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"Washington Crossing the Delaware"
by George Caleb Bingham |
The other significant event was the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing by the Apollo 8 astronauts on July 20, 1969. This milestone of truly epic proportions captivated the world at the time because it was, as Neil Armstrong so famously said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.".
Back on earth, we at Loria share at least one important quality with both of these world-changing events in human history. We may not have effected any sea change in the political landscape of this planet. We may not be a nationally recognized household name or be anything that even remotely resembles a global phenomenon. But we do have one thing in common with our nation's founding and the first moon landing - the spirit of independence.
I refer to the fact that Loria has always been an independent company, family-owned and operated since our founding in 1912. The company founder, Verniere Loria, was a southern Italian immigrant who came here with virtually nothing to seek a better life for himself and his family - something tens of millions of people have done before and since then. This ties into one of the main reasons why this nation was founded as well - to create a society where individual aspirations and achievements can be the building blocks of a prosperous and free society. It would not be used as a the tool of serfdom, ruled unilaterally by a monarchy of unchecked power, but as a place that the Declaration of Independence so poignantly identifies as a place of, "...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.". We would no more return to foreign colonial rule, but become the exact antithesis of that - a constitutional republic.
Over the course of the next two centuries following the American Revolution (and the politically seismic effects it had on the West), the U.S. would go through many horrific battles and threats to this grand experiment. Nonetheless, it would survive even the greatest threat to its existence (The Civil War) and thrive, by continuing to attract people of all backgrounds in search of a better life and the freedom to work for it. In the process, it would also attract the greatest talent the world had to offer, which would ultimately culminate in what only the astronomers of the ancient world could dream about - putting a human being on the surface of the moon. This meant travelling upward and outward into space - approximately 250,000 miles from the surface of the Earth.
It takes a certain faith, wisdom, courage and consummate "can do" attitude, in conjunction with certain God-given abilities to break away from the greatest empire in the world (at the time) and form a new nation as it does to develop and deploy the right technology and personnel to send people to the moon. It takes these attributes to embark on a mission to create a way to for a man to travel to and from outer space and land on the moon safely. It also takes these attributes working together in harmony to leave the country of your birth and family upbringing, and go to a completely foreign land that holds the promise of fulfilling such a life and livelihood. All three of the aforementioned achievements, though varying in scale, have much of the same principles in common, which is embodied in what we call the "spirit of independence".
From a socio-economic perspective, it was the independently owned & operated businesses that became the economic foundation of this nation at its founding, initially culminating in the Industrial Revolution of the mid & late 1800s, and evolving into the all encompassing technological world in which we live now. Even though our company here in Yonkers carries products and services that are more of a traditional nature than all the tech that dominates society today, we at Loria (like all companies these days) have still benefited from the massive breakthroughs in the tech world, including the constant use of e-mail communications and the creation of our custom-made, e-commerce website.
Now even though we extol the virtues of American independence and the great nation we subsequently became by way of unfettered freedom (as we should), there is still a 'dependence' of sorts that is required for any of these achievements to get off the ground and continue - dependence on those who make it possible.
The American Revolutionary War for independence from Great Britain was still 'dependent' on the immeasurable courage and sacrifice of the lowly soldiers who were willing to risk their very lives to see this fight successfully fulfilled. NASA's map to the moon was dependent on the gifts and talents of those who were willing to sacrifice most of their waking hours to put those gifts and talents to work in the the most concentrated and rigorous ways possible.
Loria Corporation, though infinitely smaller in scale to the Revolution and the moon landing, was still dependent on the courage and sacrifice of one Italian immigrant willing to take the risk of starting a new business in a foreign land. Even so, suffice it to say that none of this would continue for another moment for us here at Loria if we did not acknowledge the fact that we are always dependent upon our customers. Ultimately, the spirit of independence has to be tempered with genuine gratitude in order to truly appreciate the blessing that independence brings.
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| The first lunar landing in human history, by the U.S. astronauts of Apollo 8 (July 1969). |
Back on earth, we at Loria share at least one important quality with both of these world-changing events in human history. We may not have effected any sea change in the political landscape of this planet. We may not be a nationally recognized household name or be anything that even remotely resembles a global phenomenon. But we do have one thing in common with our nation's founding and the first moon landing - the spirit of independence.
I refer to the fact that Loria has always been an independent company, family-owned and operated since our founding in 1912. The company founder, Verniere Loria, was a southern Italian immigrant who came here with virtually nothing to seek a better life for himself and his family - something tens of millions of people have done before and since then. This ties into one of the main reasons why this nation was founded as well - to create a society where individual aspirations and achievements can be the building blocks of a prosperous and free society. It would not be used as a the tool of serfdom, ruled unilaterally by a monarchy of unchecked power, but as a place that the Declaration of Independence so poignantly identifies as a place of, "...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.". We would no more return to foreign colonial rule, but become the exact antithesis of that - a constitutional republic.
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| The founder of V. Loria & Sons, Verniere Loria, second from right (circa 1920s). |
Over the course of the next two centuries following the American Revolution (and the politically seismic effects it had on the West), the U.S. would go through many horrific battles and threats to this grand experiment. Nonetheless, it would survive even the greatest threat to its existence (The Civil War) and thrive, by continuing to attract people of all backgrounds in search of a better life and the freedom to work for it. In the process, it would also attract the greatest talent the world had to offer, which would ultimately culminate in what only the astronomers of the ancient world could dream about - putting a human being on the surface of the moon. This meant travelling upward and outward into space - approximately 250,000 miles from the surface of the Earth.
It takes a certain faith, wisdom, courage and consummate "can do" attitude, in conjunction with certain God-given abilities to break away from the greatest empire in the world (at the time) and form a new nation as it does to develop and deploy the right technology and personnel to send people to the moon. It takes these attributes to embark on a mission to create a way to for a man to travel to and from outer space and land on the moon safely. It also takes these attributes working together in harmony to leave the country of your birth and family upbringing, and go to a completely foreign land that holds the promise of fulfilling such a life and livelihood. All three of the aforementioned achievements, though varying in scale, have much of the same principles in common, which is embodied in what we call the "spirit of independence".
From a socio-economic perspective, it was the independently owned & operated businesses that became the economic foundation of this nation at its founding, initially culminating in the Industrial Revolution of the mid & late 1800s, and evolving into the all encompassing technological world in which we live now. Even though our company here in Yonkers carries products and services that are more of a traditional nature than all the tech that dominates society today, we at Loria (like all companies these days) have still benefited from the massive breakthroughs in the tech world, including the constant use of e-mail communications and the creation of our custom-made, e-commerce website.
Now even though we extol the virtues of American independence and the great nation we subsequently became by way of unfettered freedom (as we should), there is still a 'dependence' of sorts that is required for any of these achievements to get off the ground and continue - dependence on those who make it possible.
The American Revolutionary War for independence from Great Britain was still 'dependent' on the immeasurable courage and sacrifice of the lowly soldiers who were willing to risk their very lives to see this fight successfully fulfilled. NASA's map to the moon was dependent on the gifts and talents of those who were willing to sacrifice most of their waking hours to put those gifts and talents to work in the the most concentrated and rigorous ways possible.
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| V. Loria & Sons, on the corner of Bowery and Kenmare Street, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (circa 1970s). |
~ Roger V. Loria, Jr.
