Omaha Exploration

Sam Monaco was born in Omaha in 1914. Returned to his parents native Carlentini, Sicily around 1920 when he was six years old. He came back to his hometown in Omaha in 1932 at the age of 18. He was peddling oranges on the streets when he decided to return to his hometown. By that time he had forgotten all of the English he learned in his youth. He quickly found work for fruit dealer John Rosso. Sam eventually became a partner in the business before taking it over when John retired in 1948.

Joe Vitale, meanwhile, was born in Omaha in 1919 and began working in the City Market at seven years old in 1926. He served in World War II where he took part in the Battle of St. Lo, a key victory of the Nazis. One third of those involved suffered serious injury or death. Joe suffered shell shock and returned to England. After the war he returned to Omaha and the familiar market. He began working with Morris Roitstein, a vendor who operated a stand in the open-air City Market at 11th and Jackson Streets.

The City Market at 11th and Jackson was formally organized in 1903. In those days it was mostly Italians, Jews and Syrians that operated stalls that were seven feet wide beneath a canopy. Most of the produce came from local farmers from East Omaha, Florence and Iowa. The farmers arrived when it was still dark to sell their produce including. When the wholesalers didn’t have enough locally, they would drive to Kansas City or Minneapolis and drive back the same day using blocks of ice to keep it fresh.

In the winters they sold Christmas trees while cutting steel drums in half to burn fires to keep warm. Later the drums were replaced with little shacks that were constructed in the back of the stalls. In the spring they sold plants. They arrived by 2 o’clock every morning to get their pick of the produce. Grocers arrived between five and six o’clock and purchased produce and proceed to deliver it to the neighborhood grocery stores for sale to its customers.

The volume of business proved to to be too much for Sam to handle alone so he offered his longtime friend, Joe, a partnership in the business around 1963 at which point they moved to the southeast corner of 11th and Howard – the best location of any of the produce dealers. By that time they had three trucks and delivered all over town.

The expansion of Eppley Airfield killed many of the gardening plots in East Omaha while the prevalence of supermarket chains which bought produce from everywhere, not just locally, caused many of the wholesalers in the area to close starting in the 1960s. The number of gardeners renting stalls dropped from 50 to six in 1963. In 1964 the land on the northeast corner of 11th and Jackson that comprised the City Market was sold to Bernard Weiss who operated two downtown parking lots. The stalls and the overhead steel canopies were soon removed and the area was turned into a paid parking lot.

By 1968 the retail business had ceased and they were strictly wholesale. They were the last of the old time produce dealers and the only ones still handling local vegetables. By 1988 Sam Monaco had retired from the business while Joe Vitale continued to operate from the corner location. Despite offers for much more money, the Mercer’s who owned many of the buildings in the Old Market honored its verbal agreement with him by telling him he could stay there as long as he wanted. It was a fair trade as Joe provided atmosphere to the up-and-coming entertainment district. By that time he had just a single truck and bought from food wholesalers rather than farmers. He continued to sell to grocery stores including Baker’s as he had for decades.

After retiring in 2000, Joe move to Las Vegas for his last few years. Sam passed away in 2005 followed by Joe in 2011. Today the corner of 11th and Howard Street is the home to Centi, a shop that sells gelato and crepes. The painted Monaco Vitale/Fruit & Veg. sign can still be seen on a wall behind where the old stand sat for so many years at the corner of 11th and Howard Streets.

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