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

1. Vacations are made by who you're with,
not how far you go
Warm Nostalgia
July 19, 2013 12:13 am
1/1
Fred W. Schneider III
By Marion Constantinides
The "staycation" is a relatively new term, but it is an old concept for ethnic, working-
class Pittsburghers.
When I was growing up in the 1950s, my family and I did not go away for a vacation like
families today. We never went to the beach or Disney World.
But we did go on vacation.
Immigrant families tended to find homes in communities where other immigrants from
the same country settled before them. I grew up in South Oakland, which, like many parts
of southwestern Pennsylvania, was a melting pot of ethnic groups. That included serving
as home to a large Greek population.

2. My mother's sister, Calliope Fekaris, and her family had moved from Oakland to
Tennessee Avenue in Dormont around the early 1940s. Many people didn't have phones
back then, so daily visits were still a common way of socializing.
Connections between the South Hills and the city had become easier years before by
completion of the Liberty Bridge and tunnels. Commuters from the South Hills didn't
have to complain that they had to take the long way around to get into Downtown
Pittsburgh.
In our case, a trek to Dormont meant taking two trolleys because we didn't have a car.
Our socializing was limited to occasional Sunday visits.
So to spend more time together every summer, my mother and I took those two trolleys
and went to Dormont to my aunt's house for a two-week vacation. I would be so excited I
would stand, holding on to the poles for the whole ride, even if the trolley wasn't
crowded. My mother gave up trying to get me to sit down.
Our Greek-American subculture has always loved to socialize, so we filled our stay with
as many events as possible. My dad, who stayed home so he could work, would visit on
the second Sunday of our "trip." He would take me and my cousin Nick to Kennywood or
West View Park. Sometimes, Nick's older sister, Anna, would take me to buy shoes at the
Buster Brown store on West Liberty Avenue.
I would play with the other kids in the neighborhood and I didn't have to miss my favorite
TV shows: "Howdy Doody," "Davy Crockett," "The Lone Ranger" and "Captain
Kangaroo."
My single uncles visited on Sundays for the family dinners that were a staple of ethnic,
working-class life or to celebrate someone's Name Day throughout the year. Sometimes
called Saints' Days, because almost every Greek Orthodox was named after a saint or
martyr, these events were hosted by the celebrant, who opened the doors of his or her
house to friends and family. No one needed an invitation; the news spread by word of
mouth, or the partiers just knew to come.
At the end of our vacation, my dad came to take my mother and me home to South
Oakland.
My Dormont cousins, meanwhile, would vacation by traveling to Monessen, another
community with a large Greek population, to spend time with other cousins who lived a
stone's throw from the Pittsburgh Steel Co. mill. From their hilltop, you could see the
billowing smoke from the mill's smokestacks as well as the busy shops on Schoonmaker
and Donner avenues.
When it was their turn, my Monessen cousins would visit our cousins in Dormont. These
cousins were all older than I was, so they got to do fun things that I couldn't do, such as
attend church dances and picnics and go to soda shops and the movies.

3. It was important for first-generation Greek-American children to become Americanized.
Many listened to Elvis Presley and other popular singers in the 1950s. They Anglicized
their first names and spoke English whenever possible (although we spoke only Greek at
home) but they were proud of their heritage.
Various Greek fraternal associations sponsored picnics in the summer. The picnics
involved grilling lamb outdoors and participating in the folk dances of Greece.
"American" music was added later, but most people wanted to "dance Greek."
The old staycations may seem more mundane than the ones people enjoy today, but there
was a lot to be said for the extended family visits of that generation. Connecting with
friends and family was not only important -- it was fun, too.
Marion Constantinides of Squirrel Hill, a writer and artist, can be reached at
myrofora@comcast.net or read at www.marionconstantinides.com.The PG Portfolio
welcomes "Warm Nostalgia" submissions about favorite summer memories, in addition
to other reader essays. Send your writing to page2@post-gazette.com; or by mail to
Portfolio, Post-Gazette, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA 15222. Portfolio editor
Gary Rotstein may be reached at 412-263-1255 412-263-1255 FREE .
First Published July 19, 2013 12:00 am
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