Thirty-Fifth Anniversary

Altoona, Pennsylvania

Greek-
American
Colony
1898-1933

A Project of Blair County PA USGenWeb Archives

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CITY OF ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
JOHN J. MCMURRAY
MAYOR

NOVEMBER 23, 1933

To Our Citizens: -

It is most proper to commemorate an event whose threads find a fitting place in

the development of our city's history.

The seventy Greek families scattered throughout our city will observe the 35th
anniversary of their permanent settlement. These families are comprised of four
hundred men, women and children, two hundred of whom are naturalized
citizens of the United States. No where will you find more loyal, more faithful or
more law abiding citizens, and as good citizens, they have always been more
than ready to do their share in any movement undertaken for the good of the
city.

But always towering above this small group is the pioneer or them all - a man
of the highest spirit and one who has just cause to be proud of the splendid
record he has made for himself. I refer to Mr. A. N. Notopoulos.

In 1896 Mr. Notopoulos seeking a suitable place to permanently locate, visited

Altoona. He remained here only long enough to look the city over and then left
for Chicago, where he spent the following two years, returning to Altoona in
1898. He rented a small store room on Eleventh Avenue next to the old First
National Bank building and opened a small hat cleaning establishment. Mr.
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 Notopoulos was not content to remain long in this business but was eager for
advancement.

From this small beginning he has progressed steadily until today is the owner of
eight theatres, three being located in Altoona and five in nearby towns. In these
theatres he employs over one hundred persons with an approximate annual
payroll of seventy-thousand dollars. Today Mr. Notopoulos is one of the largest
taxpayers in our city.

Mr. Notopoulos has also been active in the religious life of our city and in 1918
was instrumental in organizing The Holy Trinity Church of the Greek Orthodox
faith.

On August 29th, 1903, Mr. Notopoulos was united in marriage with Miss Helen
Vaveris at Tripolis, Greece. To this union seven sons were born who show
promise of following in the footsteps of their father.
It is my hope that our Greek population of which we are so proud, will continue
to prosper and retain the high ideals of their race.

JOHN J. McMURRAY, Mayor.

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Historical Sketch of Altoona's Greek Community

(Chronologically Arranged)
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 NESTLED among the picturesque hills and plains of the Allegheny Ranges
Altoona spreads herself contentedly like a queen in her own right. She is well
satisfied with her natural landscaped beauties - the blue lakes, the dreamland
caves, and rhododendron embroidered woods and forests, with which this
fascinating metropolis of Central Pennsylvania surrounds herself. To a weary
traveler she unfolds a soul-restoring sight. As the giant moguls of the great
Pennsylvania System clatter through her echoing valleys, they never fail to
acclaim her affectionately with throaty blasts as their queen mother - the
mother to whose ample bosom they will eventually repair from a bewildering
busy life for recouperation.

Roaming in and out the many caverns that dot Altoona's royal skirts you dream
of an invisible realm in a world of substance, and your breath flows and ebbs
like that of a wholly contented disembodied spirit. Boat ahoy! Jump in over the
gunwale and row through Penn's Cave with an otherwordly exaltation. History
here records in Indian relics of the time when the aborigins must have sought
to communicate with their Great Spirit in the vaults of the Indian Cave. Such a
maze of wonders! Veiled Lady and Hipple Caves are nearby, so are Woodward
and Alexander caverns - names as romantic as the caverns themselves are, and
as fanciful as one's imagining powers can reach. White pine, hemlock and wild
cherry among blooming rhododendrons lift their mighty trunks skyward, and in
raising your eyes to measure their tops you see God revealing His glory. Offer
your litany with the words of the Psalmist, for you are standing in the holy of
holies, amid the majesty of silence and the beauty of His living handiwork.
Where else can you find the like of the famous, steel-bound Horse Shoe Curve?
Right there. It is Altoona's brimful cup and the P. R. R. passenger's breathtaking
delight.

Add upon this paean the sweetly reverberating sound of Altoona's name. It
sounds like an Open Sesame to me, and at once conjures before my hypnotized
eyes a magic scene from the book of Al Raschid. Altoona! In an Oriental's mind
the sound instantly associates itself with gold. Altoona: -altun-gold; Altoona,
the Golden City - Behold the charm!

Of course, to a Greek immigrant fresh from the ancient landmarks of historic

Greece, these details were not known as yet. But Anastasius N. Notopoulos, like
a beauty-loving Greek, could not help noticing the beauty of Altoona's
environing timbered hills and the enlivening breath of the city's high altitude.
He felt its surge and his blood quickened, for on his way to Chicago, whither he
was bound, his train had stopped in Altoona and he was fascinated. This was in
1896.

This impression he carried with him to Chicago, and it was to be a lasting, ever-
occurring thought. Chicago. After quaffing Altoona's natural charms, the great
wind-blast city of the prairies had no allurement for him. But for two years
Anast N. Notopoulos, a practical minded man, stuck to Chicago and started his
business career in America, merchandising fruits and vegetables.
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 He made good at this trade, for it is the distinguishing quality of Anast N.
Notopoulos to marshall the best there is in him to whatever occupation he
wants to apply his native ability and business acumen. From an early age this
sturdy theatre magnate had convinced himself that hard work was the only
road to success. Like Andrew Carnegie he believed success was ninety-nine per
cent of perspiration and only one per cent of - I forget what it was. But
whatever it could have been, beside this mountain of steady work it could have
been nothing else but a mouse.

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Mr. Anast N. Notopoulos had fallen in love with Altoona at first sight, and
absence made the heart grow fonder. So, two years after, in 1898, he boarded
train back here. He heard the noise of the hammers in the workshops and saw
iron-horses filling the roundhouses. Business was thriving - people were rolling
in clover, so to say. There was no biting wind here, no storm-lashed lake; no
thousand-deviled elevated trains to crash on one's head, if at all. Here reigned
peace and plenty. Hither came puffing black engines like wounded soldiers of
thousand battles from all over the System's great network. Gold tinkled with
silver in pay envelopes. He observed the broad smile and the sparkle in every
business man's eye - especially on pay days . . . Good! It was the promised
land of Canaan flowing with gold and silver - and Mr. Notopoulos there and then
decided to make Altoona his home.

With all that, however, Notopoulos, level-headed and calculating, did not rush at
it full tilt, as if he were staking a claim for a gold mine. He studied his grounds
carefully and figured his possibilities. And the outcome of it was that he rented
a small vacant store, fitted it as a hat-cleaning parlor, and handing its
management over to a friend, he returned to Chicago - for a bird in hand was
worth five in the bush. At any rate, he established his contact; he could go and
come at intervals and thus establish a more solid foothold.

So, after two years of careful trial, A. N. Notopoulos finally decided to move to
Altoona permanently as he did in 1900, just the beginning of the Twentieth
Century.

In order to succeed and grow from a small beginning one must have a great
deal of patience, tenacity of purpose, diligence, and, of course, business ability.
A sagacious man is naturally gifted with ability to carry out whatever he
undertakes; instinct and prudence guide his hand; he seldom fails, especially
when he measures before he jumps. The mark that Mr. Notopoulos' steady
climb from hat-cleaning to a man owning and successfully operating eight
splendid motion picture theatres - three in Altoona and five in nearby cities. It
is some achievement, we must grant, for an immigrant youth who arrived in
America thirty-seven years ago with a capital of a few dollars and half-a-dozen
English words; it is remarkable.

Early to bed, early to rise, and in two years Anastasius surprised those who
were watching him. He was strict with himself as he was strict with his men. He
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 demanded a full measure of loyalty and commensurate work. He set himself as
an example and measured conduct with the Golden Rule. So, little by little, Mr.
Notopoulos became the owner of more than one such parlors. In 1902 he went
to Lancaster, Pa. and added another of the same. And while things were going
well with him he suddenly discovered he was alone. Single blessedness must
therefore be merged in conjugal felicity, he thought. For what's the use of
plodding and accumulating when you haven't any one dear and near to share it
with you, he thought. What's the good when one shuffles the coil with no one to
mourn - and plenty of relatives to haggle over the inheritance, he thought. A
man must live a full life, and, while he's able, must do his duty towards God
and men.

