Wednesday Is Prince Spaghetti Day | Celebrating Prince Pasta
For many New Englanders, “Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day” is more than just a clever advertising slogan — it’s a real-life dinnertime tradition.
By Aimee Tucker|Apr 06 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanDo you remember “Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day”? The now-iconic 1969 Prince spaghetti commercial went like like this… A woman leans out the window of her Boston North End apartment and calls for her son (“Anthony! Anthony!”) to come home for dinner. As Anthony races through the streets of the famous Italian neighborhood, his family prepares their weekly Prince spaghetti dinner.
“Most days, Anthony takes his time going home,” the narrator says, “But not today. Today is Wednesday, and as every family in the North End of Boston will tell you, Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day.”
Grinning and out of breath, Anthony finally arrives home, just in time for a bowl of spaghetti.
Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
The ad, which ran for 13 years, is iconic in New England not only for its nostalgic depiction of 1960s family life in the North End (the neighborhood is now mostly populated with young, single professionals), but also for its “Wednesday Is Prince Spaghetti Day” catchphrase.
Photo Credit : Courtesy of Prince Pasta
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
In 1969, Prince pasta was still made locally in Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1912, the company was founded in Boston (at 92 Prince Street) by three Italian immigrants, but moved to Lowell in 1939. In 1941, the business passed over to Guiseppe Pellegrino, another Sicilian immigrant, who later penned the “Wednesday Is Prince Spaghetti Day” slogan. Pelllegrino sold the business in 1987, and the Lowell plant closed in 1997.
Today, Prince is part of New World Pasta, a Pennsylvania company that manufactures the product in St. Louis, but New Englanders don’t seem to mind. In 2013, the Boston Globe reported that, in 2012, “half of Prince’s $22 million in sales were recorded in Boston, the second biggest market for pasta in the United States.” Old pasta habits die hard.
I reached out to Prince to see if they might have any vintage advertising materials to share with me (so I could share them with you) and they sent over images from this colorful, kitschy Prince Italian Cookbook. More than just pasta and spaghetti recipes, it also contained “tips on Italian cooking” and the history of macaroni.
Photo Credit : Courtesy of Prince Pasta
The recipes were great, too. Just check out some of these macaroni beauties! Who could resist Egg Bonnet Casserole (my best guess is that “egg bonnet” pasta were little ravioli, but correct me if I’m wrong), Baked Lasagna, or Elbow Macaroni Salad studded with hard-boiled eggs, olives, and radish roses?
In later years, continuing the “Wednesday Is Prince Spaghetti Day” theme, new slogans like “The Spaghetti Worth Running Home For” were used.
Do you remember “Wednesday Is Prince Spaghetti Day”?
Fun Fact! The 12-year-old “Anthony” in the commercial, played by real-life North End resident Anthony Martignetti, was hand-picked off the street by producers. Mary Fiumara, the woman playing his mother, was also a local. Both became minor celebrities as a result of the commercial’s success.
This post was first published in 2016 and has been updated.
Love this story, Aimee! When my husband first called out the Prince slogan to me years ago, he looked at me like I had two heads because I’d never heard of it. But since I grew up on Long Island (he’s from CT), “Prince spaghetti day” was not a “thing.” I just read this article to him (which we both loved) and he still can’t believe I grew up without his beloved Prince. Thanks for sharing this!
This article is amazing! My husband and I were raised on Long Island,NY and we still observe Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti night! We have not lived in theNortheast for over 36 years. My students know that Wednesday night is Prince Spaghetti night!!!!!!! Happy to know it is still a tradition in the Northeast!
Hi Aimee I live in The Prince Building 63 Atlantic Ave now, our building will be 100 years old in 2017. We living in our building are putting together a 100 Birthday Celebration. I saw your article on line that you featured, by the way I loved. I wanted to know how I could get that copy of the magazine to share with everyone. Also who could I contact at Prince for old pictures,cookbook or any other nostalgia that we can share during our open celebration. Thanks Pauline Kelly Cuoco
Hi Pauline. I love the idea of a birthday party for the Prince Building! So glad you enjoyed my article. Thank you! It was written specifically for our website, so it did not appear in print. I reached out to Prince using their customer service number I found on their Facebook page. You may want to try that. Good luck – enjoy your party!
You can always tell a true New Englander when you say “Wednesday is Prince spaghetti day” and they start to laugh. Your article says that the ad was from 1969, but I remember it from a lot earlier. By ’69 I was gone from home. Anyway, thanks for the memories.
I graduated from High School in 1965, and when the school cafeteria served spaghetti on a Wednesday, we all chorused “Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day!”
