HeyJaredMy Big Fat Italian American Century
Stuff you just cannot make up. One Immigrant Family's journey intersecting with every major event, crisis, movement, cultural moment and theme of the 20th Century, and into the 21st. Told with love, sarcasm and all the photos I could find.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 11
- Latest publication
- Sep 19, 2026
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- Jul 11, 2026
Latest issues
Diamonds Were Not My Dad’s Best Friend (opens the original)
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READ THE PRIOR EPISODESo, you may recall, from the earlier posts in this series, that my Dad and Uncle Tommy started and grew a very successful import-export business in the Philippines after World War II. Well, as a Haole (as the Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders call a “white person”) doing business in Asia, you’d better have a prominent Filipino in your business to open doors for you, and to make sure the locals will feel they can trust you.The
“Hey, Joe – How Much for Your Watch?” (Part 8) (opens the original)
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From our Series: The PhilippinesREAD PART 7If you recall, in two prior episodes, (here and here), I talked about a few odd parallels between my family and the Kennedy family. Well, here is another one.On July 16,
Hey, Joe – How Much for Your Watch? (Part 7) (opens the original)
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From our series: The PhilippinesREAD PART 6The import-export business Tom and Pat had built in Manila had expanded from watches into all sort of luxury items, including jewelry. They had the kind of money where, if they wanted a nice car, a boat or a plane, they just bought it. Uncle Tommy, the oldest son, spent lavishly on the family and spoiled his sisters and nieces and nephews. It was Camelot for the Fraioli family.So, Tom had a plane and flew all around Asia. But, when Uncle Tommy did not a
“Hey, Joe – How Much for Your Watch?” (Part 6) (opens the original)
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From our Series: The PhilippinesRead Part 5The Philippines is where my Dad learned to use chopsticks, something he later taught me to do. He used to display his prowess by picking up one grain of rice and even an ice cube. Naturally, I learned to use them as well, as will be discussed in a later post about my love for Chinese Food, which my friends and family know all too well. In fact, sometimes I use chopsticks even when eating non-Asian foo
“Hey, Joe – How Much for Your Watch?” (Part 5) (opens the original)
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Read Part 4So, now my Dad and Uncle Tommy were making money hand over fist in the Philippines. They were hosting local businesspeople at gorgeous banquets, they were traveling back and forth to Hong Kong, London and New York, and they were living large.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TvBi!,f_auto,q_a
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