[association la chaîne] ETNA Tool and die, New York 07 / 19

ETNA Tool and die, New York 07 / 19

dimanche 28 juillet 2019
par NA Franck

My father, James Constantino Galuppo, was born in 1918 on the Lower East Side of New York City. His grandparents came from Italy to New York to try and provide a better life with more opportunities for their children. My father began his career by studying diesinking and machine building in NYC at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and perfected his skills in a diemaking company. Five years later, during World War II, he was employed by the US Government where he started as a third class machinist and almost immediately moved up to first class machinist and then as a Senior Mechanical Engineer to supervise the upkeeping and repairs of the US naval vessels in the Panama Canal Zone.

ETNA Composteuse "time clock"

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ETNA

Immeuble Bond Street en juillet 2019

At the end of 1945, my father, James Galuppo, returned to his native New York City where he co-founded Etna Tool & Die Corporation in 1946 with his partner Guy Angiolino (though known by everybody as"Tommy"Angiolino). Tommy’s brother, Prospero Angiolino served as shop foreman. At this time, the main source of business was making hundreds of beautiful floral dies that were used to produce silk flowers and flora which can still be found at the Natural History Museum of NY today. The business commenced in Brooklyn (I believe Hart Street but I am not 100% sure) and then moved to 50 Bond Street in Manhattan in 1961 when my mother joined the team as President and handled all the contracts. Unfortunately, in 1977, Tommy passed away from cancer and, shortly thereafter, his brother Prospero moved to North Carolina. At that time, my mother joined my father as a full time partner. She came from the antique oriental rug business but dropped everything to be by my father’s side. She was a superb and honorable business woman who contributed a great deal to the success of Etna Tool & Die. Sometime in the mid 1980’s, Etna’s work had increased exponentially (much of the work being for Con Edison, Verizon, Nynex, AT&T and countless other industries) and had grown out of the premises at 50 Bond St. at which point the shop was moved to its present location at 42-44 Bond Street in Manhattan, being double the size of its former address. One of the specialty items Etna fabricated during the 1980’s is an invention my father engineered as an anti-vandalism device to prevent the theft of coins from all the payphone booths of New York !.

After Prospero’s move to North Carolina, my father’s foreman was Sal Giammanca D’Amato who worked for my father for nearly 20 years. When Sal left Etna to pursue his own interests, Zhi Fen Liang became his foreman for 30+ years till 2016. Another important member of our team at Etna was our beloved secretary Mary Kay Bullard who was with us from 1992-2006 when she passed away. She was a delightful person of utmost integrity, dedication and good will. All the customers loved her boundless cheerfulness and willingness to help. She was the warm voice you heard at the end of the Etna telephone line.

My father always called his shop a mini ’United Nations" as his workers hailed from everywhere- the U.S., Italy, Germany, Haiti, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Poland, China etc..My parents treated their employees like family and were very concerned about their future wellbeing. Because of this, my father worked until he was 98 years old to make sure that all his men reached retirement age and could collect their pensions. The only person who was too young to retire was his machinist Juan Familia (from Dominican Republic) and so he gave him the position of superintendent of the building so that he would not lose his job. He is still working at the building. My father passed away peacefully on November 9, 2018 at the young age of 100- a truly ethical, hardworking, joyous human being ! Flavia GALUPPO, juillet 2019

NAMES of "KEY" PLAYERS

James Constantino Galuppo - my late father and co- founder of Etna Tool & Die Corp (passed away Nov 9, 2018)

Keranus Galuppo - my mother and late President of Etna Tool & Die Corp. (passed away in 2015)

Guy (Tommy) Angiolino- co-founded Etna Tool & Die Corp. with my father

Prospero Angiolino- Tommy’s brother and first foreman at Etna Tool & Die Corp.

Isander (known as "Sandy) Rojas - machinist at Etna Tool & Die Corp. and all around helper worked from approximately 1965 and retired in 2008 (40+ years)

Zhi Fen Liang - foreman at Etna Tool & Die Corp. from 1983 till 2016

**Juan Familia - machinist at Etna Tool & Die Corp. from approximately 1999 till 2016. Now he works as the building’s super. he is the machinist you met and gave you descriptions/narrations of some of the functions of the machines.

Mary Kay Bullard - secretary of Etna Tool & Die Corp. from 1992 till her passing in 2006 (14 years)

James Galuppo-late1940s: 3)

James Galuppo: 4)

42 Bond Street ; 1940s: 7)

Keranus_&_James_Galuppo: 2)

Etna Stem Binding Machine: 5)Machine à confectionner des fleurs artificielles.

Guy Angiolino, partner at Etna: 6)

Description of Photos and Credits

1) The first photo was taken by the photographer Martin Diegelman for an article written on Etna by Sophie Butcher for The Gothamist (published on August 22, 2017). From left to right ( at the shop Etna Tool & Die) are my father, James Galuppo : machinist Isander Rojas ; foreman Zhi Fen Liang ; and machinist Juan Familia.

2) The 2nd photo is of my parents Keranus and James Galuppo taken in the early 1960’s at a business function during the "height" of Etna Tool & Die.

3) The third photo is of my father at his shop taken in the late 1940’s with his stem binding machine (his invention used to make silk flowers for the Natural History Museum). Photo credit reads : Herman Leonard.

4) The fourth photo is of my father, James Galuppo, taken in front of the Etna Tool & Die shop front at 42-44 Bond St. This photo was shot around 2014 by Eric Ferrara for a book called "Lower East Side Oral Histories" (interviews by Nina Howes) where a chapter is dedicated to my father (page 46).

Etna Tools: 1)

5) The fifth photo is a closeup of the stem binding machine invented by my father James Galuppo and his partner Guy Angiolino.

6) The sixth photo is of Guy Angiolino, my father’s partner at Etna Tool and Die Corp.

7) The seventh photo is of the 42-44 Bond Street (NYC) building form the 1940’s.

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