And in 1903 this young, tireless Grecian, while the August sun was blazing over
him, left Altoona for Greece in search of the Golden Fleece in the shape of a
becoming spouse.

In Tripolis, where he was born, Anastasius met Helen Ververis, daughter of a

high army officer. She possessed all the accomplishments of a daughter of an
archontic Grecian family - domestic as well as intellectual. Young Anastasius
was a lucky man; he found in her the girl he had been dreaming of marrying
when the time came. She, too, reciprocated all his sentiments, and they were
duly married amid the rejoicings of their old kinds and friends in his native
place.

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With a superabundant zeal and courage, shortly after the wedding, Mr.
Notopoulos returned to Altoona with his charming wife and under her loving
care he resumed his business occupations. In 1904 he opened another parlor in
Johnstown, Pa. He started saving his money and investing in real estate
property. He bought, built, and rented. He helped his friends, starting them in
business of their own. Those who had been faithful he financed and opened
stores, or appointed managers to his theatres and business places. In 1912 he
opened the Palace Theatre in Altoona, his first theatre, and began to build the
Olympic. In 1919 he purchased the Capitol, then the Mishler theatres. Thus he
gradually expanded his operations, carefully and laou-laou as the modern
Greeks are wont to say.

And five years after his landing to this country he seemed secured his full
naturalization papers.

But during all this busy career, Mr. Notopoulos, a devout Orthodox Christian, did
never neglect his religion. There was at this time no Orthodox place of worship
in Altoona. The members of the small colony were not organized. It was a
glaring lack of interest. Something had to be done for the general welfare. He
took upon himself the task. Mrs. Helen Notopoulos was also equally pious; and
side by side with her husband in this sacred cause, they eventually forged the
unorganized Greek Colony of Altoona into an organized Orthodox Community.
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 Somewhere in the late tens this movement taking impetus, a third floor hall on
the principal street was rented and converted into a chapel. But it was not the
place they wanted. The Greeks of Altoona got inspired with the ambition of
owning and congregating for worship in a regular Orthodox church edifice. They
inaugurated a church fund and started contributing to it liberally. They visited
the outlying colonies and brought in satisfactory results. The church fund
commenced growing, and when it was sufficiently large - I believe in the
neighborhood of $28,000 or more - they began to look for a good site. No
doubt Mr. and Mrs. Notopoulos had done more than their share in augmenting
the fund, as they always do for sacred or laudable causes.

As soon as they were ready, in a general convention, they nominated a

committee with Mr. Notopoulos as chairman, and petition was made to the
State for a charter. It was to be known as The Hellenic Community of the Holy
Trinity - Agia Trias - of Altoona, Pa.

The Hebrew Synagogue on the corner of 13th Avenue and 15th Street was
being offered for sale. The Hebrews had built a larger and more elegant
synagogue elsewhere in the city. It was an excellent opportunity, Mr.
Notopoulos thought, to proceed immediately with negotiations for its purchase.
And in 1924 this strongly built edifice duly changed hands. It is now a matter of
great pride to the Greeks of Altoona to own such a beautiful church. The Holy
Orthodox Hellenic Church, The Holy Trinity, although not of Byrantine
architecture is the most elegant church between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. No
other Greek edifice could rival with it in point of solidity, decoration and
location, thanks to the patient endeavors of Mr. and Mrs. Notopoulos and their
friends.

Meanwhile, as this hand-working, swiftly rising Greek immigrant steadfastly

pursued his career, at one or two year intervals, his wife presented him with a
lusty, scale-tipping child; boy after boy, enough to send the most optimistic
Greek father on to ecstatic heights. It is God's special bounty in the Balkan
lands to give him a son as a reward for goodness, though daughters are also
prized especially in those families whose larder is full and the blessings of God
manifold and multifarious.

In 1906, three years after her marriage his wife presented him a son, and he
named after his grandfather. Then in 1907 James was born, like David
Copperfield, with a caul - which goes to say that James an American Greek was

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destined to become a professor of his Alma Mater at Amherst College,

Massachusetts, as he is now, much to the honor and joy of his parents. George,
the third son, blinked his eyes at the Altoona daylight in 1909, and Constantine
followed him two years later. Seven robust children, all sons, bright and
promising were born to the happy father, each marking one more step forward
in his career. John and Alexander are now law students and Victor, the
youngest, the enfant gatee of the family. But A. N. is still one theatre ahead of
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 them - if we were to count them as we do his theatres.

Besides his four mentioned theatres, Mr. Notopoulos owns the Grand in
Huntingdon, Pa., the Strand at Cumberland, Md., the Capitol at Butler, Pa. and
the Penn at Ambridge, Pa. Of course, it is obvious that out of all these
possessions Altoona is directly and indirectly benefited, to the extent that a
great portion of the proceeds from these theatres is deposited in the city's
banking institutions. They enable local banks to loan and finance local
enterprises. What I mean to say that Anast N. Notopoulos, by virtue of this fact,
is one of the biggest dividend-bearing assets of Altoona, as an individual citizen
perhaps the biggest. Today he is one of the most outstanding Greek
personalities in America in point of material achievements; and if we were to
consider his early surroundings, when Greece was too poor to afford proper
educational facilities to her sons, we can frankly say that he is the most
outstanding.

Yet, with all that, Mr. Notopoulos is modest about it. He honestly believes his
success was the result of hard work and clean living. Altoona is surely proud of
such a good citizen, who has seldom procrastinated when an honest opportunity
came and who, equipped with a sound, practical head, with prudence and
steadfast determination - plus a great love for his work - keeps on adding to
Altoona's wealth, growth, and prosperity. More power to him.

AMERICA! When Greece was the glory of the world and ruled the empire of the
intellect by her laws, learning, and liberty; when blind Homer sang his Iliad to
the accomplishment of his lyre, or, later, Socrates propounded his philosophy on

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the market place of Athens, - and Greeks were the spiritual masters of the vast
Roman Empire upon the shores of an unknown continent there stretched an
empire vaster than all the known world, and more majestic in its virgin
grandeur. The Indians were its undisputed masters. In its limitless virgin forests
their war-whoop echoed from hill to lake. They saw their Great Spirit in the
rising sun and they worshipped it; they saw an implacable Genius in the storms
and floods and they feared it. Their imperial court was around a blazing council-
fire, and their chariot the canoe. They were truly the unchallenged masters of a
virgin continent, "where no human foot had ever trod and no human eye ever
penetrated," but their own.

AMERICA! "Her mighty lakes, like oceans of liquid silver; her mountains with
their bright aerial tints; her valleys teeming with wild fertility; her tremendous
cataracts thundering in their solitudes; her boundless plains, waving with
spontaneous verdure; her broad deep rivers, rolling in solemn silence to the
ocean; her trackless forests where vegetation puts forth all its magnificence. .
." thus raptured Washington Irving. Truly God's Country!

Into this sublime vastness, whose virgin atmosphere were pure of injustice,
tyranny, hypocrisy, of religious intolerance and persecution, of arrogant
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 aristocracy, and brutality of rulers, came pilgrims and colonizers - from
England, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, they came to these virgin soil
seeking liberty and freedom-.

As they cultivated their plots and plowed their fields they began to think (how
couldn't they, amid such thought-provoking sublimity of the sky, forest and
water?) and while they lifted their eyes around them they saw their Creator.
And out of this thought and revelation was born the immortal Declaration of
Independence. Man stood forth in all his pristine majesty and power - a Human
Being, with the Breath of the Mightier than the Mightiest in his soul, and
created by Him with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As this sacred principle commenced to elaborate itself before his vision it

developed in him power for action, and he rose to realize his divine inheritance
by forging his ploughshare into an instrument of righteousness. In other words,
he laid down his principles and began to fight for them. All men were created
equal.

For seven long years he bled himself while fighting for the principles he had
thus evoked. And God sent him a man greater than Moses, a man who offered
up his life and his fortune for his country and lifted his voice and arm for
freedom." The great George Washington, who, with the power of God in his
soul, led him on to victory.