The little bonnet pasta you mentioned may be orrichette which looks like a little bonnet.
I still have spaghetti on Wednesdays BECAUSE of this. And even better, I have American Chop Suey in the fridge now.
sorry but this is one thing that has always driven me crazy-Wednesday is not pasta day to an Italian-You have pasta on sunday-not Monday-then on Tuesday-not Wednesday-then Thursday and not again till sunday-and its gravy not sauce-thanks for listening ‘0)
Hi Felix – I think the point was to try and sell more pasta. Everybody eats pasta on Sundays, that’s why you pick another day of the week that people might not be eating as much pasta. A Wednesday maybe?
Does anyone remember the Prince Grotto Restaurant in Lowell? We were there in the 1970s/80s? So much fun.
I lived near the factory in Lowell mass, and also went to the restaurant it was great we were so sorry when it all closed,just another fond memory
When I was a little boy with my Mom and I living with my grandparents in the 1940s until my Dad returned from Navy service in the Pacific Prince macaroni had a promotion I well remember. I don’t know the promotion details but I very clearly remember cutting the image of “the Prince” off the boxes and putting them in a glass pitcher with the others for eventual redemption. Although the contents of the boxes was “pasta” to be sure we more usually almost always generally referred to it as “macaroni”.
Does any have the Lasagna recipe from the Price Spaghetti Lasagna Box. I can remember my mom making it for company. Yummy.
I have used the lasagna recipe from the Prince box many times in the past, but regretfully never saved it. Now I don’t see it on the boxes. (Guess I thought it would always be there.) This recipe was always a huge success whenever I made it. Does anyone have a copy of it?
I too have been looking for the Prince lasagna recipe that I used to make in the 1970’s. It’s the recipe from scratch, not with bottled sauce.
Thought it would always be around.
Would love to have that recipe again. I even called the Prince company and they don’t have it!!
If anyone has the recipe for Prince lasagna from the 70s,
please send to nc1969@icloud.com. The sauce made from
scratch not bottled sauce. Thank you most kindly.
I found this on the internet – Lasagna, Prince Pasta Recipe
By rossboys
What’s for dinner? Try this delicious classic Lasagna recipe with layers of goodness your family and or guests will love. Make sure to make plenty because they’ll be back for seconds!
Pi
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 of l pound package lasagna, uncooked
• 2 pounds bulk Italian sausage, I used 1 mild 1 hot
• 1 mediium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (28 ounce) whole tomatoes, cut up, undrained
• 1 1can (12 ounce) tomato paste
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 containers (16 ounces) ricotta cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
DETAILS
Servings 12
PREPARATION
STEP 1
Prepare lasagna according to package directions; drain.
In large skillet, combine sausage, onion and garlic. Cook until sausage is no longer pink, stirring occasionally; drain.
Stir in next six ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 30 minutes.
In medium bowl, blend ricotta, egg, parsley and salt. Spread a thin layer of sauce in 13×9″ baking pan. Layer 1/3 each lasagna, remaining sauce, ricotta mixture, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat layers.
Cover and bake at 375 degrees fahrenheit until hot and bubbly, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.
Refrigerate or freeze leftovers.
Thank you Sandy! I greatly appreciate your sharing this recipe. Though it is not the 1970s recipe, this one looks very good. Thank you so much!
A few years ago…not sure where but, the young boy Anthony was introduced to us all now, not as a young boy but as a young man.
Just finished a dish of fettuccine with oil,garlic and mashed capers . I’m a Irishman but can cook like a Sicilan. Oh by the way it was delicious!!!
Thanks so much for another trip down memory lane for me. I lived in Lowell, Mass from l937 until l959. My grandfather lived directly across the street from the Prince Macaroni factory and my husband worked there for a few summers while in college. I still say “Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti day.” Loved that commercial. Another memory for me was the Moxie, another item from Lowell, Mass. I lived in the Highlands section of Lowell and the bottling company for the Moxie was just a mile or so from my home. I was one of those that “did not like” Moxie. When I talk about it here in NJ, no one seems to know about Moxie. It sure tasted like bad medicine to me! Thanks so much for bring these two things from my past on line. I am thrilled to be able to show these stories to my granddaughters! Those were the days!!
My husband and I were married in Dorchester and lived on the North Shore for 6 years while he completed his schooling to be a minister. I worked in Salem and we always said Weds is Prince Spaghetti Day. I just told a friend that the other day.
