Peduzzi's Soda and Lunch

The Peduzzi corner

The Mount Union Historic District documentation dates Peduzzi's and the neighboring Willer Building to 1913–14. The commercial block is distinguished by yellow brick, round-arched openings and Romanesque-inspired detailing. The storefront occupies a highly visible position in the traditional business district at Jefferson and Shirley streets.

The building itself preserves a question that written sources have not yet fully resolved. “PEDUZZI” appears prominently in the façade, but a cornerstone on the adjoining bay reads “CHAS. H. WILLER 1914.” The National Register material treats Peduzzi's and the Willer Building together. Until deeds, construction notices or early fire-insurance maps establish the exact ownership and building sequence, this page does not claim that T.C. Peduzzi commissioned or owned every portion of the combined structure.

Mary Lou Peduzzi, daughter of Carl and Josephine Peduzzi, provides a family account of the adjoining construction: the Willer building was built using bricks left over from the Peduzzi store. Her account was relayed by a contributor and adds a material connection between the two buildings; the deeds and exact construction arrangements remain to be traced. Source: family recollection.

The same account describes an exterior glass showcase on the second floor of the Shirley Street façade, between the large arched windows. The contributor reports that its former opening is now covered by fading plywood. An early photograph showing the showcase would help document this unusual storefront feature.

Antonio Ceresa “T.C.” Peduzzi: stonemason, contractor and confectioner

Historic-district research identifies T.C. Peduzzi, born in 1867, as an Italian stonemason who became a confectioner in Mount Union. Welch’s earlier biography gives his birth date as March 16, 1867, and his birthplace as Lombardy, Italy. His trade is independently reflected in local Catholic history: a 1912 construction contract with T.C. Peduzzi preceded the 1913 opening of St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church.

In Trisha Colyer's family-history article, T.C.'s birthplace is identified as Schignano, in the province of Como, Italy. The account says he spent five years in Switzerland, went to France in 1886 at age nineteen, spent four years there and reached the United States in 1890. It credits him with speaking French, Italian, Latin and English, and describes travels through thirty-one states and periods in Montana and Washington before he settled in Mount Union. Welch’s earlier biography (pp. 406–407) also reports five years in Switzerland, four in France and arrival in America in 1890, followed by time in Montana and Washington. This predates Colyer but may be the source of her account rather than an independent second recollection. Neither a passenger manifest nor a birth record confirming Schignano has yet been located. Colyer’s reference to Ellis Island in 1890 is anachronistic: the immigration station opened in 1892.

Colyer reports that T.C. came to Mount Union in 1906 as a mason foreman for Drake & Stratton Co., working on two railroad stone bridges spanning Jefferson and Division streets. He stayed after the work ended, attracted by the people, mountains and business opportunities. Welch gives April 10, 1906, as his arrival date and reports nine years with Drake & Stratton in total. That employment need not all have occurred in Mount Union; its start date remains unknown.

Antonio Ceresa Peduzzi, known in local accounts as T.C., and his wife Francesca Disolina Ceresa, detto Gat (1868–1945), known as Lena, were the parents of Carl Joseph Peduzzi, born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1904. Their full names are confirmed by the contributor, who supplied Lena's family-tree profile. Colyer gives their marriage year as 1889 and prints Lena's name as “Ceresa (Lena) Disolina.”

The first store and the family behind the counter

Welch's biography, p. 407, confirms that T.C. bought out Lusardi's confectionery in the Stratford building on Shirley Street and took possession on August 18, 1908. This is earlier corroboration of Colyer's reported year, though the original sale agreement has not been located.

A Mount Union Times advertisement dated August 21, 1908, signed T.C. Peduzzi, directly announces his purchase of H. Lusardi’s establishment opposite the post office. It advertises ice cream, soda water and confectionery, providing contemporary evidence of the purchase and the store’s early offerings.

Welch's description of the Stratford building, p. 531, identifies its owner as Dr. Thomas F. Stratford, who bought the former Methodist Episcopal parsonage from E.M. Beers and began remodeling in spring 1907. The resulting block had three store rooms and two flats. Peduzzi, Strauss & Willer and McClure occupied the shops; the Peduzzi family and John Dickson and his wife occupied the flats. This establishes Peduzzi and Strauss & Willer as fellow tenants before the later corner building.

