1949 Eighth Street, Berkeley
A pretty good strike of this date, considering it’s a Blake & Bilger stamp.
1905 – Blake & Bilger
30 August 2026Sidewalk maker: C. Rapella
8 August 2026
69 Sylvan Way, Piedmont
Carlo Rapella (1896-1967) was born in Morbengo, Italy, an ancient mountain town by the Swiss border, and emigrated to America in 1920. He shows up in Albany, where he spent the rest of his life, as of 1925 when he married Rena Zucca (1907-1991). They had two sons. In the 1930 census he identified as a cement worker; as of the 1940s he was working for Nat Lena but later went on his own.
Carlo’s son James (1927-2008) was recorded as working for his father in 1954. The other son, Albert (1937-?), took over the family firm of C. Rapella and Sons, which was incorporated in 1962, and did business locally for many years (one stamp in Oakland looks recent). The firm appears to be moribund.
Rapella’s stamp is scarce in Oakland, but presumably much more common farther north. I have found dated examples from 1956 and 1957.
As I find more dates outside Oakland, I’ll document them here.
1933 – Lovisone
29 July 2026
867 Warfield Avenue
Unlike my other strike from the same year and month, this one puts the year first instead of the month. Go figure.
1929 – Geo. D. Prentice
19 July 2026
303 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont
This stamp never looked clear enough until yesterday. It dates from the same year the house was built.
Oakland Underfoot 