WEBVTT 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.000 Thomas Contis: Thomas G. Contis. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Alan Groover: Age? 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:37.000 Contis: 58 and one half. Groover: Place of Birth? Contis: Pittsburgh, PA. Groover: Tom, the maiden name of your mother? Contis: Oh, Christ. [laughter] My mother's maiden name. Oh, yeah. Koutris. Groover: Can you spell that, please? Contis: K-O-U-T-R-I-S. Groover: Okay. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:01:28.000 Groover: The ethnic origin or identity that you identify with? Contis: That I'm a Greek, you mean? Groover: Right. Okay. Languages that you speak? Contis: I speak the English language, of course. And Greek. Groover: Okay. Uh, your occupation? Contis: Well, a so-called restaurateur. Groover: Okay. Um. Religion? Contis: Uh, we're the Orthodox faith. Groover: Catholic, is that right? Contis: No, no. Orthodox. There's a difference. We don't believe in the Pope. We have our own patriarch. Groover: What's a patriarch? Contis: What's a patriarch? I don't know. I know [talking simulataneously] Groover: What's the pope? You're saying the patriarch is the head-- Contis: Of our church, right. He's a patriarch, and he's--he's in Constantinople. Groover: Oh, okay. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:33.000 Groover: Okay. Um, what parish do you belong to? 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:40.000 Contis: I belong to the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Oakland. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:47.000 Groover: Politics. Tom, are you involved with any politics at all? Contis: No, not-- Groover: Personally? Which--do you belong to a party? 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:58.000 Contis: Well, I'm a Republican only because my father was a Democrat. [laughter] Oh, boy. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:08.000 Groover: Um, membership in any ethnic fraternitie?. Do you have--do you belong to any Greek fraternal orders or? 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:20.000 Contis: No, not really. I used to belong to the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, but I couldn't devote any time, so I just dropped out of it. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:21.000 Groover: How long ago was that? 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:23.000 Contis: Oh, about 15 years ago. 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:26.000 Groover: At that time, were you pretty involved with, uh. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Contis: Not really, because I didn't have the time. The way I work, see I always work night turns. And when you can't go to the meetings and really be part of the organization, why belong? That's the way I feel. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:44.000 Groover: Do you feel that, uh. For instance, if you weren't involved in the nighttime, would you still be an active member? 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:55.000 Contis: I think I could be, yeah. Okay, because it's one of the better organizations that cements the Greek American relationship. You know. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:06.000 Groover: When going back to the--to your mom did for any reason, did they change the name at all when they came over? 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:33.000 Contis: Well, she was married when she came over. See, my father came here before my mother did. They had been married, oh, about five, six years. And then he come over here. And he told her that he was going back for her, I think she was scared that he wasn't going back for her, [laughter] and she'd come over at that time. That's what those Greeks were doing, you know. [laughter] 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:37.000 Groover: So then actually, they were married prior to coming over. And he came over. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:46.000 Contis: Because my two sisters were born in Greece and I was born here. Then my brother followed me. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:58.000 Groover: I see. Okay. Getting into a little family history, which we touched on for a second. Um, birthplace of your parents. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:59.000 Contis: Oh, Christ. 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:06.000 Groover: Something like, you know, the. The country. The village, the region. Um, well, give me an idea. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:19.000 Contis: The area is called Arcadia, really. And the town is. Well, when you translate it in the English language, it's called Cherry Town. Groover: Sherry? Contis: Cherry. Cherry Town. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.000 Groover: Is that Arcadia? Contis: In Arcadia. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:24.000 Groover: What? What part of Greece is that? 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:40.000 Contis: It's, I would say central. Um, sort of southern, but Central. It's in the Peloponnese. Um, part of Greece, you know, where the five fingers, You know, the top of the five fingers. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:56.000 Groover: Okay. Um. The question here is port of entry or parent's port of entry. When they came initially when your--when your father, for instance, came to the United States. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:16.000 Contis: Well, he had to come through New York, New York at that time. They all came and they had to go through Ellis Island, which petrified them because they were so close. And yet they didn't know if they would be allowed into the country or thrown back to the next boat and go back to Greece. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:21.000 Groover: When when was this, Tom? Well. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:26.000 Contis: Well. 50--58. 59 years ago. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:31.000 Groover: So that would make it around that time. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:43.000 Contis: Around that time. Yeah. 1910. No later than 1915. 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:55.000 Groover: Did. Did your dad ever talk about that experience you just mentioned the fact that the the awaiting to get in after traveling so damn far? 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.000 Contis: Well well, this incriminate me in any way? 