A Buffer Zone
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As new immigrants settled in their new cities, they usually found some neighborhoods more welcoming than others. Other immigrants from their region may have settled there already. They could hear their native language being spoken in the streets, in the churches and parochial schools. Businesses run by other immigrants knew their special needs. They became a home away from home; an island refuge in the middle of a strange American city.
In Johnstown, Cambria City was that buffer zone between the "Old Country" and "America" for many immigrants.
Click on the images below to view a larger image. To help you see as much as possible from these photographs, use the tool "Reading a Photograph."
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Stores were places where people gathered to share news and stories. |
Neighborhood stores, such as this butcher's shop, provided foods that people recognized from home. |
Inside these little shops, people could by as much or as little as they wanted. Meat was cut to order. |
Another butcher shop. Notice the dress of the women on the right. They dressed like they did in the "old country." [Cropped photo] |
This is the interior of the butcher shop on the right in the previous picture. Notice how much larger this one is. What were all these workers doing? |
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Another butcher shop. How are these women dressed? |
Inside the Froelich (German) butcher shop, the men cleaned and prepared whole animals. |
Once the meat was prepared in the back of the store, it was brought to the storefront, where it was displayed for sale. |
Another view of the Froelich butchershop, showing workers making sausages and smoking hams and bacon. |
Another view inside the Froelich butchershop. What are some things that you would not see in a butcher store or grocery meat department today? |
This Italian grocery was located on Railroad Street. What kinds of foods are being featured? |
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