Those who fought were truly inspired men; they went through hell; they
endured cold, hunger, nakedness. "Their bare feet were seen through their
worn-out shoes; their clothes not sufficient to cover their nakedness; their
shirts hanging in strings; their hair clotted with blood and mud. . . cold stung
them like a whip, their huts were like dungeons; sick men lay in filthy hovels,
covered only by their rags, dying and dead comrades by their sides. . ." Hunger
raged among them. "One of them driven to the last extreme of hunger, ate his
own fingers up to the joints before he died. They were unhumanly treated by
the British. They ate clay, the lime, the stone of their prison walls in British
prisons; several who had died in the yards had pieces of bark, wood, clay, and
stones in their mouths, which raving hunger had caused them to take in the last
agonies of life. . ."

But at Yorktown victory at last was won. Bear this in mind when you hear the
strains of Yankee Doodle; thank you and pray for their souls. For by their
supreme sacrifice they have established the freedom you now enjoy and share
with their descendants. Be grateful.

Real Americanism started with them and upon the sacred altar of their self-
sacrifice, soon after, the Constitution of the United States was framed. "This is a

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government of the people," it said, "by the people, for the people; whose just
powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a
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 republic; a sovereign nation of many sovereign states; a perfect union, one and
inseparable, established upon the principle of freedom, equality, justice, and
humanity." Indeed, a supreme masterpiece - a Holy Charter, born of God and
"voicing the harmony of the world!"

THIS God-born Constitution began to light the world like a beacon, guiding
hitherward the persecuted and the downtrodden of many lands. Under its
benign protection (and God showering His manifold blessings) the nation began
to gather strength. It grew and prospered, and as it enjoyed its blessing, its
heart expanded with sympathy and kindness. "Greater desire filled its bosom,
to help each other" and humanity in general. So, the benevolently disposed
American Nation opened its gates to all the nations of the world with
indiscriminate generosity. In came the Jew, the Slav, the Latin, and the
Oriental. In came the Greeks and the Balkans -

Some were insensible to these sacred traditions and selfishly sought economic
independence at a great cost to the nation. Some came to loot and depart with
the loot. Some stuck like leeches and sucked and grew fat without contributing
anything in return. But a great many others came to cast their lot with the
descendants of the heroes of the Revolution, share of their blessings, and offer
in return whatever was best and noblest in their nature, the most precious of
traditions they had inherited from their forefathers, as a token of gratefulness
and good faith.

Among the last comers were the Greeks. At first they came in diffidently.
Among them were many who came with an aim and departed shortly after it
was realized. At any rate, they were to old and raw to be able to assimilate
themselves with the spirit or institutions of America. But they left the younger
generation behind them. And this young generation, as it grew in girth,
education, and outlook, became Americanized to an extent that they conceived
an affection for the country.

It has been a great privilege for this writer to be able to lead them on into
demonstrating their affection in an open, visible manner, by organizing
themselves. At last, after twelve years of unremitting work, his efforts were
crowned' and an association was formed among the progressive Grecians for
the promotion and encouragement of loyalty to the United States of America;
allegiance to its flag; support to its Constitution, obedience to its laws, and
reverence for its history and tradition. And now the American Hellenic
Educational Progressive Association, in point of patriotism and example, is the
most ardent than any kindred organization ever conceived and framed by any
nationality in America. I am proud to say that our beloved President, Franklin D.
Roosevelt - God bless him and keep him in good health - is a full member of it,
and, in all humanity, this writer his spiritual father, so to say. Twelve years of
constant missionary work among them, together with the training they received
in American camps during the war, helped to materialize this writer's lifelong
ambition. For this writer, son of an agent of the American Board of
Commissioners, at the age of six could recite every word of the National
Anthem and declaim out of his Swinton the ride of Paul Revere and the
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 execution of Nathan Hale. In other words, in spirit and in truth, he was born an
American.

But in the beginning of the present century there were only a few thousand
Greeks in America. Up to 1882 there were approximately 126 Greeks in the
United States. Up to 1892 about 3000; up to 1902, about 45,000. The great
onrush started during the years that followed these three periods, when they
began to immigrate in waves of twenty and thirty thousand yearly.

I would like to emphasize here that those immigrants of any nationality

whatsoever who came to this country with a moral purpose, for a sacred cause,
let us

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say - for freedom of thought and action, and the enjoyment of a peaceful life
eventually distinguished themselves, much to the credit of the American nation,
in various occupations. So were the handful of Greeks of the late eighteenth
and the early nineteenth centuries - those who sought shelter from Turkish
massacres and oppressions. For example, the first governor of Alaska was a
Greek in 1783, according to Bancroft. The Reverend George Papadakis was a
chaplain in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and later, rector of the
Grace Church in Memphis. Dr. Sophocles was for 41 years professor at Harvard.
Dr. John Zachos, curator of Cooper Union in New York for 28 years. Co. Lucas
Miller was a member of the Wisconsin Assembly; Captain George Calvocoresses
(a refugee from the massacres in the island of Chios) was head of a military
academy in Vermont. His son, Rear Admiral George Patridge Calvocoresses was
appointed by Admiral Dewey, at the battle of Manilla executive officer of his
flagship, and later, was commandant at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Dr.
Michael Anagnos was director of the famous Perkins Institute for the Blind at
Boston.

So, the third period immigrants, which includes Mr. A. N. Notopoulos and those
I am going to mention presently were rather from the sturdy working classes of
provincial Greece, who were inspired by their preceding friends to come to this
country for work. They were from the younger generation, in their twenties and
early thirties - they came here seeking work. As I can recall, few of them
returned, the rest served as a background for the fourth period immigrants,
most of whom were youths over sixteen years of age.

Therefore, to the fourth period immigrants belongs most of the honor of

participating under the Old Glory in the Great War - some sixty thousand of
them from an aggregate number of 300,000.

However, the second permanent Greek to arrive in Altoona, after A. N.

Notopoulos, was HERCULES (Henry) PAPADEAS. He came to the United States
in 1900 from his native village of Pegea or Mikre Anastasova, where he was
born in 1880. He went to Savannah, Ga. at first, but two years after came to
Altoona. He was an enterprising Greek, forthwith starting a confectionery store.
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 By dint of hard work he prospered, and when the time was ripe for him to get
married, he returned to his native home, in 1912, to find the girl whom
Providence had destined to become his wife. He is now the father of nine
healthy children, five of whom were born in Altoona; Sophia is a fair maiden of
19; Joanna, 17; Agnes, 16; Liberty, 14; Stella, 12, Barbara, 11, Helen, 10;
Christie, 9; and George, 7. Papadeas is naturally a proud father. By his industry
and thriftiness he became a substantial property holder and law-abiding, tax-
paying citizen.

About the same year, 1902, VASILIOS (William) VASILARIOTES, leaving his
native village of Kategorion of Messinia, took passage for America and came
directly to Altoona. In fact he is the first Greek in History of the Altoona Greek
Community to come directly form Greece to this city. He has faithfully stuck to
his post. He became a confectioner, saved up enough to bring his family over.
He worked and multiplied. Among his living children there is Stavroula who was
born in Greece in 1897. And when the family came here, Elias was born in
1908. Verna (Evangelia) his younger daughter is now 21. Mr. Vasilariotes
named his present beautiful confectionery after her. William is a full naturalized
American citizen since 1912, and in his present location thirteen years,
dispensing soda, and now both soda and beer. Born in 1876, he is still a
hardworker and law-abiding citizen.

In 1905 Altoona had another Greek cast in his lot, in the person of L. C.
PAPADEAS. He was born at Mikre Anastasova of Kalamata in 1884, immigrating

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to the United States in 1894, at ten years of age. He was ticketed to his father
at Savannah, Ga., who had preceded him by four years. He stayed with him five
years attending public schools and helping him in his store. Then he came to
Altoona, worked at the P. R. R. shops until 1909, then started a confectionery
right where he is now. In 1914 he married a girl from his home town, by whom
he has eight children, five boys and three girls, all born here: William, 18;
Helen, 17; George, 15; Theodore, 14; Constantine, 13; Nicholas, 11; Jane, 7;
Sophia, 5. Mr. Papadeas, by dint and hardwork, owns his own home and several
real estate properties. He is a popular man, well-liked for his peaceful conduct.

In 1907 JAMES PANTAZES arrived in Altoona and has remained ever since. He,
too, is a confectioner; married, father of three Altoona-born children, and a law
abiding naturalized American citizen.

