. I hope not. I hope not.
23:20 ANNA MARIA: Yes my dear. It's no use anymore. Yes. Our age, I think it's time to rest.
23:31 MARNY: It is time to rest, I know.
23:33 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, I work, I do everything, you know. I work hard to do all these things.
23:38 MARNY: Of course.
23:39 TONY: You have to watch for...
23:41 ANNA MARIA: Because I have people there who staying for me. I learned this thing, just, you know, to talk, make a lasagna, you will make this. I started from everything myself. I like it the best you can, you make the good stuff for people. I don't want people to …
24:03 MARNY: …to be disappointed ...
24:04 TONY: Fresh, fresh, important.
24:08 ANNA MARIA: I have one thing for me, for me, I'm very important, the food is supposed to be clean. It's supposed to get out good. Even the meatballs, I don't want to give meat, fat or whatever to no one. I want to give, I don't say you can give the best, but at least fresh, good. Because I have a grandchild. I don't want... When I see the kids, like my grandchild, I don't feel it to give that kind of food to the kids. No, no, no, no, no, no.
Another night, one lady she brought the little boy, and she bought my meatball. They went home, they ate, and she said to Angela, she said, "See, he so happy. The first time he was eating the meatball, he was so happy.” She showed the picture with the meatball in her hands.
25:07 TONY: The mouth.
25:09 ANNA MARIA: The mouth. Oh my God, I feel so happy in this. Even the people, we make a gathering soon. Even one night, middle of the night, Angela they sent, they said, "Thank you, Angela. Oh, my God, it was amazing, that food you make for me.” They call, it's beautiful. Next day, they call us, “Thank you!” I don't give it free, but “thank you, the food was amazing.”
You know, I'm like that. Sometimes we can make a mistake, you know? I don't say that, even the meat sometimes we find a little bit hard, what are you going to do? But never I do because I want to make a dollar, I want to sell that one because I want to make a dollar. No, no, no, no. No me anyway, and him too.
26:04 MARNY: Of course not.
26:05 TONY: No, I like to be fresh. Important thing, fresh stuff. Important thing.
26:09 ANNA MARIA: When the people order and say, bring me home, we do a better job with these people. You're right price, right weight, and good stuff. That's why so many years in this store. Why?
26:24 MARNY: That's right.
26:25 ANNA MARIA: It means something, right? To be so many years. We just us in over here now, we left. You see on St. Clair, just us so many years.
26:40 MARNY: Some of the stores have changed. Some of the stores keep changing, and your store is one that...
26:48 ANNA MARIA: Since 1968...
26:50 TONY: It's one of the first stores, no change. Still there.
26:53 MARNY: Do you know any of the stores the same as before? Did you ever...?
26:59 TONY: The jewelry store. He died, but the jewelry store was there too, but just, ah it’s sad, but it was a long time too.
27:07 MARNY: The jewelry store, Amalia. He was Peruvian –
27:11 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, Amalia.
27:13 MARNY: It was sad –
27:14 TONY: Paul, the restaurant. He changed because he was, but it was, now he finish, but he was there long time too.
27:21 MARNY: The - which restaurant?
27:23 TONY: Paul, the restaurant, near Arlington. Chinese restaurant. Next where I was before. 808 - the next one.
27:31 MARNY: Ah ha. Let me think. Is there any other? Oh, well, Ashley's the hair cutter.
27:40 TONY and ANNA MARIA: Ashley. Yeah, Ashley. Long time too.
27:43 MARNY: He’s been there a long time. What other businesses have there been?
27:48 TONY: Ah, Nodo. Nodo, long time too, the restaurant.
27:52 MARNY: Yes. Before it...
27:54 TONY: But it changed so many owners.
27:55 MARNY: Yes, it had many of them. It was a different—it was a—I wish I could remember that it was a—for a long, long time it was a different place.
28:08 TONY: It changed so many places. Before it was John, I remember.
28:15 ANNA MARIA: It would be three or four.
28:16 TONY: I think I remember three changed.
28:20 MARNY: It was an Italian place before.
28:22 ANNA MARIA and TONY: Yeah. It was all Italian.
28:26 MARNY: It is now too.
28:27 TONY: It's still an Italian place. Yeah.
28:28 MARNY: But there was one time in between when it wasn't Italian then. Yeah. Anyway. So yeah, the restaurants... Usually the building that is a restaurant stays a restaurant, it just becomes a different one. Or else they convert something to be a restaurant. We have so many now. Do you notice the difference - so many more?
28:50 TONY: So more change, yeah, yeah. Like Paul, the restaurant Chinese, the restaurant there change. But still a restaurant. Where I was before, 808 now it change to barber shop and not, no more butcher, because I moved there and I leave the store. I move everything, and I leave the store because I buy my own as a building. That's why I can’t stay there. And the rest - the restaurant was, ah, it was make ice cream. Remember the one ice cream make?
