Antonio and Leopoldo Mascioli on bicycles

Black and white photograph of brothers Antonio (Tony) Mascioli, at left, and Leopoldo (Leo) Mascioli, at right, riding their bicycles through the streets of Timmins, ON.

Leo Mascioli traveled to the United States at the age of 10. He was accompanied by a distant relative and landed in Boston where he worked as a shoeshine and a newsboy before finding employment in local restaurants. At the age of 19, Mascioli overheard an employment agent extolling the opportunities and adventures one could have in Canada. He traveled to Canada where he took a six-month contract working for a steel company in Sydney, NS. Leo soon took to working at various mines and slowly making his way to Timmins, ON. In 1911, he opened a general store in that town. A few years later Leo began building hotels and movie theatres in various towns in northern Ontario. Some of his business endeavors were shared with his younger brother, Tony, who had arrived to Canada at the age of 17. Both brothers were arrested and interned on June 10, 1940.