Oh! My goodness, I still say, ” Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day” All My Italian relatives live in Boston and the surrounding towns and still wait for Wednesdays to role around ! I think all new englanders from Maine to Connecticut were raised on Prince Spaghetti and know this slogan very well ! Great memories too…
My husband hated spaghetti. That is until he had my mother’s homemade sauce. Dad grew a large crop every year of tomatoes (several types). And my mother grew her own oregano, basil and parsley. My dad invited my beau to supper, and told him first to call his parents so that they would not worry. When he hung up the phone he smelled the air. My dad said “that is my wife’s great spagetti sauce”. Unfortunately my beau made a face that dad saw right away. He told him he wouldn’t force him to eat a lot, but insisted he at least try a bite. With that he put a very small amount of Price pasta on his plate and toped it withthe home made sauce. The young man’s face showed his alarm and pleasant surprise. He ate the three plates full and went on to be a real happy guy. He went on to love mom’s lasagne, and home made ravioli which she filled with spinach and ricotta cheese.
Of course Wednesday is Prince spaghetti day! Growing up in northern Connecticut, there was pasta on the school menu every single Wednesday as far as I can recall. Very fond memories. 🙂
My parents, as well as my childhood friend’s Dad, worked at the Prince Macaroni Company in Lowell during the mid-1950s thru the mid-60s. The Pellegrino family respected and treated their employees very well, and they consistently showered them with generously filled gift boxes for birthdays and holidays and hosted spectacular summer outings for workers and their families to enjoy. The Prince Grotto Restaurant featured an authentic Italian decor, wonderful water fountains highlighting the beautiful patio entrance, and roving musicians playing to the diners enjoying their real, Italian meals made with great Prince pasta products. I enjoyed this article very much as it brought back So many fond memories of my childhood.
I’m not sure if I am imagining this but in the commercial didn’t Anthony eat at a restaurant called Polcaras except for Wednesday’s when he ate Prince spaghetti at home. I remember going to that restaurant many many years ago and when we got in the car to start back home to Attleboro we all hollered “ANTHONY”. Good times. Thanks for bringing back that memory.
Today is Wednesday and today we had spaghetti, as we do every Wednesday, even if I now live in Fairfax, VA,and can’t find Prince spaghetti anywhere! I have always told my children that Wednesday is Prince spaghetti day. They think I’m crazy. I will forwarding this article to them. Thank you so much!
I grew up in NH. I had my college roommate (who grew up in the Midwest) convinced that “Wednesday was Prince Spaghetti Day”! I even had the commercials to prove it! What wonderful memories!!!
my dad,george e. netto , worked in construction at PRINCE ,he did finish work at the GROTO resturant and built a big building near the GROTO REST., my mom worked in the factory and i worked in the corrogated plant ,cleghorn folding box co., that was in 1965 .it was a great expereance !
I remember going to the Prince Grotto a couple of times with my girlfriend ( now wife ) and her parents for special occasions. We lived in Dracut for 5 years when we first got married and drove through “spaghettiville” often
That commercial also played heavily in the New York market. I saw it a lot growing up in NY and NJ. Too bad mom always overcooked any pasta she made.
I so remember that commercial! I had spaghetti and meatballs almost every Wednesday, and yes, it was Prince. My friends from the North End, did the same. I remember going to my friend Markie’s mother house on Salem Street in the North End. You could smell the sauce from the street. Good times. Great memories.
Living my entire life in Pennsylvania,I’d listen to Bruins’ hockey games on WBZ. It came in loud and clear most nights and Bob Wilson; the long-time voice of the Bruins would proclaim “Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti day”. Ahh,the golden voice of Bob Wilson, he made me fall in love with the Bruins (and probably New England).
Getting ready for Sunday Spaghetti & Meatballs, when I had the flashback to Prince Spaghetti Day!!! Tried to explain it to the wife (Floridian). Googled the old commercial & then found this lovely article… talk about a walk down memory lane. Raised on the South Shore circa 1960’s.
I cannot find Prince Products any where in my area, I have tried other brand but they don’t taste the same especially Lasagna. Please come back to Michigan
At least you can, after reading Aimee’s article, rest easy again: Prince spaghetti is no longer Prince spaghetti for any of us, it’s now made in Saint Louis by a food conglomerate.
My husband and I live in SC. He texted me one day and asked if I knew what Prince Spaghetti Day was. I texted, “Yes, it’s Wednesday”. He was talking to a friend who grew up in Massachusetts. I lived in RI from 1984-1988 and am a Midwesterner for most of my life now living in the South but that ad is deep in the memory bank! But it makes me believe there may have been other ads as well (?) I lived in MI before moving to RI and no one knew about Prince Spaghