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Working in Paterson
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Item Title
"I was the second Spanish-speaking business in this area."
Author/Creator
Interviewer: Carroll, Thomas D.
Created/Published
August 10, 1994
Notes
Interview with Francisco "Arturo" Mantilla, co-owner of Elsa's Fashions on 21st Avenue.
Summary of audio segment: The beginning of the Spanish speaking market in Paterson. AM remembers going downtown in Paterson when he first came here and the difficulty he had because no one spoke Spanish. AM says he saw restaurants and bodegas in Paterson that spoke Spanish, but not on Market Street, Main Street, 21st Avenue. When AM first opened the store on 21st Avenue, all the people came in -- Spanish, Italian, and American. In 1983, Sergio Valente and Jordache jeans were popular. He got the jeans direct from the company, paid $18.50 wholesale, sold them for $21.99 retail, while big stores sold them for $28 or $29 retail. He made $2.50 a pair, and when people saw the price, many people came to buy them. And he was ready to sell them other products once they were in the store. People came from all over the area to buy the jeans, and he sold them other things too while they were there.
Subjects
Interviews
Oral history
Puerto Ricans
Sound recordings
Ethnicity and occupation
Family-run businesses
Ethnography
Interviews
United States--New Jersey--Paterson
21st Avenue
Elsa's Fashions
Object Type
Related Names
Narrator: Mantilla, Francisco "Arturo"
Medium
Digital Audio Tape
Language
English
Call Number
AFC 1995/028: WIP-TDC-A006; A: 00:55:50
Reproduction Number
AFC 1995/028: WIP-TDC-A006
Part of
Working in Paterson Folklife Project
Repository
Library of Congress, Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Digital ID
afcwip tca00608
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/afcwip.tca00608