Also in 1907, FRANK ATHENS, part owner of the Eton Restaurant, came directly
to Altoona from his native place of Karterodi of Messinia, where he was born 42
years ago. He left town after awhile and went to Rockford, Ill. But most of his
years he spent in Clearfield County and operated confectioneries and
restaurants, frequently visiting Altoona where his relatives were living. From
Clearfield County he enlisted in the army on September 1917 and served one
year in France, taking action in the Argonne-Muse and St. Mihiel sectors,
guarding ammunition trains as private of 350th Ammunition Train, of 80th
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 Division. In 1919 he was honorably discharged as sergeant returning to his
place of enlistment. He is a member of the American Legion and V. F. W.; and
one of the progressive Greeks in both Clearfield and Blair Counties. His partner,
Harry Coumoundouros, a Spartan Greek, is also a dividend-bearing asset and
an industrious, law-abiding citizen.

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Mr. MILTON PAPADEAS is a Greek of gigantic proportions, and owner of a corner

confectionery. He speaks the American fluently, is of genial disposition, with a
strong voice from an equally strong throat. He is the youngest of the elder
Papadeases, born at the same place, aged 39. When he immigrated to this
country in 1908 Altoona was his tangeant, for his brother Henry was here
waiting for him. Milton attended private schools here while helping his brother
and learning his trade. In 1918 he was drafted to serve in the war, a private in
110th Infantry. In 1919 he was honorably discharged as a first class private. In
1925 he married Panayiota and since then he has been waiting for a visit from
the stork. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, an Odd Fellow, besides be a member of
the American Legion. Good for Milton, with a thundering, hearty laugh,
especially when business is a good and justifies such indulgence!

JAMES, JOHN and GEORGE NOTOPOULOS are nephews of the great A. N. And
they are indeed proud of the fact. They own the Famous Restaurant and
manage the Taverns; they are staunch Tripolitans, the province that has sent to
this country the most industrious and the most peaceful business Greeks -
progressive aggressive. James is the oldest, 35 years of age, deep thinking,
sure-footed, who came directly to his uncle in Altoona, after his schooling, in
1910. John is an even-tempered, lovable young man of 33. He followed his
brother one year after, in 1911. George is some cook, Chef de la Cuisine
Americaine, master of the culinary art, young as he is. Go to the Famous
Restaurant and sample his alimentary productions, and taste the savor of his
masterful gravies. George is an exemplary Hellene of 30, and is in Altoona since
1915. He is a married man, and the father of a lusty infant child. The three of
them are exceedingly industrious, and good safe bets. What more can Altoona
desire?

In 1910 WILLIAM (Vasilios) ARSENIOU, a sturdy son of Thessaly, came to

Altoona and started in the restaurant business. He was born at Kalabaka in
1888. Kalabaka is a unique city and famous for its skyland monasteries, which
are built on cliffs more than one thousand feet high. In the old times the only
means to reach their dizzy heights was by being pulled up by the monks in a
net. Now rock stairways have been built, and the thrill one got while dangling in
the air hundreds of feet above terra firma is gone. On the top of these solitary
cliffs whole establishments are posed of stone pillars. There nestle like eagle
nests, higher than the turret on the Empire State Building, amid miles and
miles of valleys and hills and plains around them, the medieval monasteries of
Hagios Stephanos, Hagia Trias, Hagios Barlaam, and the Meteoron. In their
chapels yellow beeswax candles burn before old Ikonostasia and illuminate the
walls covered with Byzantine centuries-old iconographies. As you come out of
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 their incense reeking vaults you behold

Page 18

the romantic Pindus mountains crowned with fleecy cloudbands beyond and the
serpentine course of the rivers rolling toward the coast. It is certainly the sight
of a lifetime. From this region Mr. Arseniou hails. He immigrated in 1908, went
to Lowell, Mass., worked in the mills for four years. In 1921 he married
Paraskevy Zosiea from Kastakion, Thessaly, by whom he has three children, all
born in Altoona: Katherine born in 1922; George, 1924 and Eva, 1926. Mr.
William Arseniou is a full American citizen, and very progressive. JOHN, his
brother, was born in 1884 and immigrated in 1915. He is married to Viola Tsara
and has five children all born in Altoona: Charles, 1922; James, 1924; Aglaia
1926, and two others. The brothers own their restaurant along with MR. FRANK
MIHELIS, who is a proficient cook, and the SILVER MOON, under his chefdom
made good success and many satisfied customers. Mr. Mihelis is a native son of
the beautiful island of Lemnos, and industrious, peaceful young man.

Mr. CHRIST TRIVELAS was born at Athens, Greece, in 1893, and schooled there
before coming to this country, in 1909, on a cold, windy day of the month of
March. However, in 1911, he came to Altoona from Sheboygan, Wis., where he
had directly gone from Ellis Island. In 1916, after working for five years in
restaurants, he became partner of James Pantazes in the restaurant which the
latter had opened in 1911. In 1918 Christ Trivelas married Calliope Drosaki of
Altoona, by whom he has five children: Evengelos, 14; Nicholas, 12; Stavroula,
10; Efthimia, 8; and Athanasia, 4. PETE, who is mostly found in the Sugar Bowl
in the mornings and is often mistaken for Christ, is his twin brother. Pete came
to Altoona directly from the old home in 1911 and joined his brother. Both
:
 together they tried many ventures. But on this point they are reticent and
modest. Christ is the spokesman for Pete. He said: "It is not how many stores
we had or theatres we owned, but what we are today. Those days are past and
gone. The battle is right here in this store, where we are working almost every
night and day to make our living and bring up our children." Pete is also
married; his wife, Katina nee Papamenidou of Ashville Park, N. J., presented
Pete with three children: Nicholas aged

Page 19

7; Demetrios, 5, and Georgios, 3. The brothers live in a home of their own, and
take active interest in the progress and welfare of the community. They are
Athenians, descendants of old Andres Athenaioi, who were amazingly learned
men, fond of pageantry, eager for news, and tireless in attending in a day all
the plays performed in the various theatres of their magnificent city. Imagine an
American attending nine theatres in a single day - and those with the vault of
heaven for a roof. They strained themselves not to miss a single word the
masked actors at the sallies of the great comedian Aristophanes, shed tears at
the tragedies of Euripides, Sophocles, and Aeschylus; they rapturously
applauded the orations of Demosthenes. What an audience! What powerful
minds they must have had to retain everything they heard and saw. Truly, the
Men of Athens were great. They had erected the most magnificent temples, in
point of art and architecture; the Erechtheion with its treasures of art; the
Parthenon, supreme in its glory on the Acropolis, dedicated to Athena the Virgin
- Parthenos - with her huge gold and ivory statue, the masterpiece of the
greatest sculptor of all ages, Phidias, standing in the middle of the temple,
facing toward the rising sun. Oh, those were glorious days, the Glory that was
Greece. Even today though Glory departed, their ruins remain a living symbol of
their immortality. "Time, like death," says the Milford Bard, "is an impartial
conqueror. The monuments of genius and the arts fall alike before him in the
path of his irresistible might. He hath uprooted the firm foundation of greatness
and grandeur . . . the tottering temples of Greece and the . . . ruins of Athens
and Sparta . . . their philosophers are dumb in death; the Academy, the Porch,
and the Lyceum no longer resound with the doctrines of Plato, Zeno, and their
illustrious competitors. Their fame alone has survived the general wreck. . ."

In 1913 Altoona received an industrious young man by the name of FRANK

(Photios) DAREGAS, who is now running the Alto Lunch with his partners. Frank
was born at Nissi of Kalamata in 1894. After attending high school, he
immigrated in 1913 to America, coming directly to this city, and has been
operating restaurants here ever since. Frank possessed the spirit of
progressiveness; he took a leading part in the growth and promotion of the
welfare of the community. When others balked he stepped forward and
assumed responsible offices. He was elected for several terms its secretary, and
held other positions, and he never failed to discharge his duties creditably. In
1932 he married the widow of the late Mr. Kekalas, who brought him seven
foster children: Andy, 17; Arthur, 16; Mike, 14; Ethel, 13; Bill, 10 and Andrew,
7. Frank is a naturalized American citizen; owns his home, and seldom loses his
equanimity. His brother GEORGE followed him three years later and became his
:
 right hand. He also is a naturalized citizen and a member of the Ahepa, which
fact shows he is equally progressive. Their partner

Page 20

GEORGE KOUTALES hails from the same native town and since 1907 in this
country, all in Altoona. Therefore, Altoona should be well pleased to have such
peaceful, law-abiding citizens.

