In this staged 1942 photograph, Nicholas Abdallah, proprietor of South End Hardware, moves his team and wagon along Washington Street, past his own storefront and that of the Press Café. Pragers Press Café was not simply a restaurant, hut was a market as well, offering groceries, meat, and liquor. From the 1940s through the 1960s, a number of successful restaurants were located in South Norwood, including the Wingding, the Venice, and Jennie’s Pizza Parlor. (Photo Credit: “Images of South Norwood”, by The South Norwood Committee, The Norwood Historical Society)


May 3, 1961—Nicholas Abdallah, 72. of 1027 Washington st., operator of a hardware store here for more than 50 years, died today.

A well-known sportsman and a backer of local sporting events for years. Abdallah was known as the “Mayor of South Norwood” by two generations.

He was a member of the Norwood Lodge of Elks, Norwood Chamber of Commerce, Norwood Grange and a former member of the board of governors of the Norwood Civic Assn.

Surviving are his wife, Rashede, and a son, John A., a member of the Norwood Board of Selectmen.

1923 Advertisement for Nicholas Abdallah’s South Norwood Hardware Store.
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