"Moving to Winton Street" from "I Double Dare You-A Rendezvous With Destiny"
*Author's note: Bill Guarnere and his family moved to Winton Street in South Philadelphia early in his marriage to Frannie. His father-in-law loaned Bill the money to purchase the house and Guarnere gave his new car to his father-in-law to thank him for helping him get the rowhouse. The amount he paid back to his father-in-law is in the book he wrote with Babe.
The price for Bill's new house is mentioned in his book. A house for sale next to his was listed on a Philadelphia realtor's web page for about $80,000 last September. It's the same type of home. I got curious and investigated what the property was worth in today's money. The "talking Italian" story also came from Bill's and Babe's book.
The U.S Government provided new cars to former soldiers who were seriously wounded in the war.He really made the,comment about wanting the car and not wanting to talk about baseball. President Truman really chuckled and said what he did to Bill This information also comes from the book Bill wrote with Babe. The rest is from my imagination. The scene with the U Haul was inspired by an event that occurred when I moved into my apartment. Unlike Leigh, I didn't hold up traffic on a street, I blocked two lanes of traffic on a major state highway. The truck I drove is a little bit larger than the one in the picture from the late 1940s.*
After Leigh was completely healed from the C-section surgery, she and Bill discussed moving to a rowhouse with three bedrooms, since they planned on having another child. While reading the real estate ads in the newspaper one evening, three months later, Bill saw that a rowhouse with three bedrooms was available on Winton Street, not far from their current location.
There was a major obstacle in obtaining the house. It had to be bought instead of rented. Cal Spencer was aware of the situation and he loaned Bill and Leigh the full amount of money to buy the house, $2,000. Bill insisted on paying Cal $20 to $50 per month.
Before the moving got underway, Bill was notified by a letter from an amputees' group in which he was a member. A congressman came up with a bill to give new cars to men who became amputees due to war injuries.
Bill went with the group to meet with President Truman. A man in front of him spent a long time chatting about baseball with the President. He told the man,
"Buddy, I didn't come here to talk baseball. I'm here for the car." Truman heard Bill's remark, chuckled and told him,
"You got it, kid." The new car was a black Pontiac and that particular model wouldn't be available for purchase until the following year (1948). Bill insisted that Cal should take the car, telling him,
"Pop Spencer, since you helped us get the house, it's only right that (he pronounced the word as 'dat') I give ya the car. When Cal tried to decline the offer, Bill convinced him to take the car, saying,
"A brand new car would stick out like a sore thumb around here. Our car suits us just fine." Mr. Spencer insisted that Bill and Leigh take his 1945 Buick. Bill was glad to have a newer car and he gave the 1941 Buick to Teresa. He told her,
"Since ya know how to drive, I thought you could use the car to go to work. You could take Ma an' Pop wherever they needed to go. That way, they'd have a way to get somewhere if they couldn't get a ride." Teresa was excited and happy to have the car.
Later that evening, while they were eating supper, Bill told Leigh,
"Thanks to your pop, we're on our way to havin' it all. We own our house an' we don't have a mortgage to pay. I was thinkin', after we get moved in, let's get busy an' sorta make each room ours, if ya know what I mean."
"I like that idea, Honey. You can explore my downstairs in every room."
"I'll never get tired o' explorin' your downstairs, Sweetheart."
Bill and Leigh decided to use a new company, U-Haul, to facilitate their move to Winton Street. Moving vans or trucks could be rented from the company, which was much cheaper than hiring a moving company.
It took quite a bit of time to box up dishes, glasses, furniture, clothing,baby items plus other personal belongings and household goods. Once the boxes were securely packed and taped shut, it was time to load the moving truck.
Bill's brother-in-law, his nephew and Babe Heffron helped load the truck. Maria and her family had to attend an out of town funeral, so they weren't involved in getting Bill and Leigh moved into their new house.
While Bill and the men were busy moving and arranging furniture, Leigh decided to drive the truck to pick up some small boxes of her clothing. She had a great deal of difficulty getting into the vehicle, since it sat much higher than a car.
Wearing a day dress made climbing into the truck a challenge. While some women wore pants, a majority of women still wore dresses. Leigh had to find a way to get into the truck without making the skirt of her dress ride up to expose her underwear.
She opened the driver's side door to the truck and found a strap to grab on to. Then she carefully hoisted herself into the cab of the truck. Next, she had to move the seat all the way forward to reach the gas and brake pedals.
