Economic Realities of Italian in Little Italy, Chicago

                Ever tasted the sweet sensation of cookeries in Chicago. In Little Italy, there are blocks and blocks of sweet shops that sell pastries and pastas. These shops were emerged by Italians coming to Chicago for jobs but their lives were not always easy to live in the economy of Chicago. Italians were not always the best group that American society would gladly make them fit in. They were Catholic, did not speak English, and showed their culture instead of assimilating which made them harder to find jobs. This did not stop them from working hard and eventually earn their spot of where they should really be in American society. Of course they earn their spot by working and prevailing in their limited jobs they have when they first got to Little Italy and made their name in the neighborhood.  

               The mass waves of Italian immigrants made businesses flourish. Cookeries became the most popular ethnic cuisines in America that resulted in successful bakeries and restaurants. By 1925 the Italians owned 500 grocery stores, 257 restaurants, 240 pastry shops, and many food related business. Italian also worked in railroads, factories, labor intensive jobs, and construction sites. The International Hod Carriers and Building Laborers' Union of America controlled by dishonest laborers. This union made some considerably progress in increasing wages in many places like Chicago but was take down by the government. Italians had the background of farming but realized quickly that they needed money to invest lands and pay for equipment and also a fare for the railroad on the countryside. The Italians later moved to the city because they wanted to be close to their own kind and had many job opportunities with low standard wages. With women not having the same opportunities as men, many worked in textile factories sewing clothing products. Mining was quite popular to work due to having lots of room for people to hire. Mining accidents often occur with caves collapsed upon miners. Children as low as ten years old worked in full-time job. An Italian family wanted to have each family member work in someway shape and form to help support their budget. 

                Here shows a fifteen year boy working as a messenger for a telegraph company which shows Italians families wanting their children to help support them. Having a fifteen year boy smoking shows that parents do not care what the child does as long as the child is financially supporting the family. Kids today seeing this photo might be thinking about education, condition, and if he was brought up right. Well Italian children dropped out of school due to both not liking and supporting their family. With making less than a dollar per day, they often lived independent and also their family don't care about them so they brought things they shouldn't have like pipes because they don't know that smoking is bad for your health. 

              This shows an Italian market. It shows Italians being merchants and trade with local people. Many skilled Italians merchants open their own shop and traded with people living in Chicago. This prevented Italian men of having to work in dangerous and bad working conditions such as mining that could possibly lead to death. They were fortunate enough to be skilled with trading because if they didn't have this skill, then the competition between the Irish and the Italian would increase.  The market consisted fish stores, sweet shops, and pastry shops. The Italian made shops with their skilled trading system they made a market after them. The market is beginning to show the social aspect of Italians on their community with trading to their own kin, but also to the people who didn't even want them to come to the United States. Trading to many people can make their businesses flourish and raise the economy that results in making the financial life easier. 

             Many Italians were not famous in society due to their class and the jobs they have so they could easily be framed of a crime.This song shows a tribute to Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti two Italians immigrants who were electrocuted for first-degree murder on a guard and the cashier of a shoe company. They both did an anarchist movement against the violence and oppressive government. Sacco was a shoemaker and back then it was not prominent but he worked in the Slater-Morrill Shoe Factory and Vanzetti worked as fish seller. Both jobs was not big between 1870-1930 so hearing theirs was rare. Their financial life was hard with both making less than two dollars per week. Both were convicted with murder by fitting the qualifications of the actual robbers. Fit in as Italian  
anarchists, and Sacco had the same bullets of the crime scene when they were arrested and inspected. Imagine if Sacco and Vanzetti had prominent jobs instead of jobs that had no income. Then their names would be heard and wouldn't gotten the police to be suspicious of them due to knowing who they were and fit the qualifications. How the economic realities of a person could make a difference if that person had a job that could make a salary versus a job just enough to make a living or even less.  

            Finally, the realities of Italian in the economy of Little Italy Chicago was rough especially in 1870 to 1930 but they eventually pulled through. The jobs they had to work were bad, bad enough to cause death and overworked. With having limited jobs opportunity due to having racial prejudice they still worked hard with the jobs they have and made the economy go to their way. The Italians in the near future made a neighborhood we known today as Little Italy that subsides the harsh economy realities they were living in.