Preservation of American Hellenic History
Preservation of American Hellenic History
by Jason C. Mavrovitis
These young, immigrant men from the mountains of Greece who without shoes on their feet had lived on village farms became impeccably well-groomed New York men-about-town. Their appearance was remarkable. They turned out in the latest fashions with crisply ironed suits, elegant cravats, highly polished shoes, and straw or felt hats as the season required.
A photograph of Jimmy with a friend in 1925, and photograph of Jimmy with young men from Kastoria in Central Park in 1923, are good examples of the importance the young men placed on their appearance.
Jimmy followed a path that elevated his social and cultural life beyond anything he might have imagined as a boy. He pursued knowledge as best he could independently and gained the respect of his peers and community. He was young, successful and vain enough about his good looks to have had portrait photographs taken almost every year, like a photograph taken in 1917 and a photograph taken in 1924. One cannot help but wonder to whom, other than his mother and family, these portraits were given.
Jimmy's triumph was a Valentino look-a-like black and white portrait photograph. In black tie, holding an ebony cigarette holder with smoke rising from its cigarette, Jimmy strikes the pose of a Manhattan sophisticate.
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