First off Carlo, thanks for the story, and the receipes....
Secondly, please add me to your ping list...
Third...my husbands grandparents came over from Sicily, during the 1920s...and they came to Chicago, bought a house, and began to raise their family..his grandmother would often bake and cook things, so that every Monday, when we visited the grandparents, we would be sent away with a bag full of food(I always believed my husbands grandmother believed I could not cook or bake)...she would sent us home with thick, homemade sardine pizza(it was yucky to me, but my husband loved it, as he grew up on it), jars full of soups, and his grandmothers specialty, something she called(and I have no idea how to spell this, so will just do it phonetically), 'brew-ja-loni'(rhymes with baloney)...this 'brew-ja-loni was the best, flakiest, most tasty type of bread I have every had...the bread was rolled out flat, filled with italian sausage, tomatoes, and seasonings....then the flattened out bread was folded over itself, by thirds, and then allowed to rise, and then baked...when I tried to get the specific recipe from the old grandmother, she just smiled and grinned, but would never hand over the recipe(it was her ace in the hole)...when she died the recipe went with her...so, have you ever heard of 'brew-ja-loni', and would you have such a recipe?
And Fourth...I was raised in Chicago, so much of what you say I can relate to...I was born in 1945, and much of what I remember seems a little later after the time you talk of...we had a regular refrigerator, but many of the families who lived in apartment building did not...they had ice boxes..and I always remember the 'iceman' coming, with his horse drawn cart full of huge ice blocks, and him delivering the ice...I was actually envious of those who had the ice boxes, as opposed to my familys more modern fridge, as I liked those big chunks of ice, because you could chop a small portion of it off, and suck on it to relieve the awful hot humid days that Chicago is notorious for...but luckily for me, the iceman would always see me out front, and he seemed to sense that I longed for a chunk of ice...so whenever he came, even tho my family was not a customer of his, he always managed to chop off a small chunk of ice and give it me to suck on...
I am also reminded of another man who drove a horse and cart...when I was 8 my parents bought a two story house, with my moms sister and her husband and their family(two families going together on the down payment for the house, seemed to be the only way to afford a house), and my brother and I loved the idea of living in the same house with our two cousins...because the more kids the merrier was our thought..my aunt and uncle and cousins lived on the first floor, and my family lived on the second floor, and we had a full basement, and a full attic(which made us believe we were rich)...anyway, even tho this was a house in the middle of the city, there was a barn in the backyard, by the alley...it seems that this barn, was in the earlier part of the century, the local dairy...there were stalls for the cows on the ground floor, and in the loft, were all the cages for the chickens...my dad and my uncle were going to tear the barn down and build a garage,(even tho we did not yet have a car, but the menfolk were optimistic that in time we would have cars)...so this barn was full of all kinds of stuff...apparently when it ceased to be a dairy, it served as a storage place, for lots of junk...so naturally my uncle and dad found a local ragman...
The ragman had a horse drawn cart...he would come once every other week, on a Saturday, to see what kind of junk we had to sell...my dad and uncle knew that the ragman was Jewish(we were not), and so when they knew he was coming, they would go shopping for smoked salmon and rye bread and tasty jelly donuts(which appeared to my dad and uncle to be the sort of treat a Jewish gentleman might enjoy)...the ragman appeared, and the ladies set the kitchen table...my whole family and my uncles whole family, complete with all the kids were all crowded around the table...the ragman was invited in, and coffee for the grownups, milk for the kids, and plates full of smoked salmon and rye bread and jelly donuts were passed around...and we all talked and laughed and stuffed out bellies...
Then the ragman, my dad and my uncle went out back to the alley, went into the barn and did their business...I supposed haggling went on...and eventually the men loaded up the ragmans cart, and off he went...that went on for several months...we kids just loved it when the ragman came as we got extra special treats that we normally did not get, , and we got to play with the ragmans horse...
To this day, I still call jelly donuts 'ragman donuts'...the memories of the ragman and the great feast put on for his benefit(and no doubt used to get him to offer us a little more money for our junk), are very precious memories...
And lastly, ,when you mentioned the Salerno Bakery...my husband(who is not here right now, otherwise I would try to get the specific names), also knew some kids who were related to the Salernos that ran the Salerno Bakery...I could be mistaken, but I think he mentioned a Linda Salerno(the hubby was born in 1943, and I think he knew this gal while they were teens, so that would give a time reference...my husband also knew a Nancy Lenell, related to the Lenell cookie people...
Anyway I have been longwinded...thanks for the walk down memory lane...its been fun...
We won a raffle, a brand new Frigidaire, and I lost my favorite Ice Box.. but like you I watched out for the iceman and got my chips.. The new Fridge was a big deal in the neighborhood, all the neighbors stopped by to look at it, even strangers.. HAHA I don't recall a Linda Salerno, but I knew most of the family..
The Funeral home side of the family were my drinking buddies in our wild years.. Mayor Daley, Richie was my best friend when he was sober, which wasn't often.. Anyway Richie, Sal Salerno (her 2nd cousin..LOL) and I got picked up for fighting over a Salerno daughter.. Lena I think, and got out as soon as they found out Richie was the Mayor's kid.. LOL . Chances are Lena had 17 kids and has 200 grandkids hanging around her neck.. HA!
Oh those great memories.. sigh