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Me: Ok, tell me how you came to Butte.
Lydia: Come to Butte in 1922. Because my father sent us. You know we were in the old country.
My father sent for us, all three of us and my mother.
So we come to Butte and when we come to Butte we stayed with Guidi Brothers. You know, for
a week and then we went up in Elkhorn. We lived up in Elkhorn because my father was
leasing (laugh) looking for ore.
Anyhow, so we went up there. And um, and my father, (sigh) every time he sent a car of
ore to Helena, he had to pay money and he didn’t make no money so he went broke. So,
we were absolutely broke. We didn’t have a penny to send my sister a penny postcard
(?).
But he didn’t want to come down here in Butte because he thought some day he was going
to strike it rich. But after all the bills, you know, were coming up and coming up.
But Mary, my sister Mary, only stayed up there about six months, Connie (sister) about eight
months and none of them were coming up so finally we had to come to Butte so he could
go to work in the mine, you know.
So we come to Butte, my father started work in the Leonard mine and he got hurt. The he
had a heart condition and for four years, he never worked again. He never worked again.
So, he finally died, you know. So we had to go to work.
We we lived in Meaderville, I went to work. I was about fourteen, not quite fourteen and
a half. Because we only stayed up there (in Elkhorn?) about a year and half after that,
not even.
But anyway, and then I went to work for this guy. He had, you know, he had his hand cut
off. And ah, he worked in the mine, so had those, ah, what you call it, ah? Hooks!
Me: Oh yah, hooks for hand?
Lydia: Um huh. So I went to work helping this woman (?) I did the dishes. In fact, I went
over there to do the dishes but I was getting paid almost a dollar and a half a day. That
was a lot of money! Them days.
So, I started to cook there with this little old lady and um. But I knew a little bit how
to cook because my mother taught me. Even when I was a little girl in the old country.
Because over there you don’t play except once on Sunday. You know, And then my mother,
she’d start something and then she’d say to me, “you watch, so it won’t burn, so
put this in”. So, you got to learn how to do a little cooking.
And then uh, when I was working at Mike’s (?), this lady she taught me how a little
bit, you know. But I didn’t know anything about a restaurant, you know, because, ah,
we never, I didn’t even know what a restaurant was, just about! Once in a while. (laugh)
And so then, after that, I went to work for Pancetta at the White House, we called it.
He used to give free dinners away! Them days.
What you get, you know what you get now in my place (Lydia’s). You used to get it free.
Me: Oh, why?
Lydia: Just so you bought a bottle of wine. *** red. Uh, and, uh, or gambling. That’s
all. Anybody could have come in and eat though.
So, I learned everything there with this other woman, Maggie. And uh, but anyhow. I got so
that I really liked to cook. And from then on, after ***’s, I went to work for Joe
Sinestratto. What you call that place? But anyway, I went to work, and you start there,
And you learn. As you go along you learn how to cook. Because I only done the dishes for
about six months. After that I got to be a salad girl and then cooking.
So then, after that, I went across the street to another place, we called , Para’s Place
(boarding house). And I work there with that woman, Mrs. Para. And I learned a lot there
too. And I had to serve for the residents, you know. But I knew my cooking. I really
do. They didn’t do anything different. In fact, I had to show them how to make gravy
better than what they were doing.
So from there, I went to...again, again. Ah. I was never fired.
So, across the street was called the Alaska(?)cafe. So I stayed there to work and I was making
pretty good money. And then they closed up. And then I went back to working for Teddy
Taparish at the Rocky Mountain. And I worked there for about eight years. And I was the
only cook. So, nobody to teach me anything. No, I was all alone.
So, anyhow, I stayed there, and I, finally I got mad one night and I quit. So, I went
over across the street and I went in partner with Sunny O’Dey. And then after that, he
went to war. And this other guy, the business split up.
Finally, there was this place down the Flat, you know, they used to call, “The Casino”.
And this woman who used to sell businesses says, it’s up for sale. You know, somebody
told me it was up for sale.
So, I went down and I talked to her. You know. And I asked if she was willing to sell it
and she said, oh yes, she was wanting to get out of the business because her and her husband
were getting pretty old. And I said, “I’d like to buy it”, you know.
So, I bought it and she didn’t think I was gonna stay there. She really thought I was
gonna goof up.