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:06.000 Groover: No. Not at all. Contis: Well, you see, in those days, my dad got in a little trouble, so he snuck out of the country. Groover: Oh? Contis: Yeah really. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.000 Groover: And he snuck out of Greece? 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:21.000 Contis: Yeah. Yeah. And this was the real reason why my mother wasn't sure if he was going to. He couldn't have gone back. Oh, I see. Seems to be--there was a little squabble and somebody got killed. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:23.000 Groover: Oh, is that right? 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:25.000 Contis: Yeah, that's true. Groover: Yeah. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:34.000 Contis: In fact, I have a letter after he made the final payment to exonerate himself from my uncle from Greece. And I still have that letter. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:37.000 Groover: Can I ask you: payment? 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:43.000 Contis: Well, to the widow, because they had no Social Security. And this is very interesting. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:45.000 Groover: This certainly is interesting. That's. That's really something. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:07:00.000 Contis: And, um, he didn't really mean they got in a squabble over some goddamn sheep. Groover: Is that right? Contis: Well, they never discussed it with us, but I found this out through other relatives years later. Uh huh. This is interesting. You never thought you'd get into. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.000 Groover: No, I did not. I did not. Did. Uh. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:25.000 Contis: So he took a knife and he jabbed the guy--not really wanting to kill him, but he was so damn mad at him, you know? So had they gotten the man to a hospital, he would have never died. But there was so remote. The area where they lived up in the hills, so remote by the time they got him to hospital he was dead. 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:31.000 Contis: But through the years he would pay so much what the amount was. I don't know really. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:32.000 Groover: To directly--. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:46.000 Contis: To the widow. He would send it to my uncle in Greece, to my mother's brother. In other words, to his brother in law. And. And he would give it to the wife. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.000 Contis: And, uh. Go ahead. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:53.000 Groover: No, I was just what I wanted to know. Did were they did they ever go to court or anything, or was this a type of-- 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:54.000 Contis: No. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.000 Groover: Did he leave immediately thereafter or. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:59.000 Contis: Oh, yeah. They they were looking for him. The police were looking for him. 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:01.000 Groover: Wow. That's yeah. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:07.000 Contis: Police were looking for him. And and in fact, a widow with five daughters hid him in her house. 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:08.000 Groover: Is that right? 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:15.000 Contis: Who became his sister in law later on in America? [laughs] Quite interesting. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:16.000 Groover: That's that's. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:32.000 Contis: But and nothing was ever said until 1971 when I decided to make my first trip to Greece. And a cousin of mine says, no, you can't go to Greece. I said, Why? Because, well, if you go to the home town, something might happen to you. And that's when I found out. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:36.000 Groover: Really? Oh, by name. Would they remember the name? 00:08:36.000 --> 00:09:02.000 Contis: Oh, yeah, by name. And this cousin of mine was afraid if I would go to the village, The man's son, who was my age, would have found me out. He's liable to hurt me in a way. Which, of course, he wouldn't have, really, Because after all. But I'll never forget my--oh, my cousin really didn't want me to go. She said, No, no, you're not going. I says, What the hell happened 50, 60 years ago has nothing to do with me. Yeah. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.000 Groover: Oh, that's that's in fact. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:09.000 Contis: Now, I'm really curious. I really do want to go just as meet the son of this guy. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:12.000 Groover: I don't know about that. It would be. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:24.000 Contis: What the hell are they? My sister met him. Oh, is that right? She was here a couple of years ago. Yeah, And I don't think the man even knows. You know, the connection. Probably not. I don't know. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:36.000 Groover: You said that going back to the payment. Okay. This really interests me. What was did you know you mentioned you weren't sure of how much the payments were? 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:47.000 Contis: I have no idea really. But he would send so much money to my uncle and he would give it to the widow to bring up her family just to help bring support her family. 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.000 Groover: So. So you feel that it probably did. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:10:02.000 Contis: Happened whenever the kids were able to get out and work for themselves? I think so, yeah. Because, see, the widows in those years, they never remarried. Oh, you stayed a widow for the rest of your life? Mm. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:12.000 Groover: I assume then that they probably you may or may not know this, but I assume that they probably knew that your father was in the United States then? 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:13.000 Contis: Yeah, but they didn't know-- 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:14.000 Groover: Didn't know where? 