According to Marasca family lore, the barber shop pictured here was a direct result of the actor John Drew (1853-1927) encouraging his barber, Paul Marasca (1883-1969), to leave New York City for East Hampton. Paul came here around 1909, a move that offered him the financial stability to invite his wife, Carolina Petrella Marasca (1881-1968), and their infant daughter, Teresa (Tess) Marasca (1910-1993), to leave Italy and join him in 1910.
In this photograph, Paul stands with his four oldest children in front of his barber shop, called Lamb’s Tonsorial Parlor, in East Hampton Village. Aronio (Roni or Roney) Marasca (1915-1981) is the child standing nearest Paul, followed by Paul’s eldest daughter, Tess (later Tess Mamula), then Antonio (Tony) Marasca (1913-1942), and finally Medina (Medi) Marasca (1911-2009). Most likely this photo was taken circa 1918-1922, based on the children’s apparent ages, the absence of the youngest child, Alford (Al or Pint) Marasca (1920-1998), and the shop’s recognizable location at 23 Main Street.
In February of 1918, Paul relocated Lamb’s from its previous space at 73 Main Street to the newly constructed building at 23 Main Street, shown in this photo, which allowed the family to live above the shop. The shop flourished in its new home, and Paul and Louis Petrella, his brother-in-law, developed reputations as excellent barbers.
John Vernou (Black Jack) Bouvier III (1891-1957) was a regular patron, as were John Drew and another actor, John Barrymore. The actors nicknamed the shop “the Lamb’s Club.” This reportedly caused great confusion among newcomers to East Hampton, who looked for “Paul Lamb,” the barber.
Upon falling ill in 1951, Paul closed the shop. He spent the next four and a half years at a hospital in Holtsville before coming home in 1955. Lamb’s Tonsorial Parlor became a clothing boutique that year, although the Marasca family owned the building until 2011.
Moriah Moore is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.
