Ernestina

Ernestina Palumbo Andreacola

Ernestine was born February 18,1905 in Giuliano Teatino, Italy. The fourth of the twelve children of Filomena D'Aurizio and Ciriaco Palumbo. She remembered playing on the hill with Nicola Andreacola and making wreaths with the wild flowers. She watch her grandfather Giacinto Palumbo making shoes when he said to her "ochi di scruci" meaning eyes of the pit of grapes. Ernie never said if that was a compliment but when an Italian compares a person to food it's usually good (e.g.. 'that man is good as bread' (from La Storia)). When she arrived in the USA she said "pop put me on his lap and said "have you been a good girl?'. at the age of fifteen she lied about her age to start working in the sewing factory. She was Filomena's #1 helper when not at the factory since her sister Lizzy married at the age of 17 when Ernie was 10. Her little sister Rosie, 19 years younger, would hear the factory whistle blow and would go and wait at the door for Ernestine to return home from work. Ernestine was Rosie's other mother since Filomena was "getting tired" by then. But Ernestine was in no hurry to marry. "Pop would say, 'what am I raising priests and nuns here. You need to get married. I need more room in the house'. Ciriaco's sister Sophia tried to fix up Ernie with . "When I was 21 ant Sophie came to pop and said 'we've got to marry Ernestine off before she gets too old. She started to bring fellas over and I hated them. One time she brought this little short guy around and said 'his got the house he's got this and that.' The guy kept on coming. I was even ashamed to walk with him. I swore to myself I was going to get rid of him. One day when I knew he was coming I just walked out the house, Pop said 'where are you going' I said 'I'm going to the movies'. The guy came there, I wasn't there and he left. When I came home Pop said 'you're going to marry him.' I said to Pop 'I don't want him.' There was this lady at the factory. I said 'what would you when you father's trying to force you to marry him when I don't want to. She said, 'tell your father you'll marry him if he'll sleep with him.'