Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Oral History of Frank Canepa |
Collection |
Oral History |
Scope & Content |
Frank Canepa was born January 1, 1896, in Varazze, Italy, between Genoa and the French Riviera. He came to America in 1913 at 16 years old, speaking no English, and worked for two uncles in San Francisco and Oakland. He soon took odd jobs at various farms, specializing in produce, and eventually owned a produce store in San Francisco with a partner. A difference of opinion resulted in his partner buying him out for $1,000, and Frank decided he didn't like the weather in San Francisco and looked all around the Bay Area for a suitable place to start his own grocery store. When he finally came to Mill Valley, driving an old Whippet auto, he fell in love with the trees, the greenery and general ambience that reminded him of the weather in Genoa. He opened his first store in 1929 on the exact day of the great Mill Valley fire and spent the time fighting the fire on Mt. Tam. Frank steadfastly insisted on selling only the finest quality produce and built a reliable and loyal customer base. He finally opened what is now the Mill Valley Market in 1951, eventually handing management to his sons Jim and Bob Canepa. Editor's note, August 5th, 2016: The transcript for this oral history interview differs in several ways from the audio recording. We believe it was modified at the time of transcription in 1977 to provide clarifications and improve readability. |
Audio and Transcript |
Click here to hear recording. Click here to read the transcript. |
Dates of Creation |
1977-11-26 |
Interviewee |
Canepa, Frank |
Interviewer |
Mosher, Jean |
Creator |
Mill Valley Historical Society |
Search Terms |
204 Reed Street 208 Reed Street 2AM Club 303 LaVerne Avenue American Distillery Azavedo, Jacintio (Jacinct) Azores Baseball Bettencourt, Fred Bettencourt, Joseph Bettencourt, Manual Bettencourt, Manual (Jr.) Bettencourt, Mary Bettencourt, Tony Blackie's Pasture Bootleggers Brabo Construction Brabo, Beatrice Brabo, George Brabo, Loretta Brabo, Mary Brabo, Tony Brazil, Mary Brown Jug Brown's Hall Brown, Bill Brown, Hilda Cooper, John Cunha ranch Depression Dias, Jim Diaz ranch Dowd's Moving and Storage Earthquake Evergreen Avenue Ezekial, Doc Ezekial, Patricia Ferrera, Louis Fostine, John Fostine, Manuel Frank's Valley George, Albert Gomez, Manny Hartwell, Ben Herb's Chevrolet Homestead boardwalks Homestead Grocery Homestead Hall Homestead School Homestead Valley Hornsby, Joe IDESST Japanese camps Johnson, Sonia King, Joe Landmarks Society History Collection Linden Lane Locust Station Madrone Park Mason's distillery McCurdy, Mary McCurdy, William Montford Avenue Mt. Tam Muir Beach Muir Woods MV history - Interwar years Okubara, Mirika Old Mill School Oral history - Local business Oral history - Natural disasters Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church Park School Pimental ranch Portugal Prohibition Prohibition Police (prohibes) Quonsets Red Cart market Reed's dairy Rynders, Fred Santos, Joe Santos, Manuel Santos, William Selective Service Shapiro, Herb Silva, Joaquin Silva, Mary Silva, Simiana Slide Ranch Stinson Beach Stinson Beach hot springs Summit School Sutliffe, Frank Tam Canyon slide Tamalpais High School Tennessee Valley Von der Werth, Albert World War I |
Object ID |
1977.001.001 |
Object Name |
Recording |
Copyrights |
Transcript and recording copyright Mill Valley Public Library, 1977. Materials are made available for research purposes only; all rights are reserved to the Mill Valley Public Library. Requests for permission to quote for publication or for any other usage must be obtained from the Library. |