A year after Diana and Murray Scheshko’s marriage took place, they had a son, who happens to be my gardener (for those who don’t know, my gardener is also my husband hahaha). He was born in Jackson Heights, but I’m not sure where they lived at that time.
By 1959, they had another baby, the gardener’s sister.
So there you have the gardener playing Parcheesi at his mom’s feet. Diana is holding the gardener’s beautiful new baby sister.
What else happened to the family in 1959? You can see in this newspaper article.
“Borough president Clancy yesterday picked the winning ticket for the Fiat 500 Bianchina sports sedan awarded by the Steinway Merchants Association at the climax to its successful Steinway Jubilee Sales event which broke all records last week.
Clancy chose the ticket belonging to Mrs. D. Scheshko of 34-15 12th Street, Astoria. The Astoria woman received her new car.”
That is our Diana who won the Fiat. I love how their address is included in the article, although it’s a little scary by today’s standards! The address is probably their first apartment in Ravenswood, a project of brown brick apartment buildings. There are 30 or 40 buildings in total. They still exist. A few years ago we visited Astoria to see the gardener’s old stomping grounds, and at Ravenswood, a woman leaned out a window and asked our daughter if she was with the city. Apparently she had some complaints about her apartment. When the Scheshkos lived in Ravenswood, the people were not as poor as they are today. And there was more diversity in those days: residents were all races and nationalities. The neighbors that the gardener was the closest to were his Italian teen babysitters (who bought him candy) and the Chinese couple who lived next door.
Back to the Fiat. This was a sports minicar, not a vehicle for a young mother with a preschooler and a baby. So the family traded it in for a used Pontiac and some lovely Italian provincial furniture that Diana and Murray kept for the rest of their lives.
A huge thank you to all the offers to help, including Amy of Brotmanblog who did a preliminary search for me. You all are wonderful and still might hear from me LOL!
Entering the Pale 
Always glad to help!
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Thank you so much!
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How exciting it must have been to have won and the envy of the neighborhood I am sure. Isn’t it amazing they could trade it in and still have enough to buy new furniture too! Great fun post Luanne 🙂
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It was such a big deal that when I started dating the gardener 13 years later he told me on one of our first dates! I’m impressed, too. That furniture was better quality than what is sold today. That was when there was still meticulous craftsmanship. I’m not sure how many people today I know what Italian provincial style is! Thanks Sharon!
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Love that style 🙂
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Me too. It’s elegant and graceful. Our bed is actually that style, but I don’t know if they still call it that or not.
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I’d have found it so hard to trade the Fiat: no matter how impractical.
What a wonderful story Luanne and lovely to know they got to keep enjoying g the furniture for so long.
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Haha, I know, such a cute car! But they ended up with so much more for the price of that Fiat!
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I loved this story, Luanne. And the Fiat, of all cars…truly amazing.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!
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Hah, I know! After I found the article, Amy from Brotman Blog emailed me about the stuff she found and she said “some woman won a car.” It struck me as hilarious that my MIL was “some woman” because she in a seemingly random newspaper article.
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I know, right? That’s just such an incredible find!!!!
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Love the way you put this all together!
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Thank you so much!! Have a wonderful weekend.
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How fun to win a car! Did they have to buy raffle tickets or something?
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Haha, I need to ask the gardener! I actually don’t know! Good question.
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