When we think of “Alley’s store” today, there’s only one that comes to mind — the old S.M. Mayhew Co. general store in West Tisbury, bought by Albion Alley at the end of World War II. But in the first half of the 20th century, Alley’s could have been any one of several stores down-Island run by Albion’s older cousins, George and Antone Alley of Oak Bluffs.
George Alley (born George Medeiros) was the son of Cottage City grocer Domingo Medeiros, an immigrant from the island of São Miguel in the Azores, and his German wife Lena Knoff. Marianne Thomas writes in her book “Our Portuguese Heritage,” “Family lore has it that the surname ‘Alley,’ a play on halibut, was derived from a nickname given to [Domingo’s brother] Antone when, as a teenager in Cottage City, he peddled fish in the Portuguese community. Whatever its origins, the name was thought to be far easier to deal with than ‘Medeiros,’ and it was adopted by nearly all of the family members.”
George and his brother Tony, growing up as clerks in their father’s grocery, became known as the Alley brothers. They opened the Public Market in downtown Vineyard Haven, which would later become Cronig’s, and then opened the Alley Brothers Public Market in Montgomery Square, Oak Bluffs. George was the butcher, and later in life worked as the meat cutter at the First National Store in Edgartown.
A large flyer for a boxing match is visible on the far right. 1929 marked the height of a boxing craze on Martha’s Vineyard. Professional matches took place regularly at Dreamland Rink in Oak Bluffs during the warmer months.
Chris Baer teaches photography and graphic design at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. He’s been collecting vintage photographs for many years.