The same year, 1913, ushered GUS (Constantinos) MASTOS in Altoona from
Mansfield, O. whither he had gone to learn the candy trade. He had immigrated
in 1907. When he came here he was employed as a candymaker by Miles Bros.
In 1917 he started his first store, the Chicago Quick Lunch. In 1918 he was
drafted to serve during the war at Camp Lee, Va. He was faithful, and when he
was honorably discharged he had been promoted to a mess sergeant. In 1919,
returning to his place of enlistment, he saw an opportunity to go to Phillipsburg,
Pa., and start his Sanitary Restaurant. He sold that out in 1924 and came back
again to his beloved mountain city. In 1921 he married Marigo Stathaki from
Altoona, and now has one living daughter, Helen, 12 years old. GUS is a
member of the American Legion and Quarante Hommes et Fluit Cheveaux, or
Forty and Eight. He owns his home and serves as treasurer of his little
community creditably, because they found him a sturdy, public-spirited Hellene
- always active. His brother PETER is a young man of 28, and in America since
1923. He went to Phillipsburg when his brother owned the Sanitary Restaurant
there. In 1925 PETE married Vasilike Athanasopoulos of Altoona, and has now
three children: Theophanis, 6; George, 5; Nicholas, 4. Both brothers were born
at Vordoni of Sparta and were schooled there. Sparta produced the great law-
giver, Lycurgus, who put health and love of home ahead of everything and
abolished silver and gold currency by substituting heavy iron coins. In order to
carry a dollar's worth of change, the Spartan had to have a good-sized
wheelbarrow and cart it to the market place. So, when one day an illustrious
visitor asked a Spartan mother where she kept her jewels, she proudly pointed
at her sons, "These are my jewels," she answered. The Spartans ate from a
common table, their popular dish being the melas zomos or the black broth.
They blindly believed in eugenics. History relates that all children who were
born defective were cast in a dugout. Inhuman as this is to us, the Spartans
lived in an old age barbarous in this respect. Their supreme ideal was to died in
the defense of their homeland. When a Spartan mother sent her son to war, she
handed him his shield, saying, EI TAN EI EPI TAN - either return victorious or
dead upon it.

In 1913 APOSTOLOS ACARACANDAS, owner of the Washington Lunch, found his

way to Altoona. He, like William Arseniou, was born at Kalabaka of Thessaly
where the stylite monasteries repose upon sheer cliffs. He was born in 1896,
graduated the junior high at the age of 14, and immigrating in 1912. He went
to Lowell, Mass., worked six months in the foundry, and came to this city after,
to work at the P. R. R. Shops. He saved up and four years later he opened his
lunchroom, which he operated for 12 years. He is a full citizen, is married to
Constantina Tassi of Kastrikion of his native home. Mr. Caracandas has now
:
 three Altoona born children: Eleftherios aged 6; Stephanos 4 and Christos, 2.
Mr. Apostolos works hard to make both ends meet, to support his family and
make friends. He is a sociable and peaceful citizen.

When JAMES PANAGOPLOS came to Altoona from Boston in 1916, he was

representing a grocery house, and all the commissions he managed to earn
went to procure his personal needs. He had no extra money, but he had a great
ambition to promote himself in this city. Having enough faith in his ability and
industry, he forthwith applied himself to realize his purpose. He knew the
grocery game well. He went out and got acquainted with people, made friends,
won their confidence. For four hard years he worked honestly and impressed
himself to his customers and the local dealers. He had no capital but character,
ability and industry, which,

Page 21

in the long, are capital of a moral kind. And in 1920 with very little money but a
good credit, he opened is first grocery store, calling it the Italian American
Grocery. For his Italian customers he hired an Italian girl, Miss Christina Duva.
She became just as much interested in the success of the grocery as was
James, her boss, and, in return her boss got very much interested in her, with
the result they were duly married in 1923. Meanwhile the little store had grown
into a well-stock concern. Then Mrs. Panagoplos withdrew and devoted her
attention to her household duties. She gave him two bright children, James, Jr.,
aged 9 and Antonia, 7. Mr. Panagoplos kept on making friends. He helped in the
establishment of the Greek Community church, was repeatedly elected as
president. Six years ago he expanded his business by adding a bakery, the
Marathon Bakery, specializing in Italian breads and bakery products. James was
born at Arfara of Messina 35 years ago; he immigrated in 1911. He is still full of
energy and zeal. He is contemplating to organize among his people a political
association and encourage those who had neglected taking out citizenship
papers to apply for them. It is a laudable cause, well worth hearty cooperation.

We come to the New Depot Lunch and find there the Chamoutalis brother and
their partner MIKE GEORGE. They are from Kara Burnu of Asia Minor. PHOTIOS
CHAMOUTALIS was born in 1897, came to America in 1916; went to Bethlehem,
Pa., and worked there in the mills. In Altoona he opened lunch business in 1918
and 1920. In 1925 he married Marie Blahaki from Crete and now has three
children to inherit him; Steliani, Vasiliki and Nicholas, all born in this city.
GEORGE CHAMOUTALIS is 32 years old and came to this country in 1915, and
to Altoona, 1918, worked for the late George Carides in 1925, and then had a
business of his own, the New York and, later, the New Depot. Mr. George is
married and has three children born here, and a foster child. Irene, Porine and
Nicholas - and Bernie his foster child. MIKE GEORGE is from the same native
place, immigrating

Page 22

to American together George Chamoutalis in 1915. He is their cousin, a full

:
 citizen, but a single man. Good, industrious, peaceful, law-abiding and
progressive, these three New Depot Lunch owners are.

GEORGE CONTAKOS is the worthy owner of the Coney Island Lunch and
Restaurant on Eleventh Avenue and a staunch Spartan of 53. One of the early
comers to the United States (1899) Mr. Contakos by his conduct, industry and
endurance, prepared the way for many deserving Greeks who came later and
found the table spread; that is, a place to go and a compatriot to help in their
search for work. Mr. Contakos is a Levetsovite, a progressive man, devoted to
his business and to the proper upbringing of his children. He came to Altoona in
1919 and opened his present place two doors above. He came with his family
and added to the numerical growth of Altoona. He is the proud father of five
children: Demetrios, aged 18, born in his father's old home; Christina, 16, born
in New York; Anna, 15, a New Yorker; Stavroula, 13, Altoonan; so is Leonidas,
10, who perpetuates the heroic name of the greatest Spartan general of old,
who amazed the world with his immortal feat at the Thermopylae, with his
three hundred Spartans against 10,000 Persians. As Lord Byron sings: -

"The Assyarian came down like a wolf on the fold.

And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,

The hosts with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
The host on the morrow lay withered and strown."

Mr. Contakos owns his home, is a full American citizen and a good father.

Page 23

MR. J. S. KISSON, owner of the Union Dye Works, is a well head and much
traveled Hellene. He speaks several languages fluently, and recounts episodes
of his variegated life interestingly. He is an educated man, graduate of the
Marasli College of Constantinople, and if he should start enumerating the places
he has visited and the occupations he had followed, he says, this little book
would prove inadequate to contain even a small part of it. In this respect Mr.
Kisson was very modest. Suffice it to say that he came to this country in 1915,
and to Altoona in 1923, forthwith starting his present establishment. While in
New York Mr. Kisson met and married his accomplished wife, Marie Frangeneou,
in 1916; and Stavroula, their only child was born at Altoona. He is a full-fledged
United States citizen, believing in hard work and honest living. That is why his
numerous American friends like him and respect him. Mr. Kisson is a good
dividend-bearing asset to the city.

