Joseph W. Dumire
Nicola (Nick) DiMaio was born 2/23/1883 in Campo DiPietro, Sondrio, Lombardi, Italy to Guiseppe DiMaio and Maria Rosa DePaolo (DePollo) and, emigrated to the United States in 1899 at aged 16 and came to Thomas, WV. Upon arrival in Thomas young Nick DiMaio took up residence in a local boarding house owned and operated by his future in-laws Nicola and Antonio and Carmella Peccone who came to Thomas from Pittsburgh, PA to operate a boarding house in this vibrant community. Nick knew no English when he arrived in Thomas, so he wore a tag on his jacket which gave his destination. This was a common practice for emigrants arriving in the United States. It was Nick’s good fortune to be on the same train going to Thomas as Dr. Joseph J. Miller, a company doctor for Davis Coal & Coke Co. It is not clear whether this was Dr. Miller’s first trip to Thomas. Young Nick became a naturalized United States Citizen on June 14, 1904, at Tucker County, WV, just 5 years after his arrival in the United States.
Nick married Philippine DePollo who was born in Pittsburgh, PA and to this union Nick and Philippine were blessed with three daughters: Mary Rose DiMaio 7/27/1922 – 8/20/1959; Loretta J. DiMaio 9/7/1940 – 5/12/2019 and, Carmela Anna DiMaio Baldwin -11/19/1935, who is still living. On 4/27/1942 Nick was drafted into the United States military for service during WW II. His physical appearance was described as 5’4” tall, 108 lbs. in weight, blue eyes and brown hair with a dark complexion. Many new emigrants to the United States and Thomas, WV proudly served their new country in the military as was common during this time in history.
Early on Nick worked at the coke ovens and delivered groceries via horse and buggy to people in Thomas and the surrounding area. Years later he told his family about his good friend John who was invaluable in making those deliveries – John was the horse.
Nick DiMaio proudly posing in his new store in 1913
Nick’s Confectionery opened in 1912 and closed in 1953 and was first located on East Avenue (Front Street) a couple doors down from the Imperial Hotel and Schilansky’s Butcher Shop, and next to Mike Ferruso’s Butcher Shop. A dated family photo shows Nick in front of his confectioneries’ original location during 1913. Nick’s daughter Ann notes that the confectionery operated a total of forty-one years before closing. Nick and his family lived in the upstairs apartment. This structure had also been occupied by Mura Cooper’s restaurant and Jack Grecco’s bar.
The tornado of 1954 damaged the roof of the confectionery store, so Nick moved the store further down the street to Rocco Benedetto’s building which has always been known as “The Flats.” There was a bowling alley on the left side of the building and Nick occupied the right side. Also, at this time Nick purchased a house on Brown Street in Thomas and moved his family there.
Nick started out selling peanuts in the shell, thus giving him the nickname of “Nick the Peanut Man” for the 41 years he happily served the people of the Thomas area. After the tornado of 1954, in addition to outgrowing the space he had at the time he moved into the Benedetto building (“the Flats”) in the space down the street later occupied by Coffman’s Department Store. It is known that he was occupying the larger store in November 1940. In this store he had a soda fountain and sold penny candy, candy bars, gift-boxed candy, a huge block of milk chocolate that was sold by breaking it up with an ice pick and weighing it, stationery, school supplies, cigars, cigarettes, snuff, chewing tobacco, bottles of RC cola, Nehi soda pop, Coca Cola, etc. The Imperial Ice Cream Company of Oakland, Maryland made frequent deliveries of pint and quarts of ice cream, popsicles, fudgsicles, Imps, bulk ice cream for ice cream cones, ice cream sodas, milkshakes and sundaes of every conceivable combination with chocolate nut-marshmallow-butterscotch being a customer favorite.
A snapshot of the DiMaio family on New Year’s Day 1946. Top left is Nick and his wife Philippine, daughter Mary Rose in front of Philippine and daughters Loretta and Carmela Anna (L to R) in front. Friends Nick and Tony DePollo are top right in the photo.
The milk for milkshakes was delivered fresh from the Teets family farm near Silver Lake in Preston County, West Virginia. The store was a meeting place, like the Varsity, for young people who enjoyed the jukebox and dance floor that was surrounded by booths. It was a very popular place in the mide-1940’s when the U.S. Army sent some of its young soldiers for training in the rough terrain in the surrounding area. The soldiers found Nick’s place a welcome spot to relax. Nick, along with most townspeople, adopted these young men who were far from their own families.
