Frank Frazetta: A Brooklyn Boy in the 1930s

Frank Frazetta: A Brooklyn Boy in the 1930s

Frank Frazetta was born when the nation fell into the worst economic condition ever faced, the Great Depression. Frank’s father, Alfred, immigrated to the United States from Italy in the early 1900s. Al worked as a stone-setter in Brooklyn, NY.  Stone-setters were considered specialized technicians and never moved beyond that skill into smithing gold or other areas of jewelry making. He was  considered a successful blue-collar worker, while Frank's mother, Mary, a second generation Italian-American, raised Frank and his three sisters in a humble home located in Sheepshead Bay.

In the 1930s, the economic downfall stole the hopes and dreams of a nation but not for young Frank. Perhaps too young to grasp what was happening to the nation’s economy, Frank knew a better future was in the cards for him. He knew that if he wanted to achieve certain things in life, like success, he would have to work extremely hard and be consciously independent from his family. 

Aside from pursuing art, Frank was an active child.  He loved to play with the neighborhood kids, particularly his cousin, Eddie. He loved to play sports and started playing baseball as soon as he was strong enough to throw a ball, but anytime he was home or stuck inside on a rainy, cold day, he had a pencil or crayon in hand.  

Frank remembered Brooklyn as a magical place that fed his imagination. When he entered grade school his teachers began to notice his talent when he would grace the blackboards with Santa Clauses,  Easter bunnies, and turkeys. He also produced countless personal comic books and filled his notebooks with drawings of classmates. His teachers eventually contacted his parents and urged them to enroll Frank into an art school.