Italian American cultures, styles and traditions helped shape my community heritage
The community of Willow Glen is an eclectic mix of houses and people that reflect a unique blending of styles and cultures. Much of this is due to the fact that our area was the chosen home for many European immigrants who came to America during the great migration in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries.
The different styles and backgrounds they brought from Europe grace our area with family heritage, pride and memories. Subsequent generations followed the traditions and heritage of their families while at the same times assimilating into the American/California culture. For a time, our small community of Willow Glen was incorporated into a city of its own (1927-1936).
The community was made prosperous by the area’s fruit orchards, which, for the most part, were owned and operated by Italian immigrants. Willow Glen had its own business district, churches, schools and library. The residents rallied together and successfully kept the Southern Pacific railway from cutting through their land. Today, that same sense of quiet pride, determination and independence still prevails.
Like most of the country at the turn of the century, San Jose was the melting pot for numerous ethnic groups, in particular the Italian Americans whose children followed their parents dream, climbing out of poverty and searching for a better way of life. The little town of Tricarico, Italy, gave more of its young people to our community, per capita, than any other country in the world.
Willow Glen was especially blessed with a mix of people and cultures. They opened businesses; sought education, and eventually became the new middle class. (Young enterprising men such as Amadeo Pietro Giannini, who revolutionized banking in California and founded the Bank of America, was born in San Jose to a middle class family who also immigrated here from Italy.)
YESTERDAY AND TODAY
Like most Italian American residents, I have a keen awareness and reverence for things past, as well as a feeling of pride in my present community. The neighborhood I grew up in has undergone many changes and upheavals. There have been some losses of our Old World ways and landmarks, and that causes me to cherish those that still remain. My dad, Rocci Curci, was the proprietor of the pronto pup creamery.
For over 30 years dad operated the unique creamery that not only served hamburgers, sodas and fries, but also spaghetti, ravioli and meatballs as well. If those walls could talk they would tell how many local families have passed through the shop’s familiar doorway, how many kids have grown up sitting at its counters, and the long leisurely afternoons spent visiting this haven for local foot traffic. La Villa Deli is among our community’s distinguished features.
This aromatic, bustling shop has long been a part of Willow Glen’s main street scenery. Long time residents can remember the deli’s original owners, Frank and Anna Giacomelli, who wanted to go into business for themselves after World War II. Anna’s brother, Louis Pasquinelli suggested a delicatessen. Louis and his family had enjoyed fine Italian cuisine at the Giacomelli home.
So, it was only natural that they encouraged them to open a restaurant filled with their tasty recipes. In 1947, Frank and Anna took the big leap, picked out a vacant lot and built a shop, launching the La Villa Deli at 1319 Lincoln Ave. In 1967, the Giacomellis sold their business to Ed and Rita Palestro who ran the deli for 20 years. Today it is owned and operated by Patty and Dave Bertucelli, who continue to operate in small town fashion, preserving its rich ethnic background and original recipes.
The Deli’s outstanding foods have been bringing customers to Lincoln Avenue for over 50 years. Many customers praise the foods: "They have the best ravioli you’ve ever tasted. It melts in your mouth". Older residents say La Villa Deli keeps Willow Glen feeling like the old Italian community it once was. And it’s one of the few stores they can remember from their youth.
MEMORIES OF MY CHILDHOOD
There is and always has been a rich ethnic mixing in our community. As children we all played together at the corner vacant lots, we raced our bikes along the sidewalks speeding past the tall maple trees that lined the avenues, we organized games, picked out our leaders and established our own rules… we appointed referees, and at the end of our long summer play day we laughed with our friends and cherished what we had done while looking forward to tomorrow.
So many decades later, and I still treasure the memory of my old neighborhood and the tiny moments in time shared with these old friends and neighbors, the Herolds, Swansons, Minervas, Nelsons and Furdutos. Moments that left me with pleasant memories and an ongoing appreciation for the community I grew up in. Over the years we’ve lost some of our landmarks and houses, but most of my family's ancestors who came here almost a century ago, have remained in the area.
They carry on traditions and replace those that have gone. New faces and new places will, in time, leave their own imprint on the passing generation. It's my hope that our Willow Glen community will keep its unique balance of shops and traditions, as well as its historical blending, and that it will continue to thrive and endure, preserving the quaintness and ambiance of that little corner of the world we call home.
10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410