So, I stayed there and every year I worked myself up. And my business started growing
and growing and growing. And that’s the way it started.
And so finally, I had it going pretty good. The way I wanted it. And then we started remodeling.
Doing things different, you know. And that’s it.
Me: (laugh) Well, in Butte then, it was pretty unusual thing for a woman to own a business
so , it must have been difficult.
Lydia: Well, I had to work because I didn’t have any money. And I had to keep my mother
and two brothers, my brother Tello and my brother Dave. See, my father, he was broke
and I had to pay his bill that he left behind. So, I didn’t miss a day of work, boy, for
all my life. Until I quit!
Me: How long were your days and what kinds of things did you have to do?
Lydia: Everything! Make ravioli by hand, gravy. Clean chickens, them days. For a long time
you had to clean your own chickens. Because, ah, it wasn’t as easy to clean. Now they
come all clean and everything, you know. But before we used to clean and chop them and
everything. And that’s it, you now.
And you had to work real hard. And you didn’t work for eight hours, you worked sixteen hours
and seven days a week. I had to, because I owned the place. And then you keep on working
and that’s it.
Me: It’s hard to keep a restaurant going as a business. So, you must have had a real
good business sense too.
Lydia: Well, I really improve on my cooking. My cooking, and uh, food, like I said, was
cheap in them days. When I got the place down the Flat, they didn’t think I was going
to make it. In fact, (?) they liked the way I was cooking and I built up a nice reputation,
even when I was at the Rocky Mountain, see. I built up a good reputation because I was
the only cook and I done a good job! So, I thought fine.
And when I went down there, a lot of people thought I couldn’t make it but they did
like it. They did like the cooking.
And so, I went down there and I work harder. And everyday that you go, you learn something
new too. Or you read in the book. Or you can camouflage, you know, fix it up a little bit.
But you must know that you gotta use good stuff. Fresh stuff and good food and good
quality of meat. Good quality of food. That’s what you need! And then if you cook right,
your customers are gonna come everyday. (laugh) Yah, you see, the customers used to come.
I it really built up to a nice...
It was pretty busy but it was an old, old place. Someday that carpenter told me, “you
know, Lydia, if you don’t do something about this place, it’s going to cave in.” Course
now, you’re business getting big. Lot of people coming in. And the foundation wasn’t
any good there. So, that’s when we thought about building a new place. Then David, you
know, we built a new place.
And we treated our customers real nice, them days, when I was there. I hope they still
do!
Me: Oh, they still do! (laugh)
Lydia: And you know, we put ourselves out for our customer. And the customer’s always
right. So the people got to like us and that’s the way it went, you know.
Me: Did you enjoy the kind of life you had?
Lydia: Yah, uh, yah, I did. I enjoyed it at the beginning but then I couldn’t quit because
I was stuck with it, you know. And nobody would but it.
I was stuck and then, like again, I had to keep my mother. I had to keep David. I had
to keep Othello with that hand. And you know, send them to school. And I mean, I kept the
four of us. Nothing else was coming in. I had to.
Me: That’s a big responsibility.
Lydia: Oh, it was too much. And see, now I can see. I can go back see what I did....
I thought of everybody else but for myself. And now I can see because I know I burned
myself out being down there too many hours. If I only knew! Life would go on just the
same and I could a couple days off like they do now and enjoy. You don’t get so intense,
right? And that’s it. Me: Some people burn themselves out having
a good time, though.
Lydia: Well, I really never did go out and have fun. I never went to a dance. I didn’t
have time. And they all had music them days. Everybody had a band. There was dancing all
night, you know. And you see it, you just don’t pay no more attention. You see a lot
of people in the dance hall. You know, it kinda makes you feel, well, I don’t care
for it.
Yah, that’s the way it was. I wouldn’t do that again!
Me: What would you do differently?
Lydia: I work eight hours a day. I’m not going to work sixteen. And I think I would
have gotten more help but I didn’t want any more help because I needed the money.
See, kids growing up and my mother was sick all the time. The only time I took a day off
was when I took her to Rochester. My sisters could help. I was the only one because I was
single and they all depend on me.
Me: But that doesn’t seem fair, just because you’re single.
