Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2022/Fall/Section087/Mr. Antipodes

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Immigrants at Ellis Island

Biography[edit | edit source]

Personal Life[edit | edit source]

Mr. Antipodes was a Greek man who came to America in 1892. In his interview, he never mentioned his first name or birthday. When Mr. Antipodes came to America, he was about twelve years old. He arrived with another man, who was a little older. Mr. Antipodes moved from Amalias, Greece to New York. After about a month, he then went to Savannah, Georgia and took a train to Atlanta, where he lived at the time of his interview. Mr. Antipodes had a brother, who first came to Atlanta with him. He also had a wife and five children. Mr. Antipodes went back to Greece one time to get married to his wife, a girl in his neighborhood. He then came back to America. His family stayed in Greece until his brother brought them over to Atlanta. His children were aged 25, 24, 21, 19, and 18 at the time of his interview.[1]

Professional Life[edit | edit source]

Mr. Antipodes had done many odd jobs as he made a living. First he sold fruits. He worked six to eight months just making a single dollar per week. Later, Mr. Antipodes was briefly on the governor's staff. He then got into the ice cream business, owning an ice cream plant. This plant was one of the biggest of its kind in Atlanta.[1]

Social Context[edit | edit source]

Greek Immigration[edit | edit source]

The United States saw an immense increase of Greek immigration between 1890 and 1921. Around 421,000 Greeks immigrated, mostly men. The majority of these Greeks settled in the East Coast and the midwest.[2] The reason for this influx of immigrants was labor. Cheap labor was in demand and many immigrants took advantage of the job openings. However, many of these jobs had poor working conditions. Greeks faced poverty and racism in their jobs, however they continued to work, not getting the same opportunity in Greece.[3]

Ice Cream During the Great Depression[edit | edit source]

While Prohibition was in effect, the ice cream business was booming. Money that Americans would normally spend on alcohol, like beer, was now being spent on a cold treat. After the end of Prohibition, ice cream sales competed with alcohol. For a while, alcohol won and ice cream sales decreased. In order to bring the money back, sellers learned the art of marketing. Advertisements popped up, showing ice cream with fruit to coincide with dieting. The marketing also catered towards children, with soda fountains offering candy and ice cream. Finally, sellers offered ice cream at a discounted price. This really drew in buyers and solidified the trade yet again.[4]


Footnotes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Folder 269: No Author: Not a Life Story :: Federal Writers Project Papers". dc.lib.unc.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  2. ↑ "The History of Greek Immigration to America – Hellenic American Project". Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  3. ↑ Pappas, Mitcho (1950-01-01). "Greek immigrant in the United States since 1910". Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5342. 
  4. ↑ "Ice Cream During the Depression". UC Press Blog. Retrieved 2022-10-26.

References[edit | edit source]

Pappas, Mitcho S., "Greek immigrant in the United States since 1910" (1950). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5342. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5342

“The History of Greek Immigration to America.” Hellenic American Project, n.d. https://hapsoc.org/greeks-in-america/.

Quinzio, Jeri. “Ice Cream During the Depression,” February 23, 2009. https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/133/ice-cream-during-the-depression/.

Joan Daouli, Michael Demoussis, Nicholas Giannakopoulos, and Nikolitsa Lambropoulou. “The ins and outs of Greek unemployment in the Great Depression,” May 1, 2015. Munich Personal RePEc Archive. 66299 https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/66299/1/MPRA_paper_66299.pdf

Moskos, P.C., Moskos, C.C., & Dukakis, M. (2014). Greek Americans: Struggle and Success (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203790441

Interview, on Mr. Antipodes, Folder 269, Federal Writing Project Papers, Southern Historical Collection, UNC Chapel Hill.

Bain News Service, publisher - Library of Congress Catalog: https://lccn.loc.gov/2014719586

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