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Working Americans Vol. 4: Their Children

1966 Profile: Daughter of Oil Executive from New Jersey

Upper Class

Theresa Blasi, an eight-year-old second-grader, has spent part of the year attending school near her permanent home in Morris-Plains, New Jersey, and four months traveling with her oil executive father, her mother and four-year-old brother in Sardinia.

Life at Home

  • In Sardinia, Theresa and her little brother spent their days running up and down the nearly deserted beaches, where seawater was pumped into flats, dried, and the resulting raw salt was piled up and refined into table salt.

    Theresa Blasi is an eight-year-old second-grader with a four-year-old brother.

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  • During her first days on the island, she was disturbed when she heard the periodic explosions used to dislodge the raw salt, but soon she understood and grew accustomed to the noise.

    She soon grew used to the periodic explosions used to dislodge raw salt.

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  • They lived in a NATO compound, even though her father is an Esso Oil Company executive overseeing the design and construction of an oil refinery in the area.

  • Her mother kept her out of school during the trip because she was so far ahead of the rest of the students; a previous assignment in Malaysia included an intensive education in a British army base school that put her well beyond her grade.

  • Theresa was told that the Sardinia school had no openings, so instead of attending regular school, she would have a tutor.

  • The tutor was a sincere young man who had few skills in controlling a rambunctious eight-year-old intent on constantly showing off.

  • Once, to demonstrate her coloring skills to him, she used green chalk to fill in all the white portions of her mother’s new oriental rug—to the dismay of all concerned.

  • When not with the tutor or playing on the beach, she hung around with the NATO kids, attempting to find friends.

  • Some days, she would stand for hours near the entrance to the military Post Exchange, or the commissary where groceries were sold, in hopes that someone would see her and ask if she wanted a green Popsicle.

  • Since her family was not military, she didn’t think she was allowed in the PX, even though her parents had said it would be okay.

  • With no ability to speak Italian, she spent much of her time with Americans and Canadians assigned to the NATO facility.

  • Even this was not always safe ground; one day the mother of one of her Canadian friends asked her if she wanted to sit on the Chesterfield, referring to the couch; she froze, petrified of saying or doing the wrong thing.

  • The trip opened her eyes to the wider world; while at the market, they visited a butcher shop where dead jackrabbits were hanging on display.

  • She also learned to appreciate eating fish, a staple of their diet, even when it was served with head and tail still attached, though she missed the baloney sandwiches she so dearly enjoyed at home in the States.

    Theresa and her brother played on Sardinian beaches.

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  • She brought her collection of Barbie dolls with her, spending hours playing, talking to and dressing the dolls; one has blond, swirling hair that makes her look elegant, while the other is more conservative, with reddish hair pulled back into a bun.

  • Her assortment of Barbie accessories includes a bright pink skirt, fishnet stockings and even a make-up kit.

  • If she had not been able to bring her Barbies to Sardinia, she would not have wanted to go at all.

  • In addition to her Barbie dolls, she also enjoys dressing several Little Kiddles dolls, which come with their own pink cribs and tiny sandboxes.

    The refining of salt is critical to the economy of Sardinia.

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  • During their stay in Sardinia, her mother decided to take both of the children on a train trip to Venice and Florence.

  • The train was crowded with soldiers, many of whom sat on their suitcases because seats were not available.

  • During the trip, Theresa bought a salami sandwich from a vendor at one of the train stations; she didn’t think to get a drink or ask if the sandwich included any hot pepper-corns—which it did, in abundance.

  • During the two-week tour, she visited the Murano glassworks factory, rode on lots of trains and took hundreds of black-and-white pictures with her Kodak 126 camera.

  • Her brother was a pain the entire time, although she was glad for the company.

  • The best part of the trip was the change purse her mother bought for her, made of ornate gold and royal blue Italian leather.

  • Although she was born in New Hampshire while her father was completing his ROTC requirement, Theresa has traveled extensively all her life; at four, she was in Germany, at six, in Malaysia, and in between, she was at her home in New Jersey.

Life at School

  • When Theresa returned from Sardinia and started the second grade in New Jersey, she found that in some subjects her fellow students were ahead of her, but behind her in others; her education in Malaysia and tutoring in Sardinia resulted in a mismatch.

  • Although she is doing well in Miss Post’s class, and is delighted to be around her friends again, she finds the transition hard at times.

  • Everyone sits in neat rows and does their work as told.

  • Theresa does not like to go into the hallways without her friends; walking down the hall all by herself produces an echo when her shoes touch the floor, so she always tries to leave class with a group.

  • Since she learned to read, she has enjoyed the Little Golden Books, especially Dumbo, the elephant with the biggest, floppiest ears ever.

    Theresa spends hours playing with, talking to and dressing her Barbie dolls.

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  • Recently, she has been captivated by the movie Born Free and the idea of raising lions.

  • Shot in Kenya, the movie won two Oscars—and Theresa’s heart; she begged and begged to be allowed to see it a second time.

  • Although her mother is careful to limit Theresa’s television viewing, she does approve of The Andy Griffith Show.

  • Her mother likes Andy and Opie, but thinks Aunt Bea is like a member of her own family.

  • Another favorite is Batman, which airs twice a week; at least once a week, the family gathers around the black-and-white television set and watches the show together.

  • Every house in the area has its specialty: one house is the “strawberry milk” house; in another, there are always blue lollipops; the neighborhood twins have a classroom in their basement; the Bennett boys have a fort.

  • Theresa’s specialty is Kool-Aid; everyone knows that her mom always keeps Kool-Aid for the kids, no matter how many arrive or when.

    Theresa’s mother approves of The Andy Griffith Show.