Lydia: Yah, but to them it’s fair! (laugh) You betcha. It is fair for them. But because
I was living with my mother.
And we never had to go to the WPA. We never had to go for food or anything because we
got enough and my mother enjoyed her life and both of the kids expect me. I enjoyed
my work. Yah, right.
Me: But that doesn’t seem very fair.
Lydia: No, it wasn’t but I was dumb too, you know. To think. I don’t know why I worried
about them and I didn’t worry about myself a little bit more. And I didn’t. It was
way too much. But I’m glad it’s over with. Maybe that’s why now I don’t feel that
good. Maybe I did burn myself out.
I mean there were times I couldn’t even walk I was so tired. When I go home I was
so tired, I couldn’t even pick up my clothes. And I go home and take a hot bath. They tell
you to take a hot bath. And then I get up in the morning, to wake up I took another
hot bath. Well, not a hot bath, half cold and half hot. (laugh) So, I can wake up.
Then I wake up, about eleven o’clock I had my coffee. And then at two o’clock I had
to go back to work.
Me: Oh, God.
Lydia: And then sometime you don’t come home until five, six o’clock in the morning.
Me: Do you know about how many customers you’d serve in a day when you had your regular customers
coming every single day?
Lydia: Well, we only stayed open for the customers...we didn’t even stay open eight hours. But sometimes
on Saturday and Sunday, close to a thousand. About eight hundred.
Me: How could you know how much food to cook?
Lydia: Ah....you got the reservations....you get so that, um.... you just about can tell.
Me: Cause that’s a hard thing for a lot of restaurants....
Lydia: Yah, it is....Well, just keep around some spaghetti and stuff. We cook them sometime
as we go along. The gravy we make a whole batch. You know, batches and batches of gravy.
So it lasts for a week. And if that don’t last, we make some more. But if it’s busy,
really big pots of gravy. As long as you had the gravy and the ravioli.
Me: You were set! (laugh)
Lydia: I was set! Because the spaghetti you can always cook. And the chicken, we used
to send for a half carload at the time.
Me: Oh, God. That’s a lot of chicken to clean.
Lydia: You bet! Them days...and now when I was down there, it used to come clean. But
down in Meaderville, it didn’t. Had to clean them all, in them days. And when I was down
the Flat, they all come clean. That’s what happened.
Me: What part of Italy did your family come from?
Lydia: Ah, it’s close to Rome...the province of Ancona. Have you heard of that?
Me: Yes.
Lydia: Yah, close to Ancona. About not even eight miles. From here to town. In Ancona.
Me: Was it hard to leave when you were little or were you excited?
Lydia: I tell you the truth. My sisters were excited, but not me. (laugh) Maybe I had a
hunch my life....eh...my life wasn’t going to be too good. (laugh) Nothing but hard work.
No, I enjoyed being over there because we had five boarders at the inn (?). I had a
lot more friends. You know, you got older, you enjoy it more. But when we were living
out in the country them days, you know like I told you, had to stay home except on Sunday.
You’d go out and maybe play for a little bit. But during the week you had to do your
chores, no matter how old you are. Five or six years old, you had to do it. They teach
you. I wasn’t the only one but everybody in that little town.
Then when we moved to town, then that was different. My mother was a very good cook
and so was my father. And then I learned lots more when we were up in Elkhorn because he
wasn’t working and on Sunday, him and I used to cook. And he taught me a lot. Different
dishes. Now I forgot. But how to cook fowl, you know, chicken and stuff like that, wild
meat. Stuff like that. He really taught me how. And they were delicious.
But now I don’t even know where to start from, you know. I don’t even know how to
start it again. You do forget. I used to say to me mother, “Ma, why don’t you make
this and that?” She’d say, “Lydia, I forgot. I don’t even know what you’re
talking about.” And I thought, oh no, maybe she don’t want to do it. But now I can see
she was right. (laugh)
She was right. I forget. I forgot everything.
Me: What was one of the funniest things that happened to you in owning Lydia’s?
Lydia: Tell you the truth, nothing was funny. You had to work, that’s all I know. Well,
I was serious and I meant it. And it was no fun. It was no fun. It was no fun, just hard
work. And then so you get depressed, you get tired, you get cranky some time. Still you
have to have a smiling face and crying heart.
Me: Yah.
Lydia: Yah.