Donaldson, p. 25, labels a circa-1950 photograph of Saxe's Annex as the Stratford Building and locates it at 28–30 W. Shirley Street. This supports Stratford and Saxe as names associated with the same building, rather than proof that the family moved between two early stores. The date of the Saxe name or ownership change is still unknown.

T.C. and Lena sold ice cream, confections, soda water, green goods and candies. One specialty was handmade solid chocolate with nuts, sold by the pound. This account supplies specific products missing from the later memories of the soda fountain and lunch counter.

The same clipping includes a band photograph whose caption places T.C. at the far left of the third row from the back. It recalls local businesses offering jobs to musicians to help bring them into town and into the band, while describing that practice as a recollection rather than a verified employment record.

A new confectionery and a home upstairs

According to Colyer, T.C. purchased the I.N. Taylor property at Shirley and Jefferson streets in 1912 and began building a confectionery with a residence above it. The family moved in on Memorial Day in 1914. Colyer also mentions the Luna theatre and other buildings. The contemporary Luna opening report establishes that the theatre was already open in December 1913, before the family's 1914 move; it should not be dated from the order of events in that later account.

A front-page advertisement on May 29, 1914, featuring T.C.’s portrait, announces that Peduzzi’s new building at Shirley and Jefferson would open on Memorial Day. It promotes modern equipment and promises carnations for the ladies and something for everyone on opening day. This contemporary announcement supports the opening chronology; Colyer separately supplies the family’s move-in recollection.

This account adds a family move-in date to the historic district's 1913–14 building chronology. It does not establish the ownership boundaries between the Peduzzi and adjoining Willer portions of the block. The clipping's headline also credits T.C. with building St. Catherine's Church; the church contract and opening are documented separately above. The separately supplied “Two projects” continuation adds the church contract date and a wedding that connected the new church directly to the family.

Building St. Catherine's, and a family wedding

The “Two projects” continuation of Colyer's article dates T.C.'s church-building contract to September 2, 1912. It describes a red-brick church with a slate roof, designed by architect J. Herbert Hall, and dedicated in 1913. Colyer notes that work on the church and the new confectionery apparently overlapped.

According to the article, the church's first wedding took place on September 10, 1913, between Fred Dughi and T.C.'s daughter Theresa Peduzzi. The marriage adds the Dughi family connection to the store photograph's identification of Theresa as Carl's sister.

The September 12, 1913, Mount Union Times independently reports the wedding on the preceding Wednesday morning at 9:30, calling it the first in the new Catholic church. Father Tolan officiated; the wedding dinner was held at the Beers Hotel, and a band serenaded the couple that afternoon.

T.C.’s August 10, 1917, obituary reports that he died on August 6 at the Windsor Hotel in Philadelphia, where he had been receiving medical care. His funeral was held at Mount Union’s Roman Catholic church and he was buried in Lewistown. It names Lena and their four children, with Guido, Carl and Josephine still at home. The obituary also dates his purchase of the I.N. Taylor property to August 1912 and identifies him as owner of the Luna and the adjoining buildings between the theatre and his store.

Family photographs and names

The additional photographs extend the family record beyond the store counter. The contributor has confirmed that the separate identification note belongs to the studio portrait shown below.

The supplied identification note lists the front row as Disolena Francesca Ceresa, Josephine Emma Peduzzi, Carl Joseph Peduzzi and Antonio Ceresa Peduzzi; the back row as Lena's brother Bartolomeo Ceresa, Guido Peduzzi and Theresa Peduzzi Dughi. The contributor confirms this note identifies the portrait. These fuller names supplement the newspaper caption, which uses Lena, Josephine and Theresa. The contributor has confirmed that Antonio Ceresa Peduzzi is the man known as T.C. and has corrected Lena’s full name to Francesca Disolina Ceresa, detto Gat. The original note remains available as supplied.

Signs and street views

The Luna Theatre: T.C. Peduzzi's playhouse

The December 5, 1913, Mount Union Times explicitly identifies T.C. Peduzzi as the Luna Theatre's owner and builder. It places the theatre on Jefferson Street, midway between Shirley and Market streets. The report says it opened on Monday evening—December 1, 1913—and describes a seating capacity exceeding 500.

