Long-time Burnaby resident Ray Culos has written Vancouver’s Shoeshine Boys about Italian immigrants shining shoes in downtown Vancouver.

Q: How long have you lived in Burnaby?

A: 48 years. During the early years i.e. 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, I served two, six-year terms on the Burnaby Library Board and three years on the Burnaby Hospital Board. I also was a member of the Information Burnaby Community and in 1976 ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Burnaby school board.

Q: When did you/your family come to Canada? From where, specifically?

A: My father, Marino Culos, arrived in Vancouver from Italy with his mother and siblings at age 6 in 1910. My mother also arrived in Vancouver in 1910. She was born in Joliet, Ill., and was 40 days old when she arrived here with her parents. I was born in Vancouver in 1936.

Q: What is the focus of this book?

A: To pay tribute to the Italian immigrants and their descendents who pioneered the shoeshine parlour business in downtown Vancouver circa 1906 to 1986.

Q: Why was this book an important story to tell?

A: The story relates to the incredible and laudable work ethic of Italian immigrants. They were prepared to accept any type of employment that would ensure that they could support themselves and their families—without having to ask or receive assistance.

The shoeshine business flourished during the days when men dressed in suits, shirts and ties for most occasions. The dress code always included clean and polished leather dress shoes. This was the era that existed prior to the introduction of casual clothes, Adidas, Hush Puppies and running shoes. When this formal dress code was relaxed in the decades of the ’60s and ’70s, shoeshine boys no longer were required in large numbers.

In 1950, there likely were 20 shoeshine parlours, the owners of which employed an estimated 100 shoeshine boys who worked part time after school and during summer holidays in downtown Vancouver.

Italians who came to Canada sought a dream. They were determined, if you like, to find opportunity in Canada not available to them in Italy. One result of their hard work and diligence relates to the success achieved by their children; the first generation Canadians of their families. Of the shoe shine boys mentioned in the story two became principals of secondary schools, one an accountant, one a writer, another a musician with the Vancouver Symphony, there many entrepreneurs, and a very successful dentist.

Q: What’s one of your favourite stories/anecdotes from the book?

A: The story of Dominic Ciarniello, the immigrant kid who shined shoes with his father and grandfather to pay his university tuition. He eventually became a successful dentist. Also Fred Minichiello, who was a street smart shoeshine kid who grew a wholesale jewelry business into one of the largest of its kind in Vancouver.

Q: What might surprise readers to learn from your book?

A: The social history of Italians struggling for a part of the Canadian dream especially during the 1930s and 1940s. Also the reader gains an insight as to what a livable part of the downtown district—Main and Hastings to Granville and Robson—actually was before it deteriorated to its present state.

Q: Is the book chiefly for people of Italian descent, or would others enjoy it too?

A: This story has broad appeal. It’s the story of the immigrant’s struggle during difficult times in Canada. Anyone who immigrated from a non-English speaking country can identify.with the story. It’s a social history that introduces facts that many Canadian may not be familiar with including the internment of Italians under the provisions of the War Measures Act (1939).

Q: Where is it available?

A: From Ray Culos (rayculos@shaw.ca); Sophia Books, Hastings at Richards; People’s Co-op, 1391 Commercial Drive; and the Italian Cultural Centre, 3075 Slocan St., Vancouver.