In 1926, 16-year-old Onorato Piccolin came to America from Falcade, province of Buluno, region of Veneto, Italy.  He arrived at Ellis Island, settling in the Kensington section of Chicago. A blacksmith in the old country, he eventually found work in Gary, Indiana, at the steel mills. Many of you share this same story. A father, a mother, coming to Chicago, perhaps knowing some relatives who were already here, perhaps not.

Starting a life, a family.  Everyone worked hard and contributed in this family of two daughters, Mary Jane and Nella. Nella started in the hair business sweeping up and then moving to hair design at the age of 16, working hard first at Joseph’s and then owning her own shop, Nella’s Hair Fashions, in Chicago’s Far South Side Roseland neighborhood.