29:30 ANNA MARIA: Oh, I remember Leonora.
29:32 TONY: Leonora ice cream.
29:34 MARNY: I don't remember that no. Where was that?
29:38 TONY: It's just north on the corner, Atlas. It’s a store, it was called Leonora Restaurant. Then it was... Yeah, soft ice cream, like Italian ice cream. Yeah, ice cream, coffee, billiard. It was-- -
29:55 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, it was a billiard.
29:56 TONY: Before. And then he changed the restaurant. He was at that one - a long time too. Then when the guy he died, the owner. But they might still live, but the restaurant is old.
30:10 MARNY: I see. And that's on Atlas?
30:15 TONY: Yes. St. Clair. St. Clair, close.
30:17 MARNY: Next to Atlas. Because some of the people we've interviewed used to talk about going into the billiard place.
30:24 TONY and ANNA MARIA: Yeah, the billiards, the billiards, yeah.
30:27 MARNY: They'd skip school and go ...
30:30 TONY: Because that one, it was a long time there too.
30:32 MARNY: Yes, they mentioned that.
30:34 TONY: It was the best ice cream. The best ice cream on St. Clair, I told the truth. Most, because he got the recipe from Italy, it was the best ice cream.
30:42 ANNA MARIA: They don't want to give the recipe. No, they want to keep it, they want to take it back.
30:48 TONY: It's okay.
30:49 ANNA MARIA: It's okay, I don't mind. Me another day, my customer, I make a ravioli. I say, “I'm sorry I can't do anymore.” I used to make always for him. But now there's too much for me. But he says, “You don’t mind, one day I come, you pardon me.” Why not? He’s just come last week. It's man. They come there. I show everything from the scratch. I make ravioli, I hope they do up. I give the recipe exactly the way... I show everything, the way to make the ravioli.
31:25 TONY: What about the young girls?
31:27 ANNA MARIA: Even the one young girl, she said, "Nona, this year, it's my birthday.” Sixteen, maybe fifteen. “I want to go learn ravioli. And when you go Macellaria Atlas, the lady, they learn me to make ravioli.” And they bring all the friends there. It was 8 girls. They come there. I showed them make the meatball, I showed...
32:00 TONY: Past year.
32:02 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, this year. No, this year happened. Oh my god, they was so happy! After, you know they eat in the back there. I show them make ravioli, tagliatelle. I was so happy. She said, "I have a beautiful birthday in my life."
32:18 MARNY: Oh, that's lovely. –
32:19 ANNA MARIA: It was like something interesting. All the friends, they tried to do it. For me, it was something beautiful, beautiful. And still come this girl, they come and kiss me. “Thank you. It was so nice to learn me to do this.” Beautiful, this was the dream, they wanted to do something like before.
32:45 MARNY: Well, that's your new profession. Teaching. Teaching.
32:50 TONY: A lot of people ask if you want to be a teacher.
32:56 MARNY: Or maybe YouTube.
So, we've talked about some of the changes. What are the good changes that you've seen in the neighborhood? What would you say?
33:10 TONY: Good change. I see lots of young couple. They come to shopping. Very good. They want a good stuff. No ask the price. We give the best stuff. We try to give the best stuff.
33:22 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, they can be beautiful.
33:24 TONY: Every say, thank you very much, thank you for the service.
33:28 ANNA MARIA and TONY: Beautiful, beautiful.
33:30 MARNY: So, the customers are more polite?
33:32 ANNA MARIA: Yes.
33:34 TONY: Yeah. Not, you know, spend too much, because two, three. Not spend too much, but we happy like that. A big shopping like before, three hundred dollar whatever...
33:46 MARNY: Right? Doesn't happen.
33:47 ANNA MARIA: It's finished.
33:48 TONY: Not so much anymore. But people shop every day, a little piece of steak, a little bit porchetta. We have, we have like that.
33:58 MARNY: That's good.
33:59 ANNA MARIA: Yes.
34:00 TONY: We sell lots of lasagna. We sell everything, prepare food, we sell lots.
34:04 ANNA MARIA: So gentlemen come. “Hi, how are you, thank you.” Oh my God!
34:10 DIANE: I have a question, if you don’t mind. You talked about the fact that, although we don't want to hear this, that at some point you're going to give up the store. What do you think you will miss? When you leave the store?
34:24 TONY: Well, especially the customer you miss. The customer for us was so nice...
34:30 ANNA MARIA: For me, all of you come to my store. Even if they spend one penny, I'm so happy. I‘m gonna miss all of you.
