Carmazzie's Fruit Store in Urbana, Ohio photograph   Save
Ohio Guide Collection
Description: Dated ca. 1935-1940, this photograph shows Carmassie's Fruit Store in Urbana, Ohio. A popcorn machine sits outside next to the storefront window in which advertisements hang for fireworks and Philip Morris tobacco products. Carmazzie's Fruit store was opened in 1893 by Sam Bainchi. It was named Bainchi Fruit Store until 1931 when Frank Carmazzie and Sam Bainchi's niece took over the operations. Generations of families have bought candy in this small store in the oldest building in Urbana. The store is located in downtown Urbana on Monument Square. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F09_001
Subjects: Storefronts; Grocery stores; Urbana (Ohio); Advertisements
Places: Urbana (Ohio) Champaign County (ohio)