The Mugavero Family: 

A Tonsorial Dynasty

Theirs is a dynasty of haircutting expertise. For nearly a century, members of the Mugavero family have been cutting the hair of Ridgefielders. But their tonsorial tradition goes back long before they came to Ridgefield.

In 1891, a young man named Pietro Mugavero came to this country from Italy and soon established his own barber shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., and soon a second shop in Manhattan.

There is a belief in the family that Pietro’s father back in Italy may have been a barber and perhaps even earlier generations practiced the profession.

In 1900 Pietro or “Peter” married Agatha Vitali, also from Italy, and two years later, Vincent was born. In 1904, Jerome “Jerry” Mugavero arrived. 

Vincent graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1924 and decided to enter the profession of his father. He eventually moved to Norwalk where he had relatives, and then, in 1931, he bought the Ridgefield Tonsorial Parlor on the east side of Main Street north of Bailey Avenue. He was soon joined by his younger brother, Jerry.

In 1938, Vincent decided on a change of careers. He left barbering and, with his wife Bernice,  eventually opened the B-V Ranch restaurant on Route 7, just north of Topstone Road. (After he retired around 1962, the restaurant became The Alibi, which burned down in the 1970s. The site is now an empty, reforested lot.)

Vincent was active in the community, serving on the Board of Assessors, the Republican Town Committee, and as a volunteer fireman for more than a half century. He lived in Ridgefield for 37 years and then moved to Redding where he was also involved in community service. 

Vincent died in 1987 at the age of 84. Bernice had died in 1961; his second wife, Mary Kovacs, survived him.

Meanwhile, after Vincent left the business, Jerry Mugavero continued the Ridgefield Tonsorial Parlor with Francis Sansevieri, but in 1950, the two split up and Jerry opened his own business, Jerry’s Barber Shop in the Masonic Building. He eventually took on a partner, Mike Pontello — Mike was married to Jerry’s daughter, Agatha, better known as “Tina” (the flagpole in front of town hall is a memorial to Tina Mugavero Pontello, a gift to the town from her husband.)  Mike Pontello took over the Main Street shop when Jerry retired in 1970 after 50 years as a barber. 

Although he worked in the center of town, Jerry lived in Branchville (his house at 25 Ethan Allen Highway is still standing, used today as offices for American Irrigation Systems). Active in the Branchville community, Jerry was a founding member of the Branchville Civic Association, which built the ballfield on Playground Road; served as an auxiliary state policeman; was a member of the Board of Assessors and the Branchville School Building Committee; and was a president of the Italian-American Mutual Aid Society. He died in 1988 at the age of 83.

Jerry’s son, Peter, began barbering with his dad in the late 1950s, but in 1961, he established his own Peter’s Barber Shop in the Ancona shopping plaza. He then moved to nearby 33 Ethan Allen Highway — just north of his parents’ house. There, he renamed the business, “Peter’s Mane Concern.” Peter retired in 2005 and with his wife, Leslie, moved to Florida where they live today.

But that’s hardly the end of the Mugavero tonsorial dynasty. In the 1990s, Peter’s daughter, Linda Mugavero Morganti, began working alongside her dad at Peter’s Mane Concern. When her father retired, Linda took over the business and today operates the  shop, appropriately named “The Barber’s Daughter,” at 723 Branchville Road.

She is the fourth generation in America and the third generation in Ridgefield to practice the profession.

Cheap Gas?

This odd picture was in a group of shots of Branchville, taken in 1962 on the occasion of the Ridgefield Saving Bank’s opening a branch office on Route 7, some of which   appeared in recent posts.

This view show a sign at Riverside Motors Gulf Station at 32 Ethan Allen Highway, operated by the well-known Tarquinio “Turk” Pambianchi (1920-95), now the home of Precision Brakeworks.

While Riverside sold Gulf gasoline, Precision Brakeworks — using essentially the same building — does not sell gas.

The sign notes that Gulftane was 30.9 cents a gallon. While that seems ridiculously low compared with  today’s prices, 30.9 cents in 1962 was the equivalent of $2.55 in today’s money.

What’s more, Gulftane was what was called “subregular” gas, a grade below regular that is no longer generally available. (Regular Gulf gas was called “Good Gulf,” above which there was Gulf No-Nox premium, and Gulf Super Unleaded or Gulfcrest.)

Incidentally, the original Gulf Oil Company disappeared in 1985 when it merged with Standard Oil of California to become Chevron. However, the brand name, Gulf, is still licensed to a variety of automobile products including gasolines, made by other companies. 

At the right edge of the picture is a house at 33 Ethan Allen Highway that is today offices, apartments and a little variety store called NJ Condiment. It was owned by Peter Mugavero, who eventually had his barber shop on the ground floor. Peter is now retired and living in Florida.

Peter’s parents, Jerry and Mary Mugavero, lived in a house just beyond the unreadable sign in the distance.  According to grandson Peter Mugavero, a member of the “Old Ridgefield” group, their house is still standing and still painted the same gray color; it’s used for offices of American Irrigation Systems.

The trees in the distance to the left have been largely replaced by a commercial building housing a Dunkin Donuts, Soccer & Rugby Imports, and a Fred Astaire Dance Studio.