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Vacations are made by who you're with, not how far you go

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Marion Constantinides
Marion Constantinides

The author discusses how their family vacations as a child in the 1950s involved visiting extended family in nearby communities rather than traveling long distances or to tourist destinations. The author's mother and them would take trolleys to spend two weeks with aunts and cousins in Dormont, where they would socialize with family and participate in community events. Similarly, other cousins from the author's Greek immigrant community would vacation by visiting each other in nearby towns like Monessen where the steel mills were located, highlighting how staying close to family was an important form of vacation before more widespread car ownership and travel.

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Vacations are made by who you're with, not how far you go Warm Nostalgia July 19, 2013 12:13 am 1/1 Fred W. Schneider III By Marion Constantinides The "staycation" is a relatively new term, but it is an old concept for ethnic, working- class Pittsburghers. When I was growing up in the 1950s, my family and I did not go away for a vacation like families today. We never went to the beach or Disney World. But we did go on vacation. Immigrant families tended to find homes in communities where other immigrants from the same country settled before them. I grew up in South Oakland, which, like many parts of southwestern Pennsylvania, was a melting pot of ethnic groups. That included serving as home to a large Greek population.
My mother's sister, Calliope Fekaris, and her family had moved from Oakland to Tennessee Avenue in Dormont around the early 1940s. Many people didn't have phones back then, so daily visits were still a common way of socializing. Connections between the South Hills and the city had become easier years before by completion of the Liberty Bridge and tunnels. Commuters from the South Hills didn't have to complain that they had to take the long way around to get into Downtown Pittsburgh. In our case, a trek to Dormont meant taking two trolleys because we didn't have a car. Our socializing was limited to occasional Sunday visits. So to spend more time together every summer, my mother and I took those two trolleys and went to Dormont to my aunt's house for a two-week vacation. I would be so excited I would stand, holding on to the poles for the whole ride, even if the trolley wasn't crowded. My mother gave up trying to get me to sit down. Our Greek-American subculture has always loved to socialize, so we filled our stay with as many events as possible. My dad, who stayed home so he could work, would visit on the second Sunday of our "trip." He would take me and my cousin Nick to Kennywood or West View Park. Sometimes, Nick's older sister, Anna, would take me to buy shoes at the Buster Brown store on West Liberty Avenue. I would play with the other kids in the neighborhood and I didn't have to miss my favorite TV shows: "Howdy Doody," "Davy Crockett," "The Lone Ranger" and "Captain Kangaroo." My single uncles visited on Sundays for the family dinners that were a staple of ethnic, working-class life or to celebrate someone's Name Day throughout the year. Sometimes called Saints' Days, because almost every Greek Orthodox was named after a saint or martyr, these events were hosted by the celebrant, who opened the doors of his or her house to friends and family. No one needed an invitation; the news spread by word of mouth, or the partiers just knew to come. At the end of our vacation, my dad came to take my mother and me home to South Oakland. My Dormont cousins, meanwhile, would vacation by traveling to Monessen, another community with a large Greek population, to spend time with other cousins who lived a stone's throw from the Pittsburgh Steel Co. mill. From their hilltop, you could see the billowing smoke from the mill's smokestacks as well as the busy shops on Schoonmaker and Donner avenues. When it was their turn, my Monessen cousins would visit our cousins in Dormont. These cousins were all older than I was, so they got to do fun things that I couldn't do, such as attend church dances and picnics and go to soda shops and the movies.
It was important for first-generation Greek-American children to become Americanized. Many listened to Elvis Presley and other popular singers in the 1950s. They Anglicized their first names and spoke English whenever possible (although we spoke only Greek at home) but they were proud of their heritage. Various Greek fraternal associations sponsored picnics in the summer. The picnics involved grilling lamb outdoors and participating in the folk dances of Greece. "American" music was added later, but most people wanted to "dance Greek." The old staycations may seem more mundane than the ones people enjoy today, but there was a lot to be said for the extended family visits of that generation. Connecting with friends and family was not only important -- it was fun, too. Marion Constantinides of Squirrel Hill, a writer and artist, can be reached at myrofora@comcast.net or read at www.marionconstantinides.com.The PG Portfolio welcomes "Warm Nostalgia" submissions about favorite summer memories, in addition to other reader essays. Send your writing to page2@post-gazette.com; or by mail to Portfolio, Post-Gazette, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA 15222. Portfolio editor Gary Rotstein may be reached at 412-263-1255 412-263-1255 FREE . First Published July 19, 2013 12:00 am Get unlimited digital access - web, mobile, tablet, apps and more Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/morning-file/vacations-are-made- by-who-youre-with-not-how-far-you-go-696044/#ixzz2gctQqbxd