34:43 TONY: I have a guy I was working for nine years. He moved back to Italy. He is 93 or 94. He still call me. He asked me, "How your business goes? How do you feel?" That age, he still call me because he was so happy like the way I worked for him. At that time, we make a lot of money. That time, we made money. Now, we live, but not like before. Before, more profit. –
35:13 ANNA MARIA: There's so many to pay now. Everything, pay, pay everything. –
35:18 TONY: But before, no machine, not this, not that. Ah, we have this, there's so many things. Small thing.
35:27 DIANE: The overhead is a lot more now.
35:30 ANNA MARIA: More expense now. Everything we have to pay, pay.
35:34 MARNY: Well, I can tell you. –
35:35 TONY: For me, that guy was very nice. We almost used to have every day together. The wife would cook upstairs, bring downstairs, so sometimes we could cook, for example. But almost like brother, you know.
35:49 MARNY: Family business.
35:51 TONY: Yeah. For me, it was still like a better than brother, that guy. For me, you know.
35:58 ANNA MARIA: Oh, beautiful, beautiful to hear that.
36:01 MARNY: Well, I want to thank you very much.
36:03 ANNA MARIA: We leave all this name, the phone, the same it was him, start. You know how much he's happy, him? He says, "Still, it's called Macellaria Atlas. Still the phone, same phone, same number the phone.” He's so - when he called, “What about that guy?”
36:22 TONY: Oh, he still remembers so many people –
36:24 ANNA MARIA: He remembers lots of customers. I said, "Oh, that one, I wanted to ...."
36:29 TONY: Me, I don't remember too much, but he remembers my special one.
36:34 ANNA MARIA: He remembers everything, that age.
36:37 MARNY: Ha! He was part of the family.
36:41 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, he was very nice.
36:42 TONY: He liked my hands, especially he goes, “Oh, Tony, you’re the best.”
36:46 ANNA MARIA: After one year, I was have this baby. She was surprised. She say, "What?" Yeah. You know? You have to have kids. One after another, four kids... This is the story of ours, but I can’t complain. We lucky each other. To find him, him to find me.
37:15 MARNY: Yes, that's a wonderful story.
37:17 ANNA MARIA: Because so many years, we just turned 50 years anniversary. I said, "I don't want nothing for my anniversary."
37:25 TONY: We made in April 20, just turned 50 years of anniversary, this year.
37:29 ANNA MARIA: I want to have a little party –
37:31 TONY: We make a nice party. We invite all the friends, we went to the hall...
37:36 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, beautiful. My kids arranged me like wedding. I went to church the same way, the priest was so nice when I get in the church, the way they treat us. It's beautiful. So, this party I want because when I was coming here, I was married. We have a big wedding too. But we don't know the people. I don't know nobody. This time, this time.
38:05 TONY: A friend or a paisano or whatever, a few customers. But 300 people that time, a long time ago. But no money, we gonna make no money.
38:14 ANNA MARIA: I want to talk about all my life. But I find, always find people they like me, you know?
38:29 MARNY: Of course they do.
38:30 ANNA MARIA: Everybody, I find people that... Yeah, I was the kind to always stay with my parents. But, destiny, they send me more far, you know, place like this, but I can’t complain. To find him, you know, we went together nicely, respected, you know, we work.
38:58 TONY: When we get married, I say you work, I work, we make this $2,000 you and $2,000, we get married because nobody helped at that time. And we make all the party. First, we went to pay at nighttime we gonna marry, I pay the music, I pay this, I pay that, and then we go home. That’s it.
39:15 ANNA MARIA: Yeah, because that time we have no parents and nothing here.
39:19 TONY: I find a hall, I find two cook. I make all the food myself, I prepare all the food myself. I prepare it and I deliver it to the hall.
39:29 MARNY: For your own wedding?
39:31 TONY: My own wedding.
39:32 MARNY: And you didn't make the food?
39:34 TONY: No, no, no. I mean, first I went to deliver, get the food in the morning, then at one o'clock with me.
39:42 ANNA MARIA: We went to marry! And that time went to pay first everything, and after went to go home.
39:49 TONY: Now everything, it is ready in the hall.
39:54 MARNY: Yes, that's...
39:56 DIANE: Which church did you get married in?
40:02 TONY and ANNA MARIA: The one at Dufferin and – Santa Maria et Angel - Davenport
40:08 DIANE: Oh, yes. St. Mary of the Angels.
40:11 ANNA MARIA: My aunt used to live there – Regal Road, over here, not too far.
40:16 TONY: And the hall, Bloor and Dundas. I don't know if you see it there. Hungarian Hall called, I think. It’s a good place.
40:26 ANNA MARIA: Okay, nice. That’s it.
40:29 MARNY: Well, those are good memories, very good memories. Thank you so much for giving the time to the project and I'll just say goodbye.