The building offered both stage entertainment and moving pictures. The opening account describes a brick exterior, steel lining, steam heat, electric lighting, galleries and several exits. Its projection equipment was a new Powers 6 A moving-picture machine housed in what the newspaper described as a fireproof asbestos booth.

Opening night was interrupted by the Beers Hotel fire. Price & Butler were presenting the first play when the alarm drew the audience away; the newspaper says the crowd dispersed in less than three minutes. The fire was at the hotel, not a reported fire inside the Luna.

Helen T. Hollingshead's 1947 “Do You Remember?” column adds that the Mount Union Concert Band, directed by Peter Buys, appeared as a special attraction that night. The recollection identifies the theatre as later the property of A. Diamond, but gives no transfer date. Its estimate of “about 1912” for the fire is superseded by the contemporary December 1913 report.

According to Mary Lou Peduzzi’s family account, relayed by a contributor, the Luna Theatre stood directly behind the Peduzzi store that survives today. The theatre building was demolished, and G.C. Murphy’s was subsequently built on the site. Contemporary newspaper reports now place the redevelopment clearance in spring 1953, revising the contributor’s tentative recollection of a 1940s demolition. Source: family recollection.

The Daily News, April 17, 1953, reported that G.C. Murphy had purchased properties in 1951, including the Luna Theatre and the old post office, and planned to demolish them for its new store. The continuation on printed page 13 says A. Diamond had operated a store in the former theatre and that two small adjoining buildings owned by Carl J. Peduzzi would also be razed.

On April 22, 1953, the newspaper reported demolition of buildings on the site was in progress, with construction to follow. These reports place the clearance project in spring 1953; they do not specify the day the Luna building itself was taken down. Ritter Brothers of Harrisburg had received the contract for the new Murphy store. The theatre’s final performance and the date of its transfer to A. Diamond remain unresolved.

Guido and Carl: the next generation

Guido C. Peduzzi’s April 3, 1941, obituary reports his birth in Schignano, Como, on October 9, 1896, and death in Harrisburg on March 31, 1941. It describes childhood moves through Braddock and Youngstown before Mount Union, service in the Army Medical Corps during World War I, and many years in the confectionery and ice cream business. He had lately operated Guido’s Dairy Lunch Store on Shirley Street. His original takeover date remains unknown.

Carl Joseph “Spug” Peduzzi

Carl was born May 12, 1904, and graduated from Mount Union High School in 1922. His obituary credited him with setting a Mount Union League basketball scoring record that stood for thirty-nine years. A 1923 school newspaper also described him as an accomplished saxophonist who returned to perform with his former Mount Union music teacher.

At Gettysburg College, Carl became known as “Spug.” A contemporary fraternity publication reported that he captained the Orange and Blue basketball team during his junior year and helped produce the program's longest winning streak in years. After graduating in 1927, he began operating the Majestic Soda Grill in Gettysburg. A June 28 announcement scheduled its opening for noon the following day, June 29, in the new Hotel Gettysburg addition on Carlisle Street, beside the Majestic Theatre's lobby. The grill had entrances from both the street and theatre lobby, booths and tables, a dark-marble-finish soda fountain and mahogany-finished furnishings. A September 27 advertisement names Carl as manager and advertises Crane's ice cream, candies and tobacco products. These descriptions concern his Gettysburg business, not the Mount Union store. He joined the Hotel Gettysburg in 1928 and was its assistant manager by 1937.

The March 9, 1937, Gettysburg Times reported that Carl had purchased the Mount Union confectionery operated by his brother Guido and would take possession on April 1. He planned to leave Gettysburg on March 16 and live with his mother, Lena, in Mount Union. On April 1, 1937, Carl became proprietor of Peduzzi's Confectionery Store. He continued to operate the soda fountain and lunch counter for the remainder of his life, making him the public face of Peduzzi's for more than fifty-four years.

Family ties beyond the store

A May 26, 1938, report connects Lena to her daughter Josephine Peduzzi Natale and son-in-law Louie Natale in Baltimore. It describes the Natales’ trip to Italy to visit relatives near Rome and in northern Italy; Lena had returned to Mount Union after visiting them in Baltimore.

