D Di Mascio

I believe there is a Valerie in the Di Mascio family, we were both in the same class at St. Joseph's convent on the Kenilworth Rd. (now gone of course) but was still there after the war. I remember her having a birthday party at one of the ice cream parlours, could have been that one (early 50's ?).

Hi Geoff. 34a did not survive the bombing. It was next door (east) to the Old Baths PH which was still there in 1950. I don't know of a good picture of the building but this is it from the back from BFA

Thanks, Helen, I take it that image was pre-war. 34/34a must have been quite a large building, I believe Di Mascio's parlour seated 200 on three floors. I found this image on BFA from 1949 showing the front side where it would have been. I take it the two-arched windows next to Roberts shop were the lower floors (maybe just the ground floor) of the Old Baths (other arches hidden from view?). It's remarkable how many businesses survived with just their ground floors functioning after the upper floors were burnt/blown away.

Yes. Roberts was at 36, then the Old Baths at 35. Then 34a, then 34, then 33, this group was built some time between 1850 and 1887. You can see a bit of the front in this Next to it you can see 32 with a similar front but possibly not built at the same time. It looks like it was pre 1850. Curiously all 4 had slate at the front and tiles at the back.

Extraordinary, how can you tell the difference in roof covering between back and front, surely not from just the photos. Do you have some older shots or other info? Incidentally I might have been able to get a copy of the Di Mascio booklet a couple of nights back. I found a company that said it was available for £7.49 but it was late and I thought I'd leave it till the morning. When I refreshed the page it was unavailable! I don't know if someone reading this thread bought it or whether it was actually unavailable already. I suspect the latter as it's something which would have had very limited appeal so would not have been printed in large numbers. It was published in 2006 so I'm not surprised. A pity as I would love to have have the chance of seeing it.

The Goad fire insurance maps at the British Library state the property number, number of storeys and roof covering. Very useful. I'll be honest, now I look again, both sides look the same but the buildings either side (of the 4) were marked as slate. This was often necessary to have a flatter pitch to the roof. It may be that the roof material had been changed between the point the map was surveyed and photographed. It may be the map maker got the wrong building for mixed roofing. The building next door to the east looks like a better candidate. It looks like a converted old building with the front raised to 3 storeys by adding a flatter roof. Whereas the back still has a steep roof, 2 storeys and what looks like timber framing. So I will retract my claim about the roof of D Di Mascio's.

Helen, I didn't think your eyesight could be that sharp! Good that you mention the Goad insurance maps, I never knew they existed but came across them by accident on this very site I believe but can't remember how I stumbled over them. A link would be very helpful BTW I've sent a request to Warks County Library Local Studies, they have a number of copies of the Di Mascio booklet, most for use only in the library. There are a couple of copies 'available' but I don't know whether they would agree to a short inter-library loan as I live in Bristol. Fingers crossed. Geoff

They're now on wikimedia here and Rob has a later collection here. I assume that the originals are still at the British Library but you'll have to have a rummage about.

Is this the book on here, rocksolid ?

Thanks, Helen.

No that's not where I found it. It was a firm called Brown's Books based near Hull. Wherever did you find that link, I scrolled down and didn't see it. At first I thought the site looked a bit dodgy but I guess they are pukka. Anyway, thanks for the link, Anne, first off I'll see if I can borrow a copy from the Nuneaton Library, if not I'll know where to go.

Hi Rocksolid, If you go to the box top right hand side with a list of a few items, click on the link for Di Mascio, it takes you to a page with a picture if the booklet.

Am I correct in recalling the chimes were a distorted rendering of Greensleeves?

Hi, De-Di had several tunes. Island of Capri, was another that I remember.

Did he also use the Popeye tune, or was that a different vendor? That's the tune I remember hearing in the '70s.