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:25.000 Contis: Well, when he came, he went to Chicago and then he came to Pittsburgh. So whoever it was there, they probably thought he was still in Chicago or wherever Chicago was. Yeah. Yeah. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:27.000 Groover: How long did he stay in Chicago? 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:31.000 Contis: I really don't know. 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.000 Groover: Do you know why he went to Chicago and. Were there relatives? 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:45.000 Contis: Well my uncle was here in Pittsburgh, and he told him that's where he should go and stay until he would call him into Pittsburgh. And that's what happened. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:11:09.000 Groover: Mm. That's so that's so. Actually, I the. And let me just ask you this. The intentions and therefore really of your dad leaving Greece and coming to here were actually twofold then when you say to seek a new career with a new country and also to get away with the problem that he would. 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:34.000 Contis: Get away with this problem first, then to seek. Because eventually he would have see, my uncle, my dad's brother brought all his brothers over to this country. So he would have brought my father over anyhow, you know, whether my father had done anything or not, you know? 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:41.000 Groover: Your dad, other than the problem that he ran into. Did he ever returned to Greece? 00:11:41.000 --> 00:12:18.000 Contis: No, he never had the desire. But I guess the reason was for the crime that was supposed to have been committed. I imagine so. I don't know. Okay. So. But even at that, my mother never had a desire to go back because she was very happy here. Is that right? Yeah. Although even though she became a citizen when the day she went for her citizenship papers, she still said under her breath, I'm still a Greek. I'm still a Greek. [laughter] Groover: Fantastic. Contis: Even though she wanted to be an American citizen, she still wanted to be a Greek first. That's the way these old timers lived. Their mother country was it. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:25.000 Groover: Well, that's you know, a lot of people believe that now, even the younger generation that, you know, it's it's something. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:29.000 Contis: I just think if we migrate to another country, I'm sure, you know, you always. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:38.000 Groover: Have it. Contis: I get so goddamn fed up with this place here, I say I'm going to Europe. But you know, how can you really how can you give something up like that? 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:58.000 Groover: Well, Tom, when when you moved into, uh, when you were born and your parents--or your father came from Chicago to Pittsburgh because of his brother was here. Uh, I assume that then probably the reason why he did come here is because of the brother. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:00.000 Contis: Right. Right. And then to go into business. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:07.000 Groover: Okay. Was the brother your would be your uncle? Was he in the--in the business? Was he self-employed at that? 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:12.000 Contis: Yeah. He had a restaurant in town called the Buffalo Restaurant. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:14.000 Groover: Where was that located? 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:20.000 Contis: You'll never believe it. Almost under Kaufmann's clock. Groover: Is that right? Contis: That second [??] right there. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.000 Groover: And this would be around 1910. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:32.000 Contis: Right. Then that's when they whenever whenever they cut down the hump, that's when my uncle had to give that place up because Kaufmann's took that whole area or something. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:33.000 Groover: What do you mean, the hump? 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:53.000 Contis: Well, you know what Kaufmann's clock is. Groover: Yeah. Contis: Well, from there up to the courthouse, that was a big hill. Okay, so they cut that hill down and leveled it off. So that was called the hump. So I remember my aunt and uncle, my aunt, not my uncle, that they had a restaurant and they had to go up these wooden steps to go up into the restaurant. Hm. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:56.000 Groover: Was it primarily a Greek restaurant or was it? 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:01.000 Contis: No. American food--hash and you know. 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:15.000 Groover: Hm. Okay. Presently now are living in the the East End area. Is this primarily where your parents started, your uncle and your father? 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:49.000 Contis: The business you mean or were living? Groover: Living. Contis: Oh, no. I was born. On Congress Street, down with the Hill--in the Hill District where the new arena is right there. That's no longer there. Of course, I was born on Congress Street. I think I was around five years old when my dad had accumulated enough money and he wanted to buy a piece of property, so he bought property on Atwood Street. Groover: Oakland? Contis: Oakland. And it was two houses, no electricity, outhouses. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:50.000 Groover: Is that right? 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:58.000 Contis: Oh, yeah. And, well, that was our homestead until after I got married. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:04.000 Groover: So then actually you're from more or less from an Oakland type area. Well, I guess-- 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:11.000 Contis: I remember the Hill just very vaguely, you know, living there. It's just like a dream, really. Atwood Street, I remember. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:24.000 Groover: Okay, let's just go back a little bit with the Hill District area as we know it now. Did were there a lot of Greeks there or, you know, do you know why your dad settled there? 