A May 16, 1952, birthday-party report recalls Carl and I. Newton Taylor as lifelong friends and childhood neighbors on Shirley Street. Both graduated in Mount Union’s class of 1922 and played on its championship basketball team. Their wives arranged joint birthday celebrations, continuing a friendship that began with shared birthday cakes as boys.

A counter at the center of town

Community accounts remember Peduzzi's as a gathering place for plant workers, students and downtown shoppers. That description fits the store's location and long operation, but a complete set of menus, advertisements and interior photographs has not yet been located. Colyer's article provides an early product list, including ice cream and handmade nut chocolate, while later menus and customer traditions still need fuller documentation.

Donaldson's history identifies a circa-1920 view with the name “The Candy Land” and reports that Carl and family operated the restaurant until it closed in 1991. It gives no precise closing day or evidence of trading after Carl's death. The storefront's physical survival is unusually evocative. The tiled name at the entrance, upper-façade lettering and vintage Coca-Cola sign preserve the appearance of a small-town refreshment counter even after the period in which such establishments anchored American downtowns.

Businessman and civic leader

Carl's community service extended far beyond the lunch counter. He was an honorary member of the Mount Union Fire Company, a charter member of the Mount Union Lions Club, a Chamber of Commerce member and chairman of the board of directors of Penn Central National Bank's Mount Union branch. He belonged to St. Catherine's Roman Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus, whose local council named him Citizen of the Year in 1985.

On March 28, 1989, historian Margaret Mulrooney interviewed Carl in Mount Union for the federal Historic American Buildings Survey study of south-central Pennsylvania's refractory company towns. The published report lists the interview but does not reproduce a transcript. The project report says research notes and photographs were deposited at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Its MG 74, America's Industrial Heritage Project finding aid, lists related HABS written files in Series A, Subseries II, Box 6, folders 4 (PA-5973) and 5 (PA-5974). These are leads to the project files, not confirmed locations of Carl's recording or transcript. The catalog does not identify his interview separately. IUP Special Collections can check for the March 28, 1989 interview by Margaret Mulrooney and any associated notes, audio or transcript.

Carl died August 4, 1991, at age eighty-seven and was buried in St. Catherine's Cemetery in Shirleysburg. The Huntingdon County Sports Hall of Fame inducted him with its inaugural class in 1998, recognizing the athletic career that preceded his decades behind the family counter.

Timeline

• March 16, 1867: T.C. is born in Lombardy, according to Welch.
• 1889: T.C. and Lena marry, according to Colyer.
• May 12, 1904: Carl Joseph Peduzzi is born in Youngstown, Ohio.
• April 10, 1906: Welch dates T.C.'s arrival in Mount Union as a railroad mason foreman.
• August 18, 1908: T.C. takes possession of Lusardi's confectionery in the Stratford building, according to Welch.
• 1910: Family photograph in the store identified by its caption as the Saxe building.
• 1912: Colyer reports the purchase of the I.N. Taylor property for the new confectionery and residence.
• September 2, 1912: Colyer dates T.C.'s contract to build St. Catherine's Church to this day; the church is dedicated in 1913.
• September 10, 1913: Theresa Peduzzi and Fred Dughi marry in what Colyer identifies as the church's first wedding.
• December 1, 1913: The Luna Theatre opens on Jefferson Street; its first performance is interrupted by the Beers Hotel fire.
• 1913–14: National Register documentation dates Peduzzi's and the Willer Building.
• Memorial Day, 1914: The family moves into the new building, according to Colyer.
• 1922: Carl graduates from Mount Union High School.
• 1923: Carl is documented performing locally as a saxophonist while attending Gettysburg.
• 1927: Carl graduates from Gettysburg College; a June 28 notice announces his Majestic Soda Grill's opening for June 29 at noon. A September advertisement confirms his management.
• 1928: Carl becomes associated with the Hotel Gettysburg.
• April 1, 1937: Carl takes possession of the confectionery previously operated by Guido.
• 1985: The local Knights of Columbus names Carl Citizen of the Year.
• March 28, 1989: Carl gives an oral-history interview to federal historians.
• August 4, 1991: Carl dies at age eighty-seven.
• 1994: The Mount Union Historic District is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
• 1998: Carl enters the Huntingdon County Sports Hall of Fame.