There is no other prettier Sweet-Shop-and-Tea-Room establishment between

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh than the MARIGOLD. It is the product of the genius
of its proprietor MR. LOUIS P. CUMMINGS. He visualized all its arrangements
and appointments, drew its plan, said to the outfitter, I want this lamp here and
:
 this counter there, and the ceiling, like a heavenly dome, to reflect peace and
security for my valued patrons. And as he said (thusly) it was done. High
booths, brilliant when sheen and cleanliness; sanitary kitchen, homelike foods,
and Mrs. Cummings, the matron, to supervise. Messieurs Doubtful Thomases
can easily verify this rhapsody by going there to look, see, taste and be sorry
for doubting me! Am epos am ergon! ERGO! Mr. Cummings is a Spartan about
whom (the Spartans) Lord Byron said: -

"Of the three hundred grant but three,

To make a new Thermopylee!"

Of course, at the time the poet wrote these lines Mr. Cummings was not as yet
born, so that he reduced the number to two, and put Cummings at the head to
correspond old Leonidas, what? Mr. Cummings came to Altoona in 1928, so he
is the youngest pioneer, I mean Chronologically! But even at that, during this
short period of sojourn he made more friends and acquaintances than one who
happened to be born here. Mr. Cummings is a proud father of a charming
daughter attending College at Indiana, Pa. And Mrs. Cummings, his better half,
is of old Pennsylvania stock, with Southern sheen on her face, by virtue of her
long residence at Norfolk, Va. Cheerio!

The chartered Hellenic Holy Trinity Church Community of Altoona at present, all
told, numbers four hundred souls - men, women and children. There are
approximately seventy families, hundred and eighty children born in the city. A
good percentage from the adult Greeks work at the railroad shops, and the
remainder in the twenty-five business places owned by their fellow racials.

Page 24

The church of Holy Trinity is the center of their religious and social gatherings.
In the vestry of the church an afternoon parochial school is conducted for the
teaching of Greek and catechism to the children. The Reverend Demetrios
Chrysaedes is the officiating priest and the school teacher. I found the reverend
father a quiet, unassuming shepherd of his flock. For the past six years he has
been officiating in this community, he has won the esteem and affection of all
the members, and under his spiritual guidance the community is dwelling in
peace and brotherly love.

The majority of the local Greeks are naturalized citizens, speaking the language
of the land remarkably well, in comparison. Having made Altoona their
permanent home, they are interested in its civic as well as their commercial
development. They have made, comparatively speaking, good progress,
assuming the duties and responsibilities that go with good citizenship seriously.
They have made many friends among the natives. During, the war many of
them had cheerfully obeyed the bugle call and proved their affection for their
adopted country valiantly on many battlefronts, distinguishing themselves in
action and in the faithful performance of their duties. This brochure is too small
to enumerate the life and activity of every member. The instances given in the
above biographies are sufficient to impress any loyal American that the Greeks
:
 have entered wholeheartedly into the American life, and are bringing up their
children in the proper manner. Credit is due them from every hand. When the
Altoona-born children grow to manhood there is no telling in what
distinguishing roles they will take part. America has had state governors, rear
admirals, professors, clergymen and eminent educators from the race before.
We hope their examples shall ever be kept before their eyes and inspire them to
higher things. They must not forget that great sacrifices have been made by
their predecessors - sacrifices and self-denials and extreme sufferings, periods
similar to those this writer is still undergoing - to make a race known and
appreciated by the great American people. The new generation has a supremely
important duty to discharge in return. In other words, they shall have to prove
that such sacrifices have not been made in vain.

In fact they (the new generation) have begun in the right direction. Altoona is
proud to have one of its American Greek sons, Mr. James A. Notopoulos
occupying a professional chair at Amherst University. Two of his brothers are
attending law schools; three more are forging ahead in the theatrical
profession, or management. One other Altoona boy is studying medicine at the
Alabama University. Let them give to the country of their birth the best and
noblest they have inherited from the history of their race. America shall be
grateful.

Page 25

Among Our Friends

HAVE THE GREEKS of Altoona many friends from the ranks of their native
fellow-citizens? Most decidedly they have. And what is more, they are loudly
and generously demonstrating their friendship through the pages of this
brochure. The writer interviewed all of them, and one and all, they have been
profuse in their expression of friendship and genuine interest. Most of them are
old friends. To them a greater portion of our Grecian business progress is due: -
to their friendly advice and equally generous assistance. They were our
mentors, they were always ready with their purse and hand to cooperate in the
success of our business. When we had no credit they extended credit. They
watched us grow during the past thirty or more years, always willing to guide
us. And now, whatever their personal experiences must have been, they are,
through their advertisements (the only practical way) publicly welcoming us,
and again extending their hand of friendship.

WE HAVE Mr. Sheep of the Reid Tobacco Co., an old friend and always interested
in our progress. Mr. Haller, the baker, and his leonine son, are our true friends.
Mesars Wilson and Lane of the First National Bank, an Crane and Dillon of the
Altoona Trust, highly praised the thriftiness of our race. Mr. Keiser of the
Pennsylvania Coffee Co., approved cheerfully our progressive movement. We
have had hearty cooperation from Fry Brothers of the Altoona Ice Co.; while Mr.
Carlcherson of Curry, Canan & Co., received us with great courtesy and listened
approvingly. We have good friends in the persons of De Barber Brothers. A
sympathetic cooperator is Mr. Hoister of the French Dry Cleaners. Mr. Jones the
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 Page 26

undertaker forgot for a moment his approaching hunting trip and gave his car
with a broad smile (of course, he didn't slash it). L. H. Hileman of the Quality
Dairy was very prompt in subscribing; while the affable manager of the
Standard Furniture Co. was as generous and affable as he could be under the
circumstances. Mr. Bell of the Penn Motors, Inc., handsome and alert, put his
seal of approval with clock-wise precision. Mr. McGinnis, the athletic, energetic,
and able manager of Montgomery Ward & Co., manifested genuine interest in
us. Mr. Rodgers of Prutzman Co., a business man, every inch of him, tagged the
name of his concern in approval. I met both Mr. Stevens and Mr. Coslin of the
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., and found them aggressively progressive and
extremely courteous. Mr. Pall, leaving aside for a second his fruit
merchandising, extended us his glad hand. The erudile and surprisingly fluent
manager of the Penn Cress Ice Cream Co., left nothing to be desired in point of
courtesy and ready cooperation, Charles Shimminger sells flowers but talks like
a banker (ask Mr. Hoister) had his little advertisement is as brief of letters as he
is with words. Dr. Yocum A. Kopp, our public-spirited druggist, is indeed a
lovable gentleman and a good friend. Kranich Bros. Jewelers and Opticians -
well, you can't beat them in tact and efficiency. Abe Cohen, whose father had
his business side by side with Mr. A. N. Notopoulos, departed from his rigid rule
and put his seal of friendship in large letters. Mr. A. Berman, the man of gold
and silver, proved instantly that he had also a heart of gold, polished with
business courtesy. How about Mr. Park Hite? Read what he says in his little
notice. The Hollenback boys know the intricacies of radiology as thoroughly as
they know what project to countenance. Ross Hatch, chubby and affable, with
his powerful son to help him, was prompt in showing his friendly interest. J. B.
Felty, our old friend, with his candied words remembered us despite some very
pertinent reasons. He certainly has been a helpful friend to all confectioners.
Crigger Bros. are sweet as the apples and as luscious as the oranges they sell.
Mr. and Mrs. Makdad of the Altoona Plate Glass indeed, surprised us with their
public-spirited cooperation. H. Baker Yon is Napoleonic in stature but big of
heart. Our old friend W. H. McEldowney, still alert and tireless, profusely
congratulated us. Mr. Cobb of the Builders Supply was as brief and prompt as
he is with words. Mr. Eugene Myers was as bright and cherry and fragrant as his
choice American Beauty Roses, and as golden as the goldenrods he handles in
his store. Mr. Marcus the open faced, far seeing, affable jeweler is another
friend of the Greeks. Mr. Zimmers, tall and young, decided in a business-like
manner. Mr. Geltman of the Ford cars is as powerful and resilient as the new V-
8, and he was as willing as the Ford is in pickup and - whizzzz-bang-ness!(?)
Dr. SAX is the sweet air dentist and highly skilled odontovgaltes. Mr. Davis of
the Straehman Bakery wishes more power to the Hellenes of Altoona and
Continued success of their undertakings.