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:42.000 Contis: No, most of the Greeks were on the North Side. But there were there was a piece of property up there where my uncle had found and he told my dad it was good for us to live there. So he listened to his brother and he rented there, really. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.000 Groover: Where did your brother live or where did his brother live? 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:47.000 Contis: On North Avenue in North Side. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:49.000 Groover: Is that where the Greeks? 00:15:49.000 --> 00:16:07.000 Contis: Yeah, there were that. I think most of the Greeks were from the North Side at that time and they migrated across the river to the Hill district. Then they became high class and went to Oakland and then really got big shots and went to East Liberty [laughter] and now God knows where the hell we're going. [laughter] 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:21.000 Groover: Oh wow. That's great. That's something. Okay. Uh, your dad's occupation. When he came. When he. When he came from Chicago to here, he worked with, uh. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:41.000 Contis: He worked with my dad for a while, with my uncle for a while. And then my uncle took this little restaurant right across the street from the, uh, Penn Central Station where the Greyhound is now. The Greyhound bus station. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:42.000 Groover: Right. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:45.000 Contis: We had a little restaurant there called the Union Restaurant. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:47.000 Groover: Did he buy it or? 00:16:47.000 --> 00:17:02.000 Contis: That was my dad's restaurant. My uncle had the buffalo, then he had the anchor and a couple others around Liberty Avenue somewhere. As each brother come over, they got a restaurant and each brother had his own restaurant. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:18.000 Groover: Hm. Let me ask you this, Tom. I've always wanted to know, and I'll just ask you right out if how how did they accumulate the money to purchase the restaurant? What? Save a lot, or I imagine it was quite expensive to start up from. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.000 Contis: No, I don't think it was in those years. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:23.000 Groover: Did your dad bring any money over? 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:35.000 Contis: No. No. How the hell are they going to get money up in the hill, up in the hills with it? Sheep. There were sheep herders. They didn't have anything. They didn't have a pot to piss in. Really? You know? Really? 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.000 Groover: Yeah. Well, how did, uh. 00:17:37.000 --> 00:18:01.000 Contis: Well, they. I really don't know. They used to live in one room. 3 or 4 men would live in one room and get a job. Maybe cost them, a couple of dollars a piece to live together with, you know? In other words, 3 or 4 men would take one room that each pitch in a couple of bucks a piece and they had the room for a month. Okay. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:09.000 Groover: Hey, now, just in retrospect, at the time your parents were married. Yeah. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:12.000 Contis: Oh, when my mother came over, you mean? Yeah. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:15.000 Groover: Well, when he came over, he was married. 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:25.000 Contis: This is the way he lived. All right, then. When my mother come over, then he had to get a room for my mother and my sisters and I until we can-- 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:32.000 Groover: When your dad came over. How long was it before his wife came? Your mom. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:48.000 Contis: My sister was seven years old. I'm seven years younger than my sister. So. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:49.000 Groover: Did they have children before? 00:18:49.000 --> 00:19:05.000 Contis: No, they had the two. My dad had the two girls in Greece. All right. So I must have been born the very next year that he came over. I had to be because there's seven years difference between me and my sister, the one who was next to me. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:33.000 Groover: So then they were approximately seven years prior to coming over. So there was seven years difference. Uh, before your mother came over. Yeah. Right. Okay. Uh, do you remember when she came over with your two sisters? Yeah. Uh, they. They were living where? Still, that would be in the Hill district, then. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:46.000 Contis: Well, no. They went to North Side to my aunt's house, my aunt and uncle's house, until my dad got this place up in the Hill district, which was a matter of a month maybe, or something like that. Or two months, I don't know. It was a short period of time. Uh huh. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:54.000 Groover: Did, uh, when they moved to the Hill District, did they have any, uh, boarders or anything like that? 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:58.000 Contis: A couple of my uncles lived with them to help defray the expenses. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:03.000 Groover: Were they uncles, your uncles involved with the restaurant business, too? 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:21.000 Contis: Well, the one had his own restaurant. Yeah, I forget which one that was. Which restaurant hat was. Later on, he left this country and went back to Europe. Groover: Did he go back to Greece? Contis: He went to back to Greece. And he died during the war. 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:22.000 Groover: He never came back? 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:34.000 Contis: He wanted to come back, but his wife didn't want to. His wife never wanted to come to this country. So he went back there to try to talk her into coming to America. And they got caught during the war. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:42.000 Groover: And she. Did she come over, though? She never did. She never--he finally talked him into staying staying there. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:48.000 Contis: Uh huh. He died. He was 67 years old. She's 91 and she's still living. