John Angelo

Hey you guys!! Tell me something about you, and I'll add it after your name. Send me a picture of you by e-mail and I'll put it here, too.

I was born in Dearborn, Michigan, on September 19, 1942. In those days, there were no televisions, computers, I-pods, CD’s, atomic bombs, satellites, or terrorists.

I was not born in a hospital, like you were, but instead in my own house which was located at 5223 Williamson Avenue. Doctor Capano arrived a few hours after my birth and confirmed that I was a boy and in good health. My mother was assisted in delivering me by my aunt Luisa (D’Elia) Trotta and her daughter-in-law, Teresa (Spadafora) Trotta.

My neighborhood was mostly made up of families whose parents worked in factories. My dad, Battista D’Elia, worked in the stamping plant at the Ford Motor Company from 1924-1956. The River Rouge Assembly Plant was the largest factory in the world. Dad's job was to operate a machine that pressed pieces of steel into fenders for cars.

I was baptized at St. Barbara's Roman Catholic Church n Dearborn, but the church we attended as kids was called St. Clement’s and it was located a few blocks away on Kenilworth. One of the priests there was named, father Fleckenstein. When the movie, Frankenstein came out, it made us wonder.

I went to William Ford Elementary School from K-7 grade, Woodworth Junior High for the first half of the 8^th grade, and then we moved to California. When I was about ten years old my dad let me have a paper route. I kept that paper route from about 1952-1956. When I was a student at Burbank High School in 1958, I bought my first car for $250.00 with money I had earned and saved from that paper route. It was a blue, 2-door, 1950 Mercury Coupe.

Item	Cost
Small bottle of Coca Cola	.05
Bread /large loaf	.08
Eggs /dozen (Almost orange yolk not yellow)	.38
Two-bedroom house with basement and unfinished upstairs	$5,000.00
Gasoline per gallon in 1950	.20-.30

My dad added four bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs around 1950, and rented them to borders. These young men also worked at factories, but did not have a house of their own, and could not afford to rent an apartment. They lived in boarding houses like ours, shared a bathroom, and ate in restaurants. Mom’s job was to make the beds, wash the bedding, dust and vacuum the rooms after the men had gone to work, and to keep the bathroom clean. Each room rented for about $10.00 each per week or $40.00 per month. Every month that added $160.00 to my folks income. Dad made around $2.00 per hour in 1950 which adds up to about $80.00 a week. With the rental and dad’s job, they brought in about $240.00!