| Anthony's Studio The funeral of Carlo Nobile, Santa Lucia Church in Mahoningtown Pa 1919, 10 October Photographic print, restored Private collection of Mike Colella LL/49631 The subject is Carlo Nobile, age 31, who was the first President and founder of the Santa Marguerite Mutual Beneficial Society and also played cornet in the Santa Marguerite Band, which is surrounding the coffin. The photo was found along with obits clipped from two local newspapers and the same funeral sash worn by the president of the society seen on the extreme right in the photo.One of the obits states that exertion brought on by "eating a quantity of ice cream and playing a cornet until near midnight" caused his death. The attached image is a digital copy of the original generated after being restored professionally. It is a decent photo but the original which I had professionally matted and framed is breathtaking. The mounting board is marked: Anthony's Studio, Anthony Straw porpr, High Class Portraiture. Anthony changed his original last name of Strizzi to Straw to garner favor with the "Americans" as was a common practice among the Italian immigrant population at the time. He eventually changed it back when it became more acceptable to have an ethnic sounding name.
[pers. comm., Mike Colella, 24 Jan 2013]
| |