Interview with Amedeo M. Aiello
IntervieweeInterview with
Amedeo M. Aiello
(American, 1922 - 2010)
InterviewerInterviewed by
Bruce M. Stave
(American, 1937 - 2017)
InterviewerInterviewed by
Sondra Astor Stave
Date2006 October 30
Mediumdigitized audio cassette tape
DimensionsDuration: 58 Minutes, 37 Seconds
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineConnecticut Museum of Culture and History collection
Object number2009.85.10
DescriptionAudio cassette tape of an interview with Amedeo Michael Aiello. He was interviewed on October 30, 2006 by Bruce M. Stave and Sondra Astor Stave at his home in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
Amedeo Aiello was born on July 9, 1922 in Italy. His family immigrated to the United States in 1923. The family first lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, then Ohio. In 1929, during the Depression, his family moved to Hartford, Connecticut. He attended Arsenal School and graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1940.
He worked at G. Fox & Company for almost 44 years, retiring in 1984. He started working at G. Fox in 1940 first as a stockman, then as a salesman in the Housewares Department. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army with the Office of Strategic Services (now the CIA). He was stationed in Algiers; Corsica, France; and Italy. Before the G. Fox employees who were leaving to fight in World War II left, Beatrice Fox Auerbach met with each of the men and gave them gifts. G. Fox sent them packages once a month while oversees. He returned to the Housewares Department after the war and was promoted to Assistant Buyer.
Both Eleanor Roosevelt and Katherine Hepburn visited G. Fox. Aiello discusses the people who worked at G. Fox - men, women, and Black people. He discusses how the store changed after the May Company purchased it. He also discusses the Moses Fox Club, Auerfarm in Bloomfield, and the Connecticut Room. He describes the area of Hartford where he lived and the G. Fox branch stores.
Amedeo Aiello was born on July 9, 1922 in Italy. His family immigrated to the United States in 1923. The family first lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, then Ohio. In 1929, during the Depression, his family moved to Hartford, Connecticut. He attended Arsenal School and graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1940.
He worked at G. Fox & Company for almost 44 years, retiring in 1984. He started working at G. Fox in 1940 first as a stockman, then as a salesman in the Housewares Department. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army with the Office of Strategic Services (now the CIA). He was stationed in Algiers; Corsica, France; and Italy. Before the G. Fox employees who were leaving to fight in World War II left, Beatrice Fox Auerbach met with each of the men and gave them gifts. G. Fox sent them packages once a month while oversees. He returned to the Housewares Department after the war and was promoted to Assistant Buyer.
Both Eleanor Roosevelt and Katherine Hepburn visited G. Fox. Aiello discusses the people who worked at G. Fox - men, women, and Black people. He discusses how the store changed after the May Company purchased it. He also discusses the Moses Fox Club, Auerfarm in Bloomfield, and the Connecticut Room. He describes the area of Hartford where he lived and the G. Fox branch stores.
Collections
Funding Note: In 2006, the Connecticut Historical Society received a grant from the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to support the collection of oral histories, the cataloging of G. Fox & Co. materials and Fox and Auerbach family materials, and the creation of web pages. Additional funding for the oral histories was provided by The Prospect Fund, The Brookside Fund, and The Maple Tree Fund. The Connecticut Historical Society gratefully acknowledges these generous supporters. Without such generosity, this project would not have been possible.
Status
Not on view