Leigh backed up the truck and cringed when she heard the sound of it striking the garbage cans at the side of the driveway. She thought,
"Just what I don't need. The last thing I want to do is make a scene for the neighbors." A man from the neighborhood was walking past the rowhouse. He shouted,
"Mrs. Guarnere, Stop! You hit the damn garbage cans! Hang on, I'll help ya." Leigh was glad for the man's help, but she thought,
"Wonderful! Now everyone within hearing distance will know about the 'woman driver' who can't back up a truck without destroying something." He backed up the truck, turned it around to easily exit the driveway and helped her get the garbage and the cans picked up. She thanked him and he wished her luck with the move.
Power steering didn't exist at that time, and Leigh found the steering more difficult to manage than the steering wheel of a car. She ran into trouble when she had to pull onto a major thoroughfare to access Winton Street.
Leigh was accustomed to looking into the rear view mirror of a car, which is in the middle of the windshield. She quickly realized that she had to depend upon two mirrors, one on either side of the truck, to see.
She swore under her breath, rolled down the driver's side
window and stuck her head out the window, trying to see the entire street. Leigh could see the entire left side of the thoroughfare and only a portion of the right side.
Then, Leigh issued silent prayers to prevent an accident and to get her safely to her new home. Soon, several cars were lined up behind her. Unbeknownst to Leigh, her brother-in-law Sal, Julia's husband, was in the second car behind the truck.
He was heading back to Winton Street after a quick visit to his house. Sal needed to get his moving dolly to help move more furniture into the house. He saw Leigh when she looked out of the truck's window.
A man directly behind Leigh lost his patience and honked the horn on his car. He yelled,
"Are ya gonna sit there all day? Get that truck outta here!" Leigh was nervous about driving and she felt extremely irritable due to the traffic situation and the rude man behind her. She yelled back,
"Keep your shirt on, you baciagaloop (an Italian word meaning 'dummy' or 'fool' that she learned from Augusta), I'm doing the best I can!" Five minutes later, the man repeatedly sounded the horn again and Leigh put her left arm out of the driver's side window with the middle finger of her left hand sticking up, hoping the man would see the gesture.
By this time, Sal was laughing. He shouted,
"Atta girl, Leigh!", but she didn't hear him. The traffic let up for a moment, and she quickly got onto the street and headed for her destination. She decided to leave the driving of the truck to Bill or someone helping them from that moment on.
Ten minutes later, she pulled the vehicle into the parking lot behind the house. Bill came out to help her out of the truck. He embraced and kissed her before he helped her carry in the boxes of clothing. Sal pulled into the driveway, parked his car and walked toward Leigh and Bill.
"Leigh, ya did a good job handlin' that guy behind ya." She thanked Sal and Bill asked,
"What are ya talkin' about, Sal?" Bill was quickly filled in on the situation, with Sal adding,
"Then, she gave that guy the ol' one finger salute." Leigh couldn't help but laugh and Bill did his customary loud, single laugh.
"That's my sassy baby! You must've learned that word from Ma." She quickly glanced at the left side of the truck and was greatly relieved to see that there were no marks or scratches on the side of it from hitting the garbage cans.
When everything was unloaded from the truck, it was time to return it to the rental company. Leigh asked Bill to drive the truck, since driving it made her nervous. She drove the car and followed Bill to the U-Haul rental office. One of the employees in the office inspected the truck, telling the Guarneres,
"It looks great. This is a new truck and it's the first time it's been used." Leigh silently thanked providence that she didn't mar the truck when she hit the garbage cans and that she avoided an accident pulling out in traffic when she couldn't completely see the street.
A surprise awaited the Guarneres, the relatives helping them move and Babe. Teresa drove Augusta and her father to the new house and she had homemade lasagna, garlic bread, Broccoli Rabe and pizzelles for dessert. Leigh told Augusta,
"Mama, you're a godsend! Thank you so much for fixing a delicious supper for us." Then, she hugged her.
"You're welcome, Sweetie. I wanted to give you an' Billy a break. You've both been workin' hard an' I didn't want you to have to cook, too."
Everyone sat around the dining room table. Bill found a bottle of red wine in the kitchen and he poured it into a decanter that was passed around the table so everyone could pour as much wine as he or she wanted into their wine glasses.
