Sabadosa: Oak Lawn accordion shop still strikes a chord

• Reprints

Roseanne Romagnoli is the manager of the Italo-American Accordion Company in Oak Lawn. It has been her family’s business since her father, Guiseppe “Joe” Romagnoli, took it over in 1950. | Supplied Photo

Updated: February 16, 2012 8:06AM

I first learned about Oak Lawn’s Italo-American Accordion Company when I was doing a follow-up story about the local teen band the Bolts several months back. Johnny Rolence, guitarist for The Bolts, is the great-grandson of the owners, Anne and the late Joe Romagnoli. At that time, I was curious to know where some of the musical interest and talent of the young group’s members may have developed. I soon discovered that the Romagnoli family has quite an interesting musical history that goes back almost 100 years.

The Italo-American Accordion Company began on Taylor Street in Chicago in the early 1900s by the Italian Piatanesi family. It eventually was relocated to 51st and Kedzie where it is reported to have manufactured more than 25 accordions per week. Giuseppe “Joe” Romagnoli took over the business in 1950. It is said that he was regarded as the last true accordion craftsman of his time and was able to build a full working accordion from scratch. Upon his death in 1994, his company was continued by his wife, Anne, who brought the business to its current location at 5510 W. 95th St. in Oak Lawn.

Today, Anne is retired and living in Florida and the business is managed and operated by a daughter, Roseanne Romagnoli. When I met with her last week, I was curious to find out how an accordion business was able to thrive in today’s world of modern music.

At one time, the accordion was a popular instrument that was widely studied by youngsters and owned by many adults. Over the years, its popularity dropped off. However, according to Romagnoli, lately there seems be a new surge of interest in accordions by college students.

Most of today’s business has to do with providing instruments to Mexican, Polish and Irish bands. The shop sells new and refurbished accordions, does repairs and works out trades. It also sells accordion accessories such as straps and cases. Quite often, older accordion owners come in to trade their original accordions for smaller units.

With every accordion brought into the shop, “there’s always a story,” muses Romagnoli. I witnessed several of those stories unfold as I saw customers come in and out of the busy shop.

While speaking with a customer, Romagnoli asked for the name of her accordion. Evidently, it had been traditional to have the original owners’ first names professionally placed on their accordion cases. As time went on, the accordion itself would become known by that original name on its case as it went from owner to owner.

While the purpose of this article is to bring awareness of the resilient popularity of the accordion, there is a side story I’d like to share that involves the extended family of this business. When it was discovered that Italo-American’s primary accordion technician Pompilio Rosciani was in need of a kidney transplant, Romagnoli didn’t hesitate to be the donor once it was determined that she was a perfect match.

Since they both have roots from the same town in Italy — Castelfidardo — “where all they know is accordions,” she felt there was a very good chance for a match. She suspects that somewhere along the line, their families were probably related, which explains the successful match. The transplant was performed in September and both are on the road to recovery.

The donation of her kidney was a “no-brainer,” said Romagnoli. She allowed me to share this part of the story because she wants the public to be aware of the importance of live organ donation and that age is no factor when determining transplant risks.

For more information about the Italo-American Accordion Company, call (708) 422-2992 or email italoamaccordion@aol.com.

News From Our Neighbors

The Women’s Guild of Our Lady of Loretto will be hosting its annual “All You Can Eat” spaghetti dinner from noon to 6 p.m. Jan. 22. It will be held in the parish hall at 8925 S. Kostner Ave. in Hometown. In addition to spaghetti, the guild will be serving homemade meatballs, tossed salad, rolls and dessert. The cost is $6 for adults, $5 for senior citizens, $3 for children ages 6 to 10, and $2 for children ages 5 and under. For more information, please contact the parish office at (708) 424-7471.

Regina “Reggie” Sabadosa is a citizen journalist from Oak Lawn and may be reached at rsabadosa@comcast.net