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Vacations are made by who you're with, not how far you go

  • 1. Vacations are made by who you're with, not how far you go Warm Nostalgia July 19, 2013 12:13 am 1/1 Fred W. Schneider III By Marion Constantinides The "staycation" is a relatively new term, but it is an old concept for ethnic, working- class Pittsburghers. When I was growing up in the 1950s, my family and I did not go away for a vacation like families today. We never went to the beach or Disney World. But we did go on vacation. Immigrant families tended to find homes in communities where other immigrants from the same country settled before them. I grew up in South Oakland, which, like many parts of southwestern Pennsylvania, was a melting pot of ethnic groups. That included serving as home to a large Greek population.
  • 2. My mother's sister, Calliope Fekaris, and her family had moved from Oakland to Tennessee Avenue in Dormont around the early 1940s. Many people didn't have phones back then, so daily visits were still a common way of socializing. Connections between the South Hills and the city had become easier years before by completion of the Liberty Bridge and tunnels. Commuters from the South Hills didn't have to complain that they had to take the long way around to get into Downtown Pittsburgh. In our case, a trek to Dormont meant taking two trolleys because we didn't have a car. Our socializing was limited to occasional Sunday visits. So to spend more time together every summer, my mother and I took those two trolleys and went to Dormont to my aunt's house for a two-week vacation. I would be so excited I would stand, holding on to the poles for the whole ride, even if the trolley wasn't crowded. My mother gave up trying to get me to sit down. Our Greek-American subculture has always loved to socialize, so we filled our stay with as many events as possible. My dad, who stayed home so he could work, would visit on the second Sunday of our "trip." He would take me and my cousin Nick to Kennywood or West View Park. Sometimes, Nick's older sister, Anna, would take me to buy shoes at the Buster Brown store on West Liberty Avenue. I would play with the other kids in the neighborhood and I didn't have to miss my favorite TV shows: "Howdy Doody," "Davy Crockett," "The Lone Ranger" and "Captain Kangaroo." My single uncles visited on Sundays for the family dinners that were a staple of ethnic, working-class life or to celebrate someone's Name Day throughout the year. Sometimes called Saints' Days, because almost every Greek Orthodox was named after a saint or martyr, these events were hosted by the celebrant, who opened the doors of his or her house to friends and family. No one needed an invitation; the news spread by word of mouth, or the partiers just knew to come. At the end of our vacation, my dad came to take my mother and me home to South Oakland. My Dormont cousins, meanwhile, would vacation by traveling to Monessen, another community with a large Greek population, to spend time with other cousins who lived a stone's throw from the Pittsburgh Steel Co. mill. From their hilltop, you could see the billowing smoke from the mill's smokestacks as well as the busy shops on Schoonmaker and Donner avenues. When it was their turn, my Monessen cousins would visit our cousins in Dormont. These cousins were all older than I was, so they got to do fun things that I couldn't do, such as attend church dances and picnics and go to soda shops and the movies.
  • 3. It was important for first-generation Greek-American children to become Americanized. Many listened to Elvis Presley and other popular singers in the 1950s. They Anglicized their first names and spoke English whenever possible (although we spoke only Greek at home) but they were proud of their heritage. Various Greek fraternal associations sponsored picnics in the summer. The picnics involved grilling lamb outdoors and participating in the folk dances of Greece. "American" music was added later, but most people wanted to "dance Greek." The old staycations may seem more mundane than the ones people enjoy today, but there was a lot to be said for the extended family visits of that generation. Connecting with friends and family was not only important -- it was fun, too. Marion Constantinides of Squirrel Hill, a writer and artist, can be reached at myrofora@comcast.net or read at www.marionconstantinides.com.The PG Portfolio welcomes "Warm Nostalgia" submissions about favorite summer memories, in addition to other reader essays. Send your writing to page2@post-gazette.com; or by mail to Portfolio, Post-Gazette, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA 15222. Portfolio editor Gary Rotstein may be reached at 412-263-1255 412-263-1255 FREE . First Published July 19, 2013 12:00 am Get unlimited digital access - web, mobile, tablet, apps and more Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/morning-file/vacations-are-made- by-who-youre-with-not-how-far-you-go-696044/#ixzz2gctQqbxd