They kept the noise down since Billy was sleeping in his crib in his upstairs bedroom. Bill asked the blessing and everyone enjoyed their supper.
Augusta, the other family members and Babe laughed when they heard about Leigh and the man in the car behind her.
"You done the right thing, Sweetie. That's exactly what I woulda called him. You're doin' a good job pickin' up Italian words. Would ya like to learn how to speak Italian?" Leigh said that she was interested in learning the language. Bill laughed, telling everyone,
"It'll be like when I was a kid. We knew one of us was in trouble when Ma and Pop started talkin' Italian. If my sweet angel gets mad at me, she'll probably start talkin' Italian, too." Teresa and Julia laughed at Bill's comment. Julia remarked,
"Hearin' Ma and Pop talkin' Italian made us wonder whose ass would get hit wit' a wooden spoon." Everyone at the table laughed. Leigh told Bill,
"Honey, can't see you doing anything to make me mad, but if it happens, I promise to speak English." Julia remarked with a smirk like Bill's,
"Leigh, you didn't know Billy Baby when he was a kid. He was usually into some kinda trouble." Bill feigned an expression of shock, telling her,
"Julia, you know that ain't true. I was a little angel back then." Laughter ensued after this comment. Bill had his after supper cigarette as Julia answered,
"I'm just yankin' your chain, baby brother. You were a pretty good kid, but I wouldn't call ya an angel." Augusta spoke up,
"Since we're talkin' about angels, is it OK wit' you, Sweetie, if I go up an' see Billy? I'll be right back to help wit' the dishes."
"Mama, you can see Billy whenever you want, there's no need to ask. Take your time visiting him. Since you fixed supper, I'm doing the dishes." Julia and Teresa also offered to help. The work was over fairly quickly with three women working in the kitchen.
While they worked, Leigh told Julia and Teresa,
"This reminds me of the time Bill brought me home to meet everyone. You, Maria and I washed the dishes and danced to the music." Julia and Teresa laughed, remembering how Augusta and Bill surprised them by applauding after they finished singing along with the radio. Julia told Leigh,
"Now, here ya are, married to Billy Baby an' you have that handsome little guy. I gotta see him before we go home." Teresa said,
"Billy's a little angel. I need to see him, too, before I take Ma and Pop home."
Augusta walked into Billy's bedroom. He was awake and she picked him up from his crib, holding him close to her.
"You're Nonna's handsome little angel. You remind me of your pop when he was little like you. You're growin'. Soon, you'll be Nonna's big boy." Billy smiled at her as she kissed his cheek.
"Such a sweet baby." Then, he wet his diaper.
" I'll get ya cleaned up an' in a dry diaper." After she took care of him and placed the dirty diaper into a diaper pail with a lid, she told him,
"That should feel better for ya. You're livin' in a new house now. There's lots of space in the backyard for ya to play when ya get older." Leigh excused herself for a moment and she got a bottle of milk for Billy. When she entered the bedroom, Leigh smiled as she saw Augusta holding Billy.
"I just came up to give Billy his bottle."
"Sweetie, can I do it?" She handed the bottle to Augusta. Mrs. Guarnere sat in a rocking chair beside the bed. She fed and burped Billy.
"Thanks, Leigh. I never get tired of havin' a baby in my arms. He's a blessin'."
"You and Pop are blessings, too." Augusta thanked her. Billy soon went back to sleep.
"Bill is a wonderful father. He helps with Billy, from feeding to diaper changes. He calls him 'My little ol' man.'"
"You're both great parents an' Billy's nickname is sweet." Augusta gently placed him into his crib.
"Mama, I hope you and Pop come over during the weekend. Mom and Dad are visiting."
"Louise told me she an' your pop were visitin' soon. You can count on us comin', Leigh. We enjoy spendin' time wit' your folks." Augusta and Leigh went downstairs. Once everyone had left, Bill asked Leigh,
"Sweetheart, will ya come outside wit' me for a minute? I forgot to do somethin'." Leigh complied, wondering what he had in mind, and they went out the front door. Then, Bill surprised her when he picked her up and carried her over the threshold."
"That's better, Baby. Now, we're officially moved in." He embraced Leigh, telling her,
"Now, how about we do a little explorin'?"
"What room do you have in mind?"
"Let's take it upstairs, Baby." They walked hand in hand to their bedroom.
