Village
Life in Old Greenwich
The roots of Old Greenwich run deep from a tiny and close community
at the turn of the twentieth century to the vibrant town center that exists
today. In 1989, OHP volunteer Marian Phillips interviewed Daniel Catanzaro, a longtime
resident of Old Greenwich who currently resides in Riverside. Our thanks to
Elizaveta McCauley, a sophomore at Greenwich High School, for her contributions
to this blog.
Daniel Catanzaro was born on October 8, 1926, in Old
Greenwich. His parents were Mary Catanzaro, a nurse, and Nicholas Catanzaro,
Old Greenwich’s shoemaker and a central figure in the community. Daniel’s
recollections take us back to earlier days.
“My family settled here around 1910. But Dad was commuting
here, walking from Stamford to Old Greenwich. At that time the trolley ride was
five cents, and it was too expensive. That was a luxury. So, we go back to
right around the 1900s, when Old Greenwich was really a great town to live in.
Old Greenwich was a crowded little town from, say, June 1 to September 1. Then
on September 1 all the summer people moved out.”
Life in Old Greenwich was nothing short of carefree and
merry. The close, friendly bond between neighbors and families was perfect for
young Catanzaro, who enjoyed being able to go out and about with his friends at
just about any time. “I remember playing basketball any hour of the night down
at the Old Greenwich School and then walking home ten, eleven o’clock at night.
You’d never meet a soul, and you never had a fear of anyone doing anything to
you, because you’d just run into somebody’s house and they’d walk you home. Old
Greenwich was the safest place I could ever think of for a youngster to grow up
in.”
Taking care of Binney Park, Catanzaro notes, was a great
part of his summer. “That’s where we all got our spending money. We’d go down
there and pull weeds out, and that’s why Binney Park always looked so beautiful
. . . Ed Sullivan used to ride by when he was a columnist with the New York
Daily News, and he’d always write about the beauty of Binney Park.”
As an older child, Catanzaro picked up and delivered shoes
to and from his father. “The Shorehame Club had a lot of prominent people
there, show people…I was one of the few that would actually go down there; I
used to deliver repaired shoes or pick them up and bring them to my dad. I
couldn’t remember many other people going down there. There were a few homes,
but not many.”
Daniel Catanzaro also delivered some items other than shoes.
“One of the bad things that happened was during World War II. Lake’s Drug Store
handled all the Western Union. Anyone that was killed in the service, the
telegram would come into Lake’s and we would have to deliver them. If no one
was home, the majority of times we’d bring them back and try and find someone
who was associated with the family.”
Catanzaro shared his memories of certain other deliveries
from Lake’s Drug Store after Prohibition ended in 1933. “We had liquor down in
the cellar. Sunday was our big day. In those days you packed ice cream in a
quart container. Everybody used to fight to work for Lake’s on Sunday because
you went to deliver a quart of liquor in a quart ice cream container. Whose ever
house you delivered it to, you were always good for a nickel or dime tip, so
there was always a waiting line to work in Lake’s on Sunday. You were not
allowed, like you’re not now allowed, to sell liquor on Sundays. But our
commuters would forget on Saturday. They’d call on Sunday, and we’d deliver it
in a quart ice cream container.”
The closeness of the Old Greenwich community extended to the
canine portion of the neighborhood—that is, Sound Beach Fire Department’s beloved
firehouse dog, Spot. A proud, dignified-looking Dalmatian, he was a common
sight to see around the firehouse. Spot accompanied his fellow firefighters as
they responded to fires and he would wear his collar—decorated with the emblem
of the Fire Department. Unfortunately, Spot passed away in 1949.
“When that dog died, it was like the most important person
in Old Greenwich passed away. He was
buried in a casket and a full funeral ceremony, right in front of the Old
Greenwich firehouse. That’s where Spot was buried. I’ve never forgotten that.
There was an awful lot of broken hearts when Spot finally left us. They had a
formal funeral for him, and everyone in Old Greenwich had tears coming down
their eyes.”
The Oral History Project interview of Daniel Catanzaro, and
the book by the same name, Village Life in Old Greenwich, are
available for purchase through the OHP office at the Greenwich Library. The OHP
is sponsored by the Friends of the Greenwich Library. Visit the OHP website at
glohistory.org. Mary A. Jacobson serves as the OHP blog editor.
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