IT’S ‘JALOPY’: Part 2 today on John J. Cummiskey’s story about
Vincent “Jalopy” Suppa and his family:

“The Suppa boys that I knew were all good men and likable.
‘Inch’ was the youngest. The three ticket sellers were often at
Miles Garfinkle’s Academy upstairs on Main Street. There, the
ticket man could sell a number of their tickets at the Billiard
Academy – also to view baseball results on Miles’ ticker tape
coverage of the numerous games on many minor league games.”

“And now Vincent ‘Jalopy’ Suppa, the old 5th Ward Pirates and
baseball player, and they tell me he was a good one. Later years
when I knew him, well, I learned other things about him. He had
beautiful Palmer-type handwriting as evidenced by his writing in
chalk on a Garfinkle blackboard. It was said he did written reports
for someone in a political job.

“Jill also was an excellent pool player, and H.K. ‘Crum’ Robarts
were two of the best. One-shot ‘Harrigan’ was often played at
Garfinkle’s, and Jalopy would pinch-hit for a fee to pick up a tip
if he scored a winning shot for a person. The few remaining
Harrigan players left would know what I’m writing about. This was a
great game for the house.

“My own mother, Mary Ellen Hogan Cummiskey, a teacher at the old
6th Ward School, had two Suppa boys as pupils. One son was named
Constantine. My mother always remembered their father, Ralph.

“Why Jalopy would walk from a parking meter back to a store
front, I’ll never know. Usually done in the morning – same place,
same time. Quite an eccentric maneuver, but we are all eccentric in
some way or another. Jill was O.K.”

ANOTHER ONE: Forgive us, but this entire subject now begs us to
ask another question about “Jalopy” Suppa – how in the heck did he
get that nickname?

And another question, unrelated to the Suppas, why did everyone
in the “old days” have a cool nickname? Even Jalopy’s brothers were
“Jo Jo” and “Inch,” and he had an associate named “Crum.”

You just never hear such descriptive monikers anymore.

MAIN STREET: Whether it was 40 (or more) years ago or year 2006,
Bradford has always had a fascinating assortment of easily
identifiable people who made their mark on Main Street. Think about
it; You should be able to name at least a dozen.