They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore

When upgrading our sewing machine at Crown Straps, we wanted to stay old school, and had a 'they don't make them like that anymore' trusty machine rebuilt.  During the search for our perfect machine we met the fascinating Nick Ciancio, an Olympian weightlifter who as a 7 year old boy immigrated with his family to Australia from Italy.

At 17, Nick wanted to build strength, so he started lifting pipes with his Uncle, progressing to heavier weights at 19 when he started training in a gym.  "I ended up having half of all the weightlifting titles in Australia and New Zealand.  I came sixth at the Munich Olympics in 1972 against all these Iron Curtain Russians and Bulgarians.  I won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games – at the Edinburgh Games in 1970 and in Christchurch in 1974."

Starting his apprenticeship at 19, Nick (now 72) shows no signs of slowing down.  He has run his sewing machine repair business out of the same shop for 46 years in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, and today, his son Mat works along side him.

"Here in Footscray, it was one of the most popular places for migrants to go. All the migrants all started to congregate in Footscray.  They would come in to the movies, the theatres – there were a lot of happy days." 

Crown Straps are so happy to have found Nick and Mat, it's the trusty old school service that we love.

Source: Benjamin Miller, Star Weekly

Photo: Damjan Janevski