Keeping it real in Teele

On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

I had the pleasure of talking to a very interesting gentleman recently - his name is Frank Scimone and he came to Somerville in 1951. He liked the Teele Square area so much that he bought 1112 through 1118 Broadway. It's the block that now houses the muffin shop, the ATM, and Christo Insurance, which was formerly Frank Scimone Insurance for 40 years. He told me he bought and sold 1108 Broadway twice. He has been dubbed “The Mayor of Teele Square” and he has been interviewed on Boston TV. Here is some of the history we discussed.

At 1102 Broadway there was a gas station, while across the street was a bowling alley, Town Paint, a TV repair store and Kennedy's Butter and Eggs (later The Jumbo). Frank remembers seeing a very old picture of a horse trough in the middle of the square too. Where Bremis Real Estate is now was once Duke's Five and Dime. There was a Jewish Deli at one time on the Bremis block and Steen's Bakery was where the tax guys are.

A First National Store and Duke's Five and Dime once graced where Neighborhood Market now stands.There was a Somerset Savings Bank where the tax place is, along with Dick's Newspaper.

Does anyone remember any of this? How about not one, but two, drug stores on Broadway - Furbish and Shute and (Henry) Stone Pharmacy - complete with a soda fountain. Johnny's Vegetable's was where the Beauty Parlor is now. The original Somerville House of Pizza is now Theo's Pizza and Joey's Ice Cream (whose founder later opened Steve's Ice Cream and then Bertucci's) was also on that block (I wish I bought some stock in that venture).

At Clarendon Avenue and Broadway there was supposedly a car dealership, where Rudy's is located, there was a joint called Sacky's Bar Room (later Art and Bob's). The Teele Square Theatre was a venue that the Viano family had built - Arthur F. Viano owned the Teele Square Theatre, the Broadway Theatre in East Somerville and the Regent Theatre in Arlington. It was designed by Walter Littlefield, who also designed the Union Square Fire Station. There was a sweet shop on the left of the theatre and Nick's fruit store to the right. The theatre closed in 1967 and a Mr. Stuart ran a theatre backdrop and props business in there - I remember going in there to rent some stage cacti and fake boulders for my traveling children's theatre production of “Tumbleweeds” in 1977” - the troupe was called “A Moment's Notice” and one of the stars was none other than Buildings and Grounds Superintendent Frank Santangelo.

I still can't believe that the Logan Post is gone - more memories felled by developers' bulldozers.
Teele Square is currently the home of Amelia's Kitchen, run by Delio Susi and his son Delio Jr. Their mother Amelia passed away abruptly two and a half years ago. An entire article is on the way dedicated to Amelia.

Angelina's quality hasn't changed since “I'm a kid.” What will it be? Regular, half jumbo, jumbo? Many a night of partying ended with a trip to Angie's (also a few skip outs at the Western Junior High School too!). The Jumbo Lounge was the scene of many nights of cold beer and loud music, and an occasional “brew ha-ha.” As a matter of fact, Jumbo the Elephant's (Tufts University Mascot) ashes are said to be in a peanut jar in a safe on the campus - it's all that remains of the infamous circus pachyderm. I remember going to see him up at Tufts before he was destroyed in a fire. Speaking of fires, hello to the gang at Ladder 3.

The best part about Teele Square is that you can get a Mexican meal at Rudy's, and then go to the other Rudy's and have your sofa re-upholstered. Just make sure you have the right one, so you don't end up munching on a seat cushion.

Lots of Somerville kid's learned to dance at Mary Flynn Murphy's Dance Studio like the Carafotes girls. A nice family runs the store on the corner across from the fire station. They always wish me good luck when I play my numbers, even though I hardly ever win.

It was a pleasure talking to Frank Scimone about the old days of Teele Square. Watch for Frank's upcoming appearance on “Seriously Somerville” on City Channel 16 on Comcast and Channel 13 on RCN (hosted by yours truly!). If you ever have the opportunity to chat with Frank, it will be a very informative and memorable experience. I'd like to thank him and the website “Lost Theatres of Somerville.” I can almost taste those 25-cent draft beers at The Jumbo - I'm pretty sure I still have one of those beer glasses as a souvenir (and maybe an ashtray too).

Please e-mail your comments to Jimmy at: jimmydel@rcn.com

Comments

[Credit Union Lady]

Hey Jimmy- love your columns! Read them every chance I get- the paper flies out of our ATM lobby so fast, I missed this one.
Anyway, speaking of Teele Sq., do you remember what was here before the Credit Union (next to the Fire Station)? I was told it was a packie; others disagree, but they don't remember. I grew up on the other side of McGrath, so obviously I'm "disadvantaged". I know you're the source, man. Help us out!

[Another Frank]

Forgot the shoe repair shop owned by the Aurelia's of Arlington; Sam, the father; and his son Joe. Nice people!

Also, as a kid, while going to Western Junior High--1943-1946--[yes I was under-age]--I worked for Johnny's Vegetables owned by John Borngiorno and his wife, Anna.
They lived on Princeton Street at the time. I went to their house and asked to work for them when John was a street pedlar off a flat bed truck working the streets of East Cambridge and East Somerville. He hired me to carry the fruits and vegetables upstairs to customers houses. Got great tips.
Also to clean and sweep the truck of garbage, debris, empty boxes, and cartons once we got back to the garage on Lowell Street; where Boston Closet is now located. We also sold fresh fish from a huge hamper wooden covered box on the tail end of the truck, packed with ice.

A fringe benefit. Got to bring home a lot of left-over edible fruits and veggies, no charge.

John gave that up in favor of opening the store in Teele Square. Still wanted me to work for him in the store on Fridays after school, and all day Saturdays.

He eventually closed that store and opened another on Cambridge Street, East Cambridge. Wanted me to work for him there too; same hours. He named it "The Crossing" because it was located right next to the freight railroad crossing that came across Cambridge Street, near Warren Street. That R.R. crossing served the many meat packing houses located, at that time, in East Cambridge.