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:21:04.000 Groover: So it's sheep she's herding out there, right? Um, other than other than relatives living in the house, were there any other people that were actually no relation? Contis: No. Groover: Family type of deal? 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:10.000 Contis: A cousin or a or a nephew or. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:15.000 Groover: I assume that there was a certain portion of rent that was charged and they kicked in. 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.000 Contis: I have no idea what the rents were, but I'm sure it could have been too much. 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:26.000 Groover: Did your mom, uh, help help out at the restaurant? Contis: No, no, no. Groover: She strictly at home raising her kids? 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:49.000 Contis: Raising the kids, cleaning house. Keeping the house. Well my mother wasn't an educated woman. In fact, she spoke very, very little English, even to the day she died. She never was able to write. The only thing she learned to write was her initial of her first name. And the reason she learned that was to send me the letter whenever I went to the Army so that she wrote the letter. 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:57.000 Groover: Is that right? Contis: My sister would write the letter and she'd put her initials on it. Made her happy that she wrote the letter. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:10.000 Groover: That's great. Did. Well, since we're talking about education and so forth, uh, may I ask you what what your education is? Your background? 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:27.000 Contis: Well, I finished high school, then I went to Robert Morris for a year. Then I started playing around and I said, why spend the old man's money. So I went right back into the restaurant business. I was tending bar for my brother-in-law. My dad had a restaurant in town at that time. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:32.000 Groover: You didn't work right off the bat for your dad? Well. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:23:04.000 Contis: No, no, because when they opened up the restaurant here-- Groover: In East Liberty. Contis: --I was too young, you know, And I was too young to work. Although they used to make me clean goddamn peaches in the summertime and strawberries. Then we had no freezers, so I have to sit there for hours just cleaning that damn stuff. And I hated it. Well, I really never worked here in East Liberty until 1948. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:07.000 Groover: Well, then. Then you graduated. From where? Peabody? 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:09.000 Contis: No, no, I graduated from Schenley. 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:13.000 Groover: Okay. That's right. We're still--still in Oakland. Right, Right. 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:18.000 Contis: And then I went to Robert Morris for a year. Then I figured, well, there's no sense in throwing the money away. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:19.000 Groover: So then you. Then you. 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:26.000 Contis: I started working, tending bar for my dad and my brother in law in town, a place called the Atlas Cafe on Seventh Avenue. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:27.000 Groover: Which they owned? 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:36.000 Contis: They owned. Christ, I was only 19 then. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:42.000 Groover: Let me ask you, Tom, did you enjoy it? Contis: Oh, yeah. Groover: You know-- Contis: Tending bar? Groover: Yeah. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:24:22.000 Contis: Oh, yeah. I like people. I like being with people. And then my cousin got into a hassle here with my aunt at the restaurant here. So they were going to throw him out, and he says to me, Why don't you go up there and take over for me? Christ, I didn't know my ass from a hole in the ground. You know, tending bar I knew, restaurant management, I didn't. So he says, it's nothing you'll learn as you go along. I said, Oh, Christ, I was scared stiff. And really, the reason I did come up because they were going to throw it into receivership and my brother had a chance to lose a lot of money. So I said, Well, maybe I can help him out too. So. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:31.000 Groover: Well, then, actually, Tom, this restaurant in East Liberty, this is going back to when you were around 19 years old. Is that right? 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:33.000 Contis: When I was working in town. 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:36.000 Groover: Which was okay before that. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:48.000 Contis: This restaurant was opened in 1927. Uh huh. I was ten years old when it opened July 13th, 1927. Next year we'll be here 50 years. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:57.000 Groover: Is that right? That's fantastic. How? Okay, just let me get this straight. Who--who owned this restaurant? 00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:00.000 Contis: Well, that's another long story. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:01.000 Groover: Well, you know. 00:25:01.000 --> 00:26:01.000 Contis: My dad and my dad was working here, but my uncle. No, my dad had the place in town. My then my uncle came out to East Liberty. And you know where PNB is now? Right. He opened a place called the--was it the anchor? No, Wasn't it? Yeah. I can't think of a name right now. Well, he opened a restaurant right in that corner there. Well then they went bankrupt. So then they found this spot here, and they needed money to come into this place. So they couldn't get it because they needed cash. Right. So they go to my dad. So my dad says, Make me a partner and I'll come in. Of course, I didn't want to make him a partner because he said, Well, no partner, no money. So finally they said, okay, we'll make a partner right here. So he come in. Well, then my years later, my sister got married, so my brother in law wanted to go into business for himself. So my dad left here and went into business with his son in law, with my brother-in-law. I figure I really don't remember what happened then.
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