Pizza Pie Memories

Today Pizza is a fast food staple. But in the 1930's it was rather a novelty, and people spoke of it as "Pizza Pie." I had never heard of it until I was ten or eleven years old. One special night my dad took my mother and me to an Italian restaurant in New York and ordered us a "Pizza Pie." I think it only came in one size, and I don't think it came with special toppings, but it was all so new and exciting to me that I could have easily missed the details. It was a late night snack for us. I loved it.

It certainly was not an every day thing, and I didn't think of it as a main course. A year or so later my Dad's health completely gave out. He retired on disability insurance, and we moved to Tucson, Arizona.

A year or so after that I was 13 or 14 and my folks trusted my judgement enough to go on a two or three day trip leaving me on my own. I could do some cooking, but they knew I wouldn't be able to cook real meals for myself, so they left me enough money to buy dinners at local restaurants. A WINDFALL!

On my bike I had seen an Italian restaurant that advertised it served Pizza Pie. I could hardly wait. The first night I rode straight to that restaurant and ordered ... Spaghetti and Meatballs!

I put the sizable Italian dinner away expeditiously. I had well learned my father's lesson ... no dessert if you don't finish your dinner, so finish it I did. Now was my chance. "What for dessert?" Why a Pizza Pie, of course. When else would one eat pie, pizza or otherwise? "Are you sure?" they asked...more than once. Of course I was sure. When it came, it was a whole pizza pie. A big order. I don't know if I gave any indication of being overwhelmed by pizza; I strove not to, and I ate every bit of it - even the crusts. A young teenager is hard to stop if the overladen plate is tasty.

I paid my bill and rode my bike home. But I knew I had erred. My stomach groaned, and I never again ate two Italian dinners at a single sitting.