January-December 2010, vol. 1

looked out the hotel window across Corner Inlet and wassurprised to see a mountain. I was looking at Mt. Vereker.“What’s that?” I asked Jack.“That’s Wilson’s Promontory,” he replied. “It’s a greatplace for a picnic.”It was my first glimpse of the Prom. On a visit, to the hotel atMoe, the licensee took us for a picnic lunch to the old goldmining town of Walhalla.Antonio’s faith was much like that of other Italian men. He sleptin on Sunday mornings; his only chance for a sleep in. He wentto Mass only at Easter. However, in later years when he was stillworking, I used to drive him to 11am Mass at the Star of the Seachurch, West Melbourne.Antonio’s sexual morality was of the strict kind. At one time inthe early 1950s, Antonio and Lena had sponsored a migrantfamily from Calabria. The father and son worked at the standfor Antonio, while the daughter did housework for Lena andlived at our house. The daughter fell sick and was bedridden.One evening I went into her bedroom, to “visit the sick,” as Ithought. After about ten minutes, I came out, only to beaccosted by Antonio. I suspect he was at the door of hisadjoining bedroom, waiting for me. He said to me, “You shouldnot go into a woman’s bedroom like that.”The success that Antonio achieved in business might causeanyone who did not know him to believe that he had anoutgoing, almost charismatic personality. The truth is verydifferent. Although on occasions he displayed temper andimpatience with those who did not share his way of doingthings, basically Antonio was a very quiet, introspective, gentleperson, with considerable internal drive.Antonio hired only Italian workers. He was very familyconscious, as befits one who had to work with his family toenable them to survive in those difficult early years. One of theproperties he bought was a small shop in Geelong, which herented to his brother-in-law, Peter Palamara, so Peter could runhis fruit business there. He and Peter used to go rabbitingtogether. 55 Rabbit was a favourite dish for many people duringthe Great Depression.On one occasion, Antonio invited Giuseppe Virgona, one ofLena’s cousins, to stay overnight. Giuseppe was coming up toMelbourne from Terang on business. Unfortunately, Giuseppeforgot to tell his family he would not be staying at his usualplace, the Victoria Hotel in the city. They tried to contact himthere, unsuccessfully, causing them much concern. Antonio washappy to sponsor a cousin, Joe Cincotta, who migrated fromMalfa to Australia in about 1950. He gave Joe a job at the standand had him board at our house for several months, until Lenagot upset with people coming to breakfast at different times.Joe then decided he should leave, although Antonio tried topersuade him to stay.55 Tony Palamara.Antonio’s letter to Gerard, that I referred to earlier, the onlypersonal letter by him that I know of, showed a fatherlyconcern for his son, advising Gerard to go about his studies inthe same way Antonio had gone about his business, withsingleness of purpose. In my boyhood, I had been a little afraidof Antonio, because of his serious demeanour and apparentsternness. However, I too experienced his fatherly compassion.Gerard was fond of skiing and invited me to go skiing with himand Alison Lumb, whom he later married. However, to get tothe snow fields from Melbourne one needs a car. So, I wasappointed to ask Antonio if we could borrow the Morris, thefamily’s second car. In great trepidation I put the question toAntonio, only to be pleasantly surprised by his immediatelypositive response. We borrowed the Morris on severaloccasions that winter.Antonio greeted my request to go and work for him at thestand in 1950 with enthusiasm. He was elated to think that hemight pass his business on to one of his sons. Lena wasdisappointed but said nothing. She knew I was frustrated anddejected about my continual failures at school. She had finishedsecondary school and had wanted to go to university, but herfamily felt they could not afford it. Antonio probably did noteven finish primary school before he was forced, bycircumstances to earn the family living. However, when Idecided, three years later, that I wanted to go back to finishschool and go to university, he was disappointed, I think bitterlyso.He said, “You think you are doing the right thing doyou?”I said, “I have to.”That was the last we said about the subject. As he had done forhis daughter Maria, and Gerard, he supported me all throughmy university career without complaint. He paid my fees forNewman College and my university fees the year myCommonwealth scholarship was suspended because of subjectfailures.Antonio was also generous with his family in other ways. Hecontributed much in the way of finance to Lena’s work for theItalian community during the recession of the early 1950s, uponLena’s many requests. When someone queried the accounts ofthe Archbishop’s Committee for Italian Relief, of which Lenawas President, she engaged an accountant to examine itsexpenditure and income. He found that, contrary to the opinionof the doubter, the Committee’s expenditure greatly exceededits income, to the tune of about four thousand pounds ($8,000).He asked Antonio how much he thought he had contributed.Antonio answered, “About four thousand pounds.” In the early1950s that was a small fortune. Antonio was not always toopleased at the amounts Lena spent on her work. Moreover,during the recession, her increased workload interferedsometimes with an otherwise orderly family life. These factorswere the source of some friction between them.Antonio’s generosity equally extended to people outside thefamily. On one occasion, he invited a business friend and hisIHSJ ITALIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL VOLUME 18 2010 | 13