Ralph W. Grasso Jr. Interview

Transcript: Grasso, Ralph W., Jr. 1999. “An Oral Narrative Recorded by Mary Ann Cardillo Fitzgerald.” West Side Oral Narrative Project: Transcribing Discourse and Diversity, Annotated Transcript No.1, November 9, 2020

Ralph W. Grasso Jr. (1933-2024) was born and raised in Saratoga Springs, New York to Italian immigrant parents. He enlisted in the United States Air Force and served in Korea and Japan. After the military, he returned to Saratoga Springs and settled with his family. The interview includes his memories of West Side childhood activities, such as playing pranks, sledding injuries, serving as an altar boy at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, shining shoes on Broadway, and assisting his father at the family’s store on Beekman Street. He also tells of adult activities, such as playing card games and bocce ball with other residents from Italian immigrant families. The narrative highlights Grasso’s Italian Ice business and the St. Michael’s Festival, and the conversation topics include gardening, wine making, wedding receptions, close neighborly relations, and raising a family. Overall, the narrative provides insight into the humor and tenderness of West Side life.