Nick DiMaio in front of his store in July 1942
During his 41 years in Business, Nick was fortunate to have many conscientious young men and women as employees. Among those were his wife Philippine, Robert Mlekush, Fred and Willie Suder, Helen Lochiner Black, Marguerite and John Lochiner, Helen Bullick, Louise DePollo Genantonio, Ann Rose Colabrese, Sue Yeager, Sharon Yeager Ponikvar, JoAnne Lencek, Carl Coleman and his daughter Ann, at least she claims she was working.
The one thing in Nick’s place that made it unique was the gas powered peanut roasting machine that was placed close to the entrance. Huge burlap bags of peanuts were delivered by truck daily. Nick lit the gas operated machine and roasted the raw peanuts in the shell. The smell wafted from the store into the street drawing customers inside. These hot peanuts were then sold in 5 cent and 10 cent bags, or by the pound happily munching. When Nick retired and closed the confectionery, he sold the peanut roaster to John and Mary DiBacco who owned the Varsity Restaurant. The roasting machine was last in the ownership of John and Mary DiBacco’s son Paul who lived in Elkins, WV. Like other merchants, Nick swept his store and then the sidewalk in front daily. The only difference was that there were more shells closer to Nick’s Confectionery.
During WW II Hershey chocolate syrup was considerably rationed and Nick could not get the quantity of syrup necessary to operate his soda fountain. However, he was allotted sugar and cocoa to make his own syrup. This he did, concocting a recipe by hit and miss and cooking it in the copper pot on a burner in the storeroom in the back.
It has been related to the family that after the war when he was again able to get a regular supply of Hershey syrup, most of his customers told him they had become so accustomed to his own syrup, they requested he continue to make his own brew.
During some holiday seasons, for example, Easter and Memorial Day, Nick would buy potted plants such as geraniums, lilies, and hyacinths from Weber’s Florist in Oakland, MD. He would line them up on the floor in front of the showcase to be admired, purchased and put in homes or on graves.
Nick loved flowers and plants, and geraniums were his favorite. One area behind his storefront window was loaded with penny candy and the opposite area housed his beloved ferns. He talked to his plants long before it was the fashionable thing to do.
Nick retired in July 1953, and a huge surprise party was given by the businessmen of Thomas with a host of well-wishers and friends. Persons of every age, nationality and creed gathered the confectionery on East Avenue where they made and listened to laudatory speeches, consumed gallons of ice cream and coke which were donated by local businesses, then went home with a satisfied feeling they had at least partly plumbed the depth of their feeling for the man who served them for forty-one years. Coming from his native Italy in 1899 Nick DiMaio proved himself to be the finest type of citizen.
Nick DiMaio in his later years
In 1973 Joyce Pase Ashby described Nicola DiMaio as “a beautiful, warm person, so gentle and Kind. No child left Nick’s Confectionery empty handed whether they had a dime or nickel or not. No one looked through his window in vain. He had a very beautiful accent”.
In 1947 J. H. Patterson (teacher, principal, district superintendent) noted of Nick DiMaio: “For Twenty years Nick DiMaio, one of nature’s noblemen, at considerable inconvenience to himself, supplied the school with goods the sale of which, taken with the proceeds of school plays, bought seven pianos and hundreds of books for the library and all the little things no school should do without but cannot buy. He was and is one of the best friends the school has ever had. He is too modest to like this, but it is.”
Of further note, for many of Nick’s years as a Thomas businessman, at the graduation of students from St. Thomas Parochial School, Thomas Grade School and Thomas High School, Nick gave each graduate a silver dollar. The family has been told that some of those graduates held onto those silver dollars as a memento. Also, when Nick heard music he particularly liked on the radio, he gave the school’s band director money to buy sheet music.
Nick DiMaio, devoted husband, father and friend to many passed away on September 17, 1964, at the age of eighty-one. At the funeral mass, Rev. Father Francis Spiller said, “I knew this man for 30 years and never did I once hear him say a word that brings ruin on another’s character, I knew the man.” Nick DiMaio’s life was one well lived. Nick’s wife Philippine who was born May 29, 1902, passed away on 12/16/1987 at age 85. Both are buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery at Thomas
The author thanks Ann DiMaio Baldwin for providing the photos and associated information used in this article. Other nformation sources: Ancestry.com; Notes of Russell Cooper; Discussion with Ann DiMaio Baldwin, & family records; Thomas, WV 1906 by Trevy Nutter; Naturalization Records of Tucker County, WV 1856 – 1954 by Agnes A. Ferruso 1995 (Agnes was employed by the Library of Congress).
This article appeared in the January 2024 edition of the Tucker County Historical Society quarterly newsletter. The TCHS is a tax-exempt non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It meets monthly in Parsons with membership open to anyone for annual dues of $10 mailed to PO Box 13, Hambleton, WV 26269.