Images(4)

Last, Shoe

Object number2015.20.6 a,b

MediumIron

Credit LineGift of Mary Antol

DescriptionCobbler's shoe last with base.Dimensions(a) Height 7.125, Width 6.625, Depth 2.25;
(b) Height 1.5, Width 12.25, Depth 4.
Marks(b) Maker's mark on underside in raised text on left "TRADE", at center "O-M-F", and on right "MARK".
Historical NotesFrank Helpy (born Francesco Apa) immigrated to McKees Rocks in 1897 at the age of five and he attended the Irish Catholic grade school where the nuns changed his last name from "Apa" to "Helpy." He went back and forth between the United States and Italy as a young man; during one of his return visits to San Donato, he married Filomena Capolupo. Helpy operated a cobbler shop in Pitcairn, Pennsylvania, to support his wife and four children in Italy. When the political situation in Europe became tense in the 1930s and Fascism was on the rise in Italy, Frank decided his family should relocate to live with him in Pitcairn.

Previous owner Frank Helpy (died 1966)

Related person Filomena Capolupo

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