These are not all however. There are more and just as sincere in their good
wishes as those I have the pleasure to enumerate. Some we had no opportunity
to visit or know, some for obvious reasons do not appear, others had valid
reasons . . . and so forth. But the Grecians of Altoona for all of them have a big
:
 THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU!

D. ADALLIS

Page 27

Ancient Greeks and Modern Americans

The American nation, physically, is a composite of different nationalities, chiefly
of Germanic or Nordic races who were the first to colonize the land; but in the
essentials of progressiveness, intellectuality and courage, the American people
are the spiritual children of Greece and heirs to all her imperishable traditions;
that is, the same spirit that animated the old Greeks to great achievements is
animating the Americans of today into achievements that in magnitude and
daring, surely, have never been rivaled through the ages.

There are so many striking similarities between the old Greeks and the modern
Americans that make a pleasing revelation. There is that dauntless American
enterprising spirit, for instance, in a Lindbergh, that beards the roaring Atlantic
in its realm single-handed with an airplane, that has its counterpart in that
mythical feat of Leander's swimming across the Hellespont. The same bold,
adventurous spirit that impelled Jason and his Argonauts in search of the
Golden Fleece had also, after thirty-five hundred years, emboldened Captain
John Smith and his colonizers to dare the perils of the seas in search of the
Land of Golden Opportunity - the golden maize and the golden leaf.

It was this circumstance power of daring and adventure that peopled this land
and developed in them a character marvelous for its buoyancy, keenness of
vision, directness in action, energy, audacity, inventiveness and versatile many
sidedness -the American Genius that digs a Panama Canal, that carves
Roosevelt Dams in desert places, drills into the earth for oil, ploughs whole
kingdoms for wheat, invents marvels, invests millions on an inflammable
celluloid, revels in mass production, erects Empire State Buildings, makes
princely fortunes out of a five-cent package of goods, and governs the greatest
Republic of all Ages.

The same old Grecian nervous energy is manifesting itself in the American of
today. Thucydides characterized the Greeks as a people who believed in hard
work and regarded leisure as a disagreeable and wearisome occupation. One of
the most outstanding traits of a Greek -old or modern -is his love to be always
first in success, "always to be best and excelling others."

The Greeks, like the Americans, believed in competition; for "competition," says
Hesiod, "stirs a man to work even though he be inactive. Neighbor vies with
neighbor, potter grudges potter, and craftsman, craftsman! Good is this
competition." . . .

The same love for freedom that rules the hearts of our present-day political
leaders ruled also the very being of Demosthenes, when, in the name of free
:
 institutions, he climbed Mars Hills and appealed to the Athenian sense of honor,
of duty -to their sense of moral responsibility and enlightened patriotism -to
fight against the autocratic Macedonian.

Page 28

Like George Washington, Pericles was first in the hearts of his fellow
countrymen: "The First Citizen of Athens." . . .

Indeed, at every angle the American sees himself in the old Greek; he feels the
kinship -and may we not, the modern Greeks who have descended from such a
people, who are now found among you here, sharing with you, in equal
measure, the blessings and benefits bestowed upon the land by the blending of
these splendid qualities in those who founded it, humbly claiming a portion of
this heritage, such as we are, seek your right hand of friendship?

Page 29

Greek Religious Life

Next to his home, the Grecian loves his church. In fact, his home and church
are one and inalienable in his thoughts and daily life. He adheres loyally to his
church because he is born to it, because his church has limned its character in
his soul and ramified its dogmas in every nook and corner of his spiritual being.
At heart the Greek is a pietist, and this inborn quality keeps his convictions
together and deepens them. It is the basic element that is stimulating his
devotion to his family altars. The Greek owes his racial and political
independences to his church and to no other.

In every Orthodox home there is a nook or place for the family ikon. An olive-oil
:
 lamp, suspended from the ceiling before it, perpetually burns. The members
offer up their prayers there night and morning, crossing themselves; and the
family Saint is often called upon to intercede with God vicariously in their
behalf.

A Grecian might neglect attending church regularly, but he is a poor Orthodox

when he fails to attend church during Easter, Christmas, or on his name day,
which he celebrates instead of his birthday. He fasts during Megale Hebdomas,
drinks black coffee, eschews flesh, fowl or fish.

The Greek Orthodox Church has the most impressive ceremonial of any steed
rich in pageantry, gorgeous in dramatic settings. Its symbolism, imagery, rites,
types, and liturgy are very impressive.

The Greek Orthodox Church edifice is of Byzantine architecture and invariably

faces east. The ornamentation of the interior is gorgeous; the walls are covered
with ikons of the Lord, apostles, and latter martyred saints. Wherever a
communicant turns he faces a saint to remind him of his sacrifice and
martyrdom. Red, gold, green, blue, and purple colors predominate. The
sanctuary is partitioned off at the southern wall with beautiful panel work
bearing in larger figures images representing Gospel characters! The Holy Table
is in the middle of the sanctuary, and is resplendent with gold embroidered
cloth and gold and silver vessels used for sacramental purposes.

The priest officiates in vestments of gold and silver contexture. By the main
entrance of the church, occupying a section of the eastern wall, is an oblong
table called the Pangarion, upon which beeswax candles of various sizes are
displayed. A little farther from it is the hexagonal stand, the Ikonostasion,
supporting the ikon of the Saint of that day's calendar.

Each communicant upon entering the church, stops at the Pangarion and
selects the candle he wishes to offer, and then approaches the huge
candelabrum beside the Ikonostasion. There he lights his candle, sticking it in
one of its prongs. Then, addressing himself (or herself) to the ikon, strikes the
sign of the cross repeatedly on his breast, and bows to kiss a part of it, saying:
"Agie Haralambe Voetha Me," or whatever saint is on there.

As soon as these are gone through he seeks a convenient standing room on the
nave, for there are no pews in a Greek church. He usually stands out the whole
service erect, and at some well-known points, follows the cantors in a low
humming voice, and fervently crosses himself whenever the name of the Holy
Virgin is chanted by the priest.

The service consumes about three hours and is a long series of incantations,
candle-burning, incense-burning, change of priestly vestments and processions.
Up

Page 30
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 to recent time instrumental music was not tolerated. There are two cantors
stationed at either side of the sanctuary with their small choir of Isson-holders,
who do all the chanting (in Byzantine music) for the congregation.

The Beginning of Greek Immigration

INHERENTLY, the Greeks are not an emigrating people. A Greek loves his
country passionately; he is devoted to his family, and is born to his religion. In
the old days those who left home for foreign lands were mainly teachers and
artisans, who were rather induced to do so. It was in this way that in the
Roman era they became the spiritual masters of their conquerors; in this way
they carried their lights in all directions and redeemed civilization from the Dark
Ages; they taught and inspired and encouraged mankind in every laudable
endeavor.

Soon after the fall of the Roman Empire Vandals began to trample all over
Greece. Later the Turks subjugated the fair land, and all that was the pride and
glory stuck to his home and sought consolation in his religion -until, finally, the
Turkish yoke waxing exceedingly oppressive, his love of liberty still ablaze, he
rose to overthrow it.

Page 31

Seven years of decimating struggle against overwhelming odds in 1821 reduced

Greece into a land inhabited by old men, women, and children -impoverished,
her fields fallow, her commerce ruined. And in the face of this unbearable
poverty the growing generation began to lift its eyes towards more prosperous
lands; they must go out and find work to keep the old folk from starvation and
misery.

So, they first started immigrating into the adjacent countries; Egypt, Rumania,
Russia, and then along the late eighties into America.

The Grecians are not essentially an agricultural or laboring people; the are
inherently a commercial people, given largely to importing, exporting, and the
business of shop keeping. They certainly excel in all these and show remarkable
sagacity and acumen. But America in those days was a laborer's country. She
was not prepared to offer them opportunities along those lines. America had to
build her railroads; she had to erect her factories, and level down her
mountains for raw materials.

