by her daughter, Christine Lorraine Morgan, April 2, 2026

NOTE: If you are from the fair city of Erie, PA you may recognize some of the establishments mentioned here.

Marge realized she needed to enter the work force to help get the bills paid. They were up to five children now, the oldest was 13 and the youngest was three, and they had outgrown their mid-city home.

Having been a stay-at-home mom all these years left Marge with very limited career options. Prior to marrying at age 18, she had worked briefly as a cashier at the Liberty Plaza Loblaws, where her father was manager.

Marge and Joe

She applied to work at places like Murphy’s, Mason’s and even the Green Stamp Store but to no avail. 

But then she heard about a downtown restaurant named Dominick’s that was hiring, and although she had never worked as a waitress before she felt confident she could learn, especially if they would just give her a chance.

She showed up at the interview and everything was going along smoothly until the interviewer informed her that the job was 3rd shift on weekends only. “You know, overnights from midnight til 8 two nights a week. Does that work for you Marge?”

No, this didn’t work for her, but what choice did she have? Her husband Joe already worked 3rd shift for a local security firm those days – who would stay with her five children all night if they were both out of the house? Luckily at 13 her daughter was just about old enough to cover for them if all the other children were asleep. . .

“Yes, I can do that,” she heard herself say distantly, her brain fully engaged elsewhere, hoping she’d be able to manage this all-night job.

In 2026, Marge recalls what it was like to work at Dominick’s in the early 1970s. She disclosed these details over the phone from her home in Arizona on April 2, 2026 

Back then, her hourly rate of pay was about 70¢ and she was permitted to keep any tips she earned. During the time that she worked in this busy night spot, she did manage to earn a decent amount of tips on some nights.

But other nights those sought-after gratuities did not materialize.

“I could work all night and only make two dollars in tips,” Marge recalls. “Plus, a lot of times kids stole the cash left for me right off of the tables.”

She did note that Dominick’s was the destination for lots of people who had attended dances earlier, and that many of them were “very nice” as well as her regular customers, whom she appreciated.

One thing she marvels over to this day is that there were worn spots  “in the cement floor where the cook stood making eggs.”

Marge said that there was a macaroni room in the restaurant “where they made all kinds of lasagna. The women would come in the back room and they would make food.” 

This macaroni room also served as Marge’s hideout if fights broke out or things got scary in the middle of the night. She noted that beyond the dining room element, there were sometimes “games” going on upstairs that also brought people in.

Dominick’s Restaurant image from 2016. It was located at 123 E. 12th Street, open from 1957 to 2025.

Marge’s expertise as a waitress grew, and as the ’70s progressed she was able to get paying work that did not keep her away from home all night. When local clubs had functions where extra people were attending, they called her in to work various shifts.

Among those clubs were La Nuova Aurora Society, the Calabrese Club and a club she refers to as “Caesar’s, which was near the Nuova Aurora.”

Then she got lucky and was hired in a permanent post as a waitress/bartender at a local all male-club, and was glad for the steady income potential and security such a position might offer.

Unfortunately, the position she was walking into was a precarious one. Why?

Marge poses with two of her five children shortly after arriving home from work while still wearing her waitress uniform.

Because until Marge’s appearance, only males had ever worked there. “I was the first female to work at the bar,” she said. “The men didn’t like it at all. They turned their backs. They just left.”

But she used as much charm as she could muster and eventually they warmed up to her hard work and “everybody got used to each other.”

Marge’s last waitress job before she moved to Arizona in 1980 was at Fergies Restaurant at 26th and Washington, where she was employed from about 1973.

Fergie’s location at W. 26th and Washington, as depicted in the 2008 googlemaps image.

“Fergie’s was a much nicer clientele, they closed at 10 o’clock, so we didn’t worry about people coming in all night like at Dominick’s,” Marge explained. She added that she made good tips at Fergies, working alongside owner Gary Kaiser, and the other servers Vinnie and Claire.

After relocating to Arizona the summer of 1980, Marge and Joe successfully operated their own company, J & M Cleaning, for many years until their retirement.