This old-timey store photograph shows a tailor in his shop with two boys, possibly his sons. It was acquired from an eBay seller from Washington, Pennsylvania, perhaps giving a clue as to the location of the store.
There are few details that caught my eye: 1) the various "Bruner Woolens" photos and displays and 2) a book hanging on the wall between the boy and man that says "Needle Masters Newest Styles".
There is also some faint writing on the back that I cannot decipher. Ι adjusted the brightness and contrast to make it more legible.
I enlisted the help of my favorite vintage photograph expert, Sherlock Cohn - The Photo Genealogist, and here is what she had to say:
“Very interesting photograph. Here's my take on it: The tailor appears to be either Jewish or Italian. Maybe an immigrant. I'm leaning to Italian (see below). I'm dating it circa 1918 based on the styles in the images attached to the walls and the boys clothing. I can only see part of the tailor shop window but the letters I can read are ???gati Tailors. There's a postcard in a bin on the back wall. Maybe you can get a better resolution to see if that gives any more clues. The back of the photograph has an address. Can't read it all but looks like 4?29 (street name begins with an "O" but I can't read the rest) Alley, 22nd floor, 6-3:00 (their hours I would guess). Also what appears to be a name, perhaps Patti or Pagatti? I don't know which city this is. Could be New York, Chicago or another city.”
My theory, to be verified, is that this is the shop of a Joseph S. Pati (1894-1981) from New Kensington, a city just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I have medium but growing confidence in this speculation, but I will take you through my thinking.
First, I tried very hard to determine the signage painted on the store window, keeping in mind that the letters were reversed. Complicating the situation was the ironing press in front of the window that obscured the lettering. I settled on two initials, possibly “J.S.” and “Pati”.
I then conducted a meandering newspaper archive search that eventually led me to this obituary for a Joseph S. Pati.
This obituary suggests Joseph was born around 1894 in Coszenza, Italy. He had two sons, Samuel and Mario. I turned to Ancestry to check out some of the details.
A 1940 U.S. Federal Census does, indeed, shows a Joseph Pati (45) living at 857 Third Ave. with his wife, Theresia (46), and two sons, Samuel (17) and Mario (16). Joseph’s occupation is listed as “tailor” and industry as “tailor shop”.
A Pennsylvania U.S. Federal Naturalization Record from 1921 shows a Giuseppe (aka Joseph), a tailor, arriving from Italy in 1913 and settling in Westmorland County, PA.
Both Samuel and Mario have World War II Draft Cards confirming the 857 Third Avenue address. They also indicate a phone number of N. Ken (exchange) and 4539 (number). It seems probable that this phone number is what is listed on the back of the photo.
There are several newspaper classified ads like the one below showing a “Joseph S. Pati & Sons Tailoring” at the same address and phone number.
Finally, I found two high school yearbook photos from the late 1930s and early 1940s that show both Samuel and Mario. The accuracy of this overall assessment rests on how confident one believes these are the same boys, several years apart. I will do a side by side comparison.
Comparison of older boy in the original photo with a 1939 yearbook photo of a Samuel Pati as a freshman at New Kensington High School (note: disregard the obvious transcription and labeling error in the Ancestry link)
Comparison of younger boy in the original photo with a 1943 yearbook photo of a Mario Pati as a senior at New Kensington High School
My gut says this is, in fact, an original photo of Joseph S. Pati and his sons, Samuel Joseph Pati, and Mario Calvin Pati. Given the ages of the boys I would place the original photo closer to 1930.
But Wait . . .
Sometimes amateur photo sleuths like myself succumb to confirmation bias. That is, we see what we WANT to see. We interpret information in a way that confirms our preconceived notions, sometimes neglecting facts that would change our minds.
There are still some bits of information that don’t quite add up and need accounting for, as Sherlock Cohn - The Photo Genealogist astutely points out.
The postings on the tailor shop wall have clothing designs from the post-WWI era and the ones with the man's coat and women's dresses are straight out of 1918-1919 catalogs. Would a tailor have 12 year old fashion catalogs adorning his shop walls? If not, then a date of 1930 would be much too late.
Though the ages fit, and there are some similarities in the facial features of the boys, the high school yearbook photos may not actually be the same as the boys in the photo.
There are many Italian tailors (in Pennsylvania and other states) with last names that end in “-gati” or some close variant.
A possible address on the back seems to say “4?29 O???? Street” (or Alley) and also mentions “22nd Floor”. Are these notes transcribed correctly and, if so, what do they mean? Despite looking, I was not able to find any newspaper mentions of a tailor on a 22nd Floor.
What do you think?
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