My early days in Rock Falls, Illinois

When I was growing up, starting in the mid-50s, we lived in Rock Falls, Illinois. My dad worked at "the Mill". You heard that alot. Lots of people in the area worked there. During its heyday, Northwestern Steel and Wire Company was the 14th largest steel mill in the country. That was when all the giant steel companies were in business - Pittsburgh Steel, U.S. Steel, the big factories in Chicago, Gary, Birmingham. Steel was right up there with the car industry. Back then they actually used steel to make cars!

There were other factories right down there alongside the Mill - National Manufacturing, Illinois Forge, Lawrence Brothers, and across the river (Rock River) there was RB&W, and even an International Harvester plant. Most men in town, if they didn't work at the Mill, probably worked at one of the other factories in town. The economy was really, really good, and the wages were good, especially if you worked at the Mill. The United Steelworkers kept the steelworkers' wages high and the other factories kept their workers' wages high also to compete.

The local economy was solid. Everyone benefited. Most stores were locally owned. There were no Wal-Marts, no Home Depots. We had Piggly Wiggly, A&P, National Tea, and many mom & pop corner stores. It wasn't until the late 70s or into the 80s that McDonald's came along. We had Dog 'n' Suds, Prince Castles, and lots of independent root beers stands, cafes, and restaurants.

We also had some of the best pizza and spaghetti that I've ever had. Angelo's Pizza started in Rock Falls in a little cement block building, less than a mile across the bridge from the Mill. My dad and my uncle John would take me over to "Ma Arduini's". They'd sit me on a stool and buy me a Coke to drink while they played the pinball machine. Later, that place became Angelo's. Local families would show up with big empty pots to buy spaghetti to take home, along with loaves of their special homemade bread. Pizza was actually a pretty new thing back then. And no, it wasn't "Chicago-style, or deep dish", but the crust was made right there; the cheese was from Walnut Cheese and their sausage was the best damned sausage I've ever had.

I remember lots of Italian names when I was growing up - Sperroni, Tintorri, Arduini... There were families that had small truck farms around town and on the outskirts, and they grew tomatoes, mostly. If you didn't grow your own tomatoes to can, in the fall you could go buy bushels of tomatoes to put up in Mason jars to keep your family going through the winter. My mom did that, along with my grandmothers and my aunts. Across the street from us lived a woman who had grown up in an Italian family, and she taught my mom how to cook some really great Italian food - you've never had homemade ravioli like they used to make!