Oakland Underfoot

Fred H. Austin was born in East Oakland in 1888 and lived in Oakland into the late 1920s, after which I lose track of him. Information about him is a bit confusing (another Fred Austin was also a cement worker), so there may be errors in this post.

Fred was the youngest child of William Austin, an Irish immigrant who settled in East Oakland in the 1870s and ended up running a used-furniture store at 23rd Street and San Pablo Avenue. Fred tried his hand at running the store in 1908 and 1909 but soon declared bankruptcy.

Fred married Anna “Annie” Dora Skipper, an Alameda native, in 1908 and they had no children. In the 1910 census the newlyweds were living at 1660 14th Avenue with Annie’s mother. In the 1912 directory he was listed as a contractor-builder and that year began winning small paving contracts with the city. At that time their address was 2328 14th Avenue, the address on Austin’s stamp. He ran small ads in the Tribune in 1913 (“artificial stone work”), 1915 (“cement worker”) and 1919 (“cement contractor”).

In 1924 his directory entry changed from “contractor” to “inspr Okld Street Dept” and in 1925 his address changed to the Austin family home at 944 34th Street. In 1928 he was listed as “slsmn” and there the record ends.

I have recorded dates of 1912, 1913, 1919 and 1920, but most Austin marks are undated. In 1912 he used two different stamps and another in 1913. He also used special date stamps in 1919 and 1920. That was a rather extravagant practice, as each stamp was custom-cast in brass, but he did do a lot of business in his time.

In addition I’ve recorded a single “F. H. Austin” mark that may date from 1910 or 1911, before he earned his contractor’s license.

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.