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Restaino Family Documents

Biographical Sketch Of The Six Restaino Bros.



By Harry Rizzio Jr.

A BROTHER ACT
Brother combinations are active in every sphere of our daily endeavor.  Look around and you'll see the DiMaggio brothers, starring in major league baseball; the Marx and Ritz freres tearing up scenery in show business; while the game of politics claims the attention of the smiling Roosevelt boys along with Mom, Eleanor.  We could go on infinitum giving examples of the successes scored by brother teams in all fields, but what we really want to do is lead up to an introduction of the Six Restaino Brothers.

The Restaino boys - six - count them, are the jovial operators of the modern, well equipped electrical appliance shop at 742 Broadway, Newark.  In order of their ages, the fellows answer to the names of Ernie, 36; Joe, 35; Frank, 33; Pat, 31; Jerry, 24, and Al, 19.  And while we are names, let's not forget Mr. and Mrs. Michael Restaino, the proud parents of this bustling energetic group.  Mom and Pop Restaino, who have resided at 744 Broadway (next door to the appliance shop) for more than three decades, are among the pioneer Italian-American settlers in this North Newark area.

Restaino Family Documents
The Italian-American was indeed fortunate to catch all of the Six Restaino Brothers for this congenial group shot.  A personable bunch, the Restainos are operators of one of the finer electrical appliance shops in Newark.  See (from the top, left to right) Ernie and Al, Jerry and Joe, Frank and Pat.  

HAPPY GROUP
A happy-go-lucky group of individuals, the brothers are dead serious when it comes to business.  As Frank so correctly states: "We're not in business to lose money."

Each brother performs a specific job in the operation of the establishment.  Frank and Ernie are the repair specialists, considered among the finest technicians in the area.  Joe manages the store on a full time basis, assisted by Jerry and Al as day salesmen.  Incidentally all of the boys serve a "trick" as night salesmen during the week.  The assignments are left to the discretion of Joe, who performs his duties much like a First Sergeant in the Army.

:"How do you fellows come to an agreement about certain matters?" we asked joe, who acted as general spokesman for the group.  Joe gave out with a sheepish grin.  "Well, he replied, Like all others we argue at times but sooner or later we come to a decision satisfactory to all."

The boys are intensely proud of the rapid strides made by the concern.  In the beginning the store was housed in a small structure, but with the addition of radio, television sets, refrigerators, washing machines, etc. it was necessary to build a large annex to the old structure.  "And we want to keep right on expanding," they all emphatically state.

One of the boys reminded me that besides handling the complete lines of Emerson, Crosley, Admiral, Westinghouse, Zenith appliances they also specialized in electrical contracting work.

All but two of the fellows are married, with Jerry and Al still in the bachelorhood status.  Ernie is married to Nancy Esposito and they reside at 744 Broadway.  They have two boys and a girl.  Joe's wife is the former Mary Cerami.  Living at 5 Passaic Avenue, Belleville, they are the parents of a boy and girl.  Frank is married to the former Michelina Domaleski, and they receive their mail at 85 Franklin Avenue, Nutley.  They have a boy and a girl.  Last of the benedicts is Pat, whose spouse is the former Christine Spina.  Residing at 704 Stuyvesant avenue, Lyndhurst, they are parents of four children, a pair of boys and girls.

Pat and Jerry are the college men in the family.  They both also served in the Army during the recent War.  Pat is a graduate of Rutgers University, while Jerry is a physical education major at Seton Hall.  All of the boys are high school graduates.

As for hobbies and sports the Restainos go in for quite a variety.  Jerry and Al were high school baseball stars during their days at Barringer.  Photography and carpentry takes up much of Joe's spare time, who incidentally also was an outstanding fencer at Barringer.  Frank likes to go boating and fishing.  As for Pat and Ernie, they go in big for practical joking.  All of the fellows love to sleep.  Come to think of it, who doesn't?

When it comes to cooking, no one, positively no one can touch their mom's homemade spaghetti.  And when it comes to knowing a group of fellows, you could never hope to meet a nicer bunch than the Six Restaino Brothers, appliance salesmen, repair experts and just plain gentlemen.