Time for a little bragging again if you stay on this website on this category you will see over 300 images by the Terracina‘s with some pretty wild stories the photographers involved are Sal, Captain Tony, Wild great uncle Joey and myself our history of photography goes all the way back to the mid-20s my great grandfather Luigi from Sicily took that photo in the upper right hand corner 1923 that’s a Sal a Captain Tony and my great uncle Luigi we have other many websites mia5.com has over 65,000 images on it a little project I’m working on of the 30 years I spent in New York City I edited those images out of over a quarter of 1 million or shop by myself if you want to see it fine tuned just go to portraitsofnewyork.com

Something about my great uncle Joey one of my other mentors and a pretty good photographer he is Sal and Captain Tony’s little brother born 1925 a golden glove box or 42nd St., pool hustler and was super connected he had his own band that played all over the country he was also in the band called your father‘s mustache in New York City played all the Yankee games Ed Sullivan show mini appearance on the Jackie Gleason show in Miami played at the White House for President Johnson and the First Lady he played three seasons at Captain Tony’s in Key West his brothers night club that’s where I got to hang out with him a lot in the 70s he was married to this very sexy belly dancer for over 50 years they lived in the village in New York City I spent a lot of time with him There this is where I get a lot of my stories Really miss my wild uncle Joey named my son after him

What you’re looking at is a photo great uncle Sal took when he worked for the world of mirth a bizarre traveling carnival these three midgets were the original flying monkeys for the 1939 movie the Wizard of Oz Sal hooked up with them in 1949 and got all of them a job with this carnival he also did all their portfolios and got them other jobs the one in the middle became the spokes person For the Phillip Morris tobacco Company you will see him on many of the ads back in the 50s you can barely see the burlesque girls photos in the background Sal also did their photos Sal was a big shot with this company for two years he was the mask maker, oregon player, did his mind reading act and did their magazine Sal told me some pretty wild stories when he traveled with the midgets and the burlesque girls also throw in a couple psycho clowns and the fat lady, let’s get this party started

I want to explain something this is not a political statement I buy and sell vintage negatives prints and glass slides I have been doing it for over 30 years it’s one of my occupations this original 4 x 5 inch negative of Donald Trump is spectacular not because he was the most recognize face for over five years besides my great uncle Sal taking this photo in 1972 at a nightclub called the Strawhat in Manhattan he was performing there playing the piano and doing his famous mind reading hypnotizing act the camera Sal used back then was a graphic reflex Pretty much the sharpest send me you can get I don’t know what happened at the club that night but maybe Sal hypnotize Donald I could pretty much say this is the sharpest image of Donald Trump at this time in his life and yes it is for sale

The year 1976 I left New Jersey to go live in Key West I just turned 20 years old After partying for about a week in my grandfathers bar Captain Tony’s and getting to meet all the characters we takeoff on a 75 mile fishing trip for four days two Fort Jefferson dry Tortugas when I came back from the trip I was a certified Key West pirate and ready to start my adventures I took this photo with my dance camera 45 years ago holy shit I’m old As my dad said last week when I was in Key West he feels old because he has a 65-year-old son

A couple of interesting facts here about my great uncle Sal yes back in Chicago in the late 20s and early 30s he was booked as the worlds youngest mind reader he worked for Frank Costello that was his fathers cousin from Sicily my great grandfather Luigi also the father to wild Man himself Captain Tony you know the famous New Jersey mobster gambler smuggler became mayor of Key West guy if you go to published articles on this site you will see total confirmation what I just said Anyway sal was famous for putting crazy thoughts in your head which created problems then he would solve them for you there were two major nightclubs that put his name in neon in front of their club that’s a big time the Coral Lounge and the Hollywood café back in the late 40s and 50s you’ll see those images on this site One funny little thing we all know Sal was a wild gay guy he had the power to know if you were in the closet or not He could spot you in the audience talk to you on your break and you wou

My grandfather Captain Tony Tarracino First became famous in Key West way back in the 50s and 60s first for Being a famous see boat captain and smuggler kind of a modern day pirate back then he had an incredible 65 foot fishing party boat that did a lot of other things two big block engines that could get you to the reef very quick or back-and-forth to Cuba in total darkness he was taught by the best the Cuban conchs they have been smuggling off that island to Cuba for over 200 years me and my dad are definitely not famous like my grandfather but we put our time in outed see we did a bunch of Tortuga trips back in the 70s and as far as smuggling adventures we did dabble Back in the mid-70s I did a couple 10 day Tortuga trips fresh out of Jersey with Captain Andy Griffith Senior I learned everything you have to within three trips there’s no better fishing then the reefs surrounding the Florida keys

So you have this New Jersey mob guy who did some crazy scam in 1947 Elizabeth New Jersey his older brother Sal was best friends with Tennessee Williams and Tennessee Always told Sal and my grandfather Key West was the best place to hide out if you don’t want to be found so Captain Tony takes off to Key West that island wasn’t ready For a New Jersey Italian hustler like that Real long story short he becomes a famous see boat captain smuggler going back-and-forth to Cuba with rum weapons and CIA agents of course buys a bunch of boats then purchases the original Hemingway bar then he convinces more then half the people on the island to vote him in as mayor I am his oldest grandson I worked for him for seven years back when Key West was wild open mid 70s through the early 80s I have some incredible stories with photos and the decade before that Captain Tony’s Older brother Sal covered everything because he had a mask photography studio above the original Hemingway bar our club

What you’re looking at here is kind of interesting 12 of my images great party at Tom’s café that’s the only rooftop bar on Coney Island there’s a couple of my Italian buddies also from there love that photo of Robin Williams in me I got to hang out with him a 10 minute uninterrupted conversation with him he really is fascinating two of the images are of my two sons James and Joseph of course my beautiful wife A little action add a card game kicked ass that night me and the big fish one of those three day Tortuga trips I have been on dozens of those caught more than just fish check out me and Miss America from 1994 I met her in 2010 there’s also One of those Key West sunsets