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  • One father loves to load his tiny Triumph Spitfire convertible with as many children as possible for the short trip to the gas station; recently, Theresa was one of the lucky ones to get a ride.

  • At the end of the housing development, the kids have discovered a huge vineyard, where the grapevines are perfect for swinging.

  • With vines this long, a role in the next Tarzan movie cannot be far away, although several broken arms have resulted over the years.

  • Some afternoons are spent playing army; the boys all have guns and shoot each other, while Theresa and her friend serve as the nurses.

  • At night, especially on weekends, Theresa and her friends go into a nearby pasture where they can secretly watch movies playing at the drive-in theater.

  • Recently, her entire family went to the drive-in; the two children were dressed in their pajamas before they left the house in case they fell asleep during the movie.

    Batman is one of Theresa’s favorites.

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  • Theresa loved being able to play there on the jungle gym in her pajamas.

  • For school, she always dresses well, as dictated by her mother.

  • Many of the shirts her mother buys are ribbed or have stripes.

  • Theresa loves wearing the flowered corduroy outfit her mother found, but is distressed by her recent birthday present.

  • After telling her mother that she likes the color chartreuse, because it’s fun to say the word, Theresa was given a pair of electric green polyester pants that practically glow in the dark.

  • She wore her birthday present to school only once, and was teased for an entire day; the pants are now buried in the farthest, darkest corner of her dresser drawer.

  • She also hates the red coat her mother makes her wear; she is sure she is the only child in the entire school who has a coat with fake fur, or any fur at all.

  • Besides, the fake fur on the collar always goes up her nose—it’s just not fair.

  • She does like the red plaid school lunch box her mother bought for her, which goes with many of her outfits.

  • Recently, when she discovered that her mother had failed to wash her favorite jeans one Saturday and only dresses were available to wear, she immediately vowed to run away.

  • When she announced her intentions, her mother offered to help her pack; Theresa then burst into tears and decided not to leave home.

  • Right now, she is nursing a bruised lip; while attempting to play telephone with a friend, using the long pole running atop her swing set, she got her lower lip stuck in the metal.

  • When she could not get unstuck, her father had to rescue her from the pole, which had severely pinched her lip.

  • When she misbehaves, she knows what will happen; a spanking paddle painted with the words “For the Cute Little Deer with the Bear Behind” hangs prominently in the kitchen.

  • For years, her mother has been threatening to flush her down the toilet when she was bad, but Theresa did sufficient measurements to determine that this would be impossible.

Life in the Community: New Jersey and Sardinia

  • New Jersey is known for its factories and industrial output, ranking first in the United States in chemical products, thanks to its large number of pharmaceutical, basic chemical and paint industries.

  • In addition, New Jersey is known for food processing, as well as the manufacture of apparel, electrical machinery and stone, clay and glass products.

  • One of the state’s most prominent special events is the annual Miss America Pageant, which takes place in Atlantic City—a very different environment from that of Sardinia, an ancient island with a deeply embedded culture from many lands, including nearby Italy.

“Pleasures and Places: Sardinia,” by Philip Dallas, Atlantic Monthly, March 1966:

The foreigners who are now moving into Sardinia are Milanese, Parisians, Swiss, Germans, English and Romans. They are setting up highly automated factories and luxurious hotels; but they are moving in by proxy and behind a smoke screen of lawyers, engineers and architects, who fly in and out continually on brief visits, meeting their Sardinian opposite number who are overseeing the practicalities of the various enterprises. Simultaneously, hundreds of Sardinians are moving out, bringing their already small number to less than a million and a half on an island the size of West Virginia….

Each of Sardinia’s two principal cities—Cagliari in the south and Sassari in the north—has its sphere of influence and a youthful sense of rivalry. If Cagliari puts up a high-rise building, Sassari must have one too, no matter how little it needs one. However, Cagliari is a historic, if not a prehistoric, city, while Sassari is only eighteenth century, though not without a considerable provincial charm.

  • More than a billion dollars are being invested in dams, public works, communications, subsidies for agriculture and the building of luxury hotels and tourist facilities.

  • Sardinia already supports two universities, graduating doctors, engineers, architects, lawyers and academics.

  • The first invaders were the Phoenicians, followed by the Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, Pisans, Genoese and Spaniards.

  • In Rome’s Etruscan Museum and the museums of Cagliari and Sassari can be found hundreds of tiny, exquisite Sardinian bronzes from the eighth century B.C.

  • Throughout the island remain 3,000 little fortresses dating from prehistoric time to about the third century B.C.

  • With the Treaty of London in 1720, the house of Savoy was forced to swap Sicily for Sardinia, which Austria had picked up after the War of Spanish Succession.

  • So little did the Savoyards value the island, they tried to give it to Napoleon in exchange for Milan and Parma; Napoleon simply ignored the offer, took all of Italy, and left the Savoyards on the island.

  • Scattered throughout the island are hundreds of fierce shepherds, who continue to tend their flocks and speak a dialect that resembles Latin.

  • It is said that the shepherds must always be tough and vigilant; sheep rustling is an activity of long tradition there.

  • Also an important tradition in Sardinia are handicrafts, including hand-woven carpets, tapestries, coverlets, unusual baskets, and carved wood chests.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"1966 Profile: Daughter Of Oil Executive From New Jersey." Working Americans Vol. 4: Their Children, edited by Scott Derks, Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=WA4_0096.
APA 7th
1966 Profile: Daughter of Oil Executive from New Jersey. Working Americans Vol. 4: Their Children, In S. Derks (Ed.), Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=WA4_0096.
CMOS 17th
"1966 Profile: Daughter Of Oil Executive From New Jersey." Working Americans Vol. 4: Their Children, Edited by Scott Derks. Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=WA4_0096.