And he, the Greek immigrant, on the other hand, did not come at first to
America with the intention to remain permanently. He had come with the sole
object to relieve his pressing financial obligations at home; he came to work, do
anything, and send some money back home before the usurer foreclosed the
mortgage on the old family home, or a heartless creditor sent his father into a
debtor's cell for the want of a few dollars. For money was the scarcest thing in
Greece, and tilling the rockhound soil the most unproductive.
:
 Besides, the Greek immigrant found out that he could not keep a shop from the
start, because he spoke no English. And English was tongue-defying, ear
confusing language. It consisted of monosyllabic words that made maddening
short sentences. Before the honey-flowing, polisyllabic Greek, English was a
trickling spring besides a singing cataract. At any rate, it was a very hard
language for him to learn. So, he had to follow the line of least resistance and
seek work -crude, unskilled work -in railroad camps, in the mills, and -in cities -
he took up peddling fruits on a pushcart, or worked as cook, waiter or
dishwasher, at different hotels in New York. Not for long, however.

From railroad camps, from iron or cotton mills, from street peddling, these
sturdy Greek pioneers, little by little, as soon as they had relieved their
pressing old country obligations, as soon as they succeeded in settling off their
sisters, in marriage providing them with dowry, commenced spreading out into
the interior parts of the country to follow their natural bent; to open a store and
go into business, as they say. They went into neighboring towns or cities
looking for the store they had in mind -not so big, nor so high, bur large
enough for a lunch room or candy store.

Sometimes they would take an unknown direction and stop haphazardly at a

certain point along the way. And that little store they had so fondly visualized
would suddenly oggle at them right there and then. "Doxasi ho Theos!" Glory
be! and your Greek would then hang his coat and hat, plunge into the Mercurial
game of selling perishable merchandise, with a stock of English words garnered
indiscriminately and spoken in fiery Greek accent.

Page 32

so we have an element in this city who through this long, arduous

perseverance, during the past twenty-five years gradually succeeded carving for
themselves an enviable corner in its commercial life. They are contributing to its
growth and prosperity, adding to its money circulation. It may prove of interest
to know that through their business places they are, and have been circulating
hundred of thousand of dollars a year in the city. They may be justly called
dividend-bearing assets. They live happily; divorce or family rupture is unknown
among them; they live amply, buy the best, and are only thrifty when thrift
proves a productive investment.

They are law-abiding, uphold laudable civic movements, observe the

ordinances, pay their taxes, and try to assimilate themselves with the ways of
doing business in America. They try to pay their bills, promptly, seldom make
unjust claims or give post-dated checks, though at times they may prove hard
buyers. I have a number of their dealers to testify to this.

Greeks can make friends quickly, and when their friendship is reciprocated they
are usually very loyal and go a long way out to show it. But, with all that, they
are very careful and very suspicious in making friends or giving their
confidences. The one who seeks their friendship must be an out-and-out moral
man in affairs concerning his family and honor. He must be a moderate drinker,
:
 no gambler, or a monger, but a true lover of his home, his God, his country, and
of hard work.

Advertisements
Page 10

Compliments of - Altoona Plate Glass Company "Glass for All Purposes" 725
Green Ave., Altoona, Pa.

Compliments of - L. C. Papadeas Confectionery, Home Made Candies Draught

Beer Sandwiches, Etc. 717 7th Street, Altoona, Pa.

Compliments of - Pennsylvania Restaurant 110 Broad Street, Hollidaysburg, Pa.

Compliments of - Vitrolite "Better than Marble" and Plate Glass Construction

Company 715 Chestnut Ave., Altoona, Pa.

Compliments of - Crigger Brothers Wholesale Fruits and Vegetables Telephone

2-2261, 1024 11th Ave., Altoona, Pa.

G. A. Zimmers Lumber Company, Inc. Lumber and Roofing Phone Dial 2-7485,
828 28th Street, Altoona, Pa.

Compliments of - H. Baker Yon Wholesale Confectioner 1616 14th Ave.,

Altoona, Pa.

Remington Typewriter Company 64 Goldschmid Building W. J. Young Manager

Page 11

EDGAR W. JONES, Funeral Director, Telephone 2-2661, 1222 13th Street,

Altoona Pa.

Compliments of - The First National Bank, Altoona, Pa., Main Office 1206 11th
Avenue, Altoona, Pa., Juniata Branch 5th Avenue and 7th Street, Juniata, Pa.

Page 15

"If it's Reid's it's Good" REID TOBACCO COMPANY Milton, Pa., Altoona, Pa.

Compliments of - Pennsylvania Coffee Co., Altoona, Pa. SPECIAL BLENDS FOR

RESTAURANTS

Page 16

Flowers... Myers Brothers Florists 1112 12th Street, Altoona, Pa.

Gettman Auto Company 19th St. and Margaret Ave. Before you buy any car,
:
 drive the NEW FORD V-8

Compliments of - W. H. McEldowney McEldowney Bros. 812-814 Chestnut

Avenue, Altoona, Pa.

General Builders Supply Company Altoona, Penna. Everything from Foundation

to Roof Phone 9331, 1720 Margaret Ave.

Compliments of - Milton Papadeas Confectionery 1200 7th Ave., Altoona, Pa.

We Call and Deliver Union Dye Works J. G. Kisson, Prop. Cleaning-Pressing-

Repairing Men's and Ladie's Hats Cleaned and Reblocked, Telephone 7647, 711
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Compliments of - CURRY, CANAN, CO. "Wholesale Grocers" Altoona, Pa.

Page 17

Compliments of - Altoona Trust Company, Main Office 12th Avenue and 12th
Street, Branch Office 8th Avenue and 12th Street

Page 18

Compliments of - JUNIATA-ALTOONA ICE COMPANY Fry Brothers, JUNIATA

PHONE 2-9834, ALTOONA PHONE 2-2792

Page 19

Compliments of - DE BARBER BROS. Distributors of Schlitz The Beer that made

Milwaukee Famous SERVED AT ALL THE BETTER PLACES

Page 21

The Originators of the 50c Call and Delivery Plan, FRENCH DYE WORKS, First
Dry Cleaner to sign the N.R.A. Code, There Will Be No Increase In Our Prices,
Any Garments Cleaned and Pressed 50c All Work Called For and Delivered,
Men's Hats Cleaned and Blocked 50c, Plant and Office 1511 13th Street,
Telephone 6133

Compliments of - The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company

Compliments of - Penn-Cress ICE CREAM CO. 2801 Beale Avenue Phone 4011

Page 22

EDGAR W. JONES, Funeral Director, Telephone 2-2661, 1222 13th Street,

Altoona, Pa.

SIMMOND'S 1432 11th Avenue, Felicitates You and Your 35th Anniversary in
:
 Altoona

Page 23

Compliments of - J. B. FELTY The Candy Man 1008 11th Ave. Altoona, Pa.

MARCUS Square Deal Jeweler, 1325 Eleventh Avenue, Altoona, Pa. REGISTERED
OPTICIAN We do Expert Watch and Jewelry Repairing, Telephone 2-2315

Page 24

Compliments of - Altoona Sanitary Laundry, 2707-2717 Oak Avenue, Telephone

9468

Compliments of - H. Papadeas, Home Made Candies, Draught Beer and

Sandwiches, 1628 8th Ave., Altoona, Pa.

Page 25

Compliments of - Ross A. Hatch, Fruits and Produce, 914 1/2 11th Ave. Altoona,
Pa.

Compliments of - Verna's Confectionery and Lunch, Beer and Draught and in

Bottles, Home Made Candies, 1105 11th Street, Altoona, Pa.

Compliments of - Sugar Bowl, Light Lunches Draught Beer, 150 11th Ave.,
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Compliments of - New Depot Lunch, Clean, Quick and Prompt Service, Draught
Beer, 1000 12th Street, Altoona, Pa.

Page 26

Compliments of - PENNA LUNCH, All Kinds of Sandwiches "MEET YOUR FRIENDS

HERE" 1110 1/2 11th Avenue, Altoona, Pa.

Page 30

Compliments of - ETON RESTAURANT, Our Motto: "Service, Cleanliness, Quality"

1612 11th Avenue, Altoona, Pa.

PEERLESS PRINTING COMPANY, J. P. Stellabotte, PRINTERS - BINDERS, 1111

Eleventh Ave., Telephone [Dial] 4-1 5-1, Altoona, Pa.

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Copyright 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Blair County USGenWeb Archives - Area History

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