by Pat Nardo

Once upon a time, growing up in little Italy in Boston, there was a song that was so appropriate to the good humor of the Italian/American  community. You could hear it almost any day on the radio and it did not appear to be offensive, but amusing to those around us in the neighborhood of East Boston. The term, “politically correct” had not been coined yet and people were able to readily laugh at one another without analyzing or being critical. The song was about a little Italian grocer who was losing patience with a shopper, presumably a lady, because back then, mostly only the women went shopping while the men went off to whatever work they could find. Times were hard then and when you heard the song, it brought cheer into the living room. You could picture this finicky lady pinching and poking at the sensitive fruits and vegetables with not a real intention to make a purchase.

Here’s the audio of a recording of the song by Louis Prima, so click the “Play” button now and listen as you read on:

We made fun of the elders when we heard them say, “Hey whatsamattayou!”, hoping they would not hear us mocking them. Well, the years have passed and recently we came upon a gentleman, Bo Colello, who really personifies the Italian grocer in the song that still lingers in a corner of my heart. We came upon his vegetable and fruit stand along Des Moines Memorial Drive about two years ago, on the way to somewhere else; the same way that we “discovered” Des Moines back in 1960-something. Along the road, as you approached the fruit and vegetable stand a crude sign announces your destination is now! We were greeted with an array of agricultural jewelry like nothing we had seen in any grocery store; all hand picked, packed and arranged so that you had a feeling of being in a time warp.

This is where we met Bo, the proud proprietor of “Bo Colello’s Produce,” and we were immediately old friends! This was reminiscent of the Saturday farmer’s market in East Boston where you could buy a pair of shoes, a goat, some cheese or an arm-load of tomatoes all in the same open street market. “Here, try this!” could be heard from one peddler or another as a slice of fruit or watermelon was being hawked. There was even popcorn and cookies, sugar cookies that my grandfather’s two cents would buy and give to me. It was this friendly atmosphere that was being replicated as we visited with Bo.

As we were finished shopping and bagging for the journey home, we asked the price of all our hoard:

“Five dollars and twenty cents” he responded; then:

“Ah, what the heck! Gimme five-even!”

This is so typical of “The good old days” and Bo keeps the memory alive and vividly clear. Somehow I missed hearing the warning, as we were leaving, “Don’t take a short cut behind the horses!” Back then you did not go behind any horse in the market!

Bo Colello finally puts a face to the grocer in the old ballad and now that his stand has been re-built, having been flattened in a wintry windstorm, it will be on our regular shopping list.

A journey to this independent grocer, located at 19616 Des Moines Memorial Drive, is truly for the generation that we belong to and remember as an unequalled visit to a time long gone, and for many, forgotten. Easy going and friendly just about covers your experience with Bo, the green grocer who offers you a sun ripened, juicy watermelon, while you also taste a delicious slice of yesteryear, and as we drive away with our beans and sweet corn, we can hear the final words to the old song…

Please-AH IF-ah you must-ah squeez-ah; squeeze-ah da coconut!

Sadly, I have forgotten all the words in between.