As Anthony P. Giunta Sr. lay in a hospital bed in the winter of 1980, he told his son Anthony Jr. that a shipment of pasta machines and parts from Italy was due to arrive at the family store.
Giunta laid out very specific instructions for his son: Open the boxes and make sure the shipment checked out.
Ever the obedient, respectful son, Anthony Jr. returned to Giunta Brothers at 11th and Christian streets and followed his father’s orders.
"My father being from the old school, he was the boss. It was his way or no way. But I benefited from that," recalls Anthony Jr., 73.
The next day, he reported back to his pop that everything had arrived safe and sound. So the elder Giunta told his son to go to the bank and send payment to the shipper in Italy.
This time, Anthony Jr. felt he had to speak up.
Payment wasn’t due for at least 30 days. Why send it so quickly?
When Anthony Jr. got to the bank, he repeated his father’s answer to a teller who asked him the same question.
"He got what he wanted [the shipment], so he wanted to pay upfront — not wait. To me, he died the way he lived — an honest man. He had his ways and I respect him for that," says Anthony Jr.
He returned to his father’s bedside that evening and said payment was on its way across the Atlantic.
Anthony Sr. replied, "Now I’m happy." A couple weeks later, the 92-year-old founder of Pasquale Giunta Sons died.
In 1915, Anthony P. Giunta, a native of Spadafora, Sicily, opened a household gadget and machinery shop in Bella Vista. He named his store out of respect for his late father, Pasquale Giunta, who opened a grocery store in 1898 at Ninth and League streets.
In later years, the name would be changed to Giunta Brothers. The store specialized in wine presses, wine crushers and other nifty one-of-a-kind gadgets like pizzelle irons. But the machine that Giunta Brothers was perhaps most famous for was the Regina Macaroni Machine, invented by Anthony Jr.’s father.
After years of experimentation, Giunta Sr. designed the machine. The "Regina" trademark is registered in the patent offices of the United States, Canada and Rome.
"[Anthony Sr.] was in the store until the end. He was very knowledgeable and friendly," says his son. "Thank God he left a beautiful reputation. Everybody who comes in has the highest respect for him."
Later this month, the legendary Giunta Brothers will close its doors for good on account of Anthony Jr.’s health, he reveals.
"I don’t have the energy or the stamina. Now, after a few hours, I get tired," he says.
At the beginning of this year, Giunta spent almost two months at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Rita, his wife of 46 years, visited him in the hospital every day and tended to the store. He says he is forever grateful for her steadfastness and loyalty.
"I saw the handwriting on the wall, so we didn’t overstock. We bought less merchandise," he says.
Nobody can believe Giunta Brothers is closing, most of all the only son of its founder.
"I am sorry. And I have a lot of memories here. Ever since we put a sign up saying we are closing, people have been saying, ‘You can’t be closing.’"
Giunta admits he gets a little more depressed when these same customers tell him they can remember coming into the store with their fathers and grandfathers.
After all, Giunta Brothers is a Philly institution. Just ask Kevin J. Definis, a Newtown, Bucks County antiques dealer and longtime customer of Giunta’s.
"This is a 100-year institution. It’s amazing how many people in Newtown know Giunta Brothers. He has a 100-year name in South Philly. You can’t buy that," he says.
At one point, Definis said he considered taking over the store just to keep the Giunta name alive. But doing so would have meant uprooting his established business and home in Bucks County. Definis, a former Philadelphia Inquirer photographer, purchased much of the store merchandise and facilities.
Unfortunately, no one in Giunta’s immediate family is able to assume ownership of the store.
Giunta explains that his sister Angela lives in Springfield, and his only grandson is just 13. As for Giunta’s children, his son lives and works in Manhattan and loves it too much to leave. One of his two daughters lives in Virginia; the other is a schoolteacher who lives in South Philly and often helps out in the store.
Giunta was born and raised in South Philly. He and his sister lived with their parents above Giunta Brothers until Anthony Jr. married in 1956 and the newlyweds moved several doors down from the store. He and Rita still live in the same house.
He attended St. Joe’s Preparatory High and St. Joseph’s University. After graduating from college in 1951, Giunta went to work in his father’s store. ‘This is the only job I have ever had. This has been my whole life," he says proudly.
If he didn’t work alongside his father for 30 years, he would never have learned Italian, he explains. Giunta Sr. spoke to his Italian customers in their native tongue, recalls his son. Today, when older-generation Italians patronize his store, Giunta is able to converse with them.
Much of the stock at Giunta Brothers has been reduced to prepare for the imminent closing. One of the store’s remaining treasures is an old-style cash register from the 1890s. Giunta is trying to sell the thing that he was once told is worth in the neighborhood of $2,500.
To endure close to 100 years is a tremendous feat for any shop, and Giunta is doing his best to make the passage more sweet than bitter.
"I thank all our customers who kept us in business. We were blessed that we had all good customers who came back and told other people about us," he says. "That’s a happy feeling. The sad feeling is that after all these years, it has to be done. I just pray to God that I’m able to enjoy my health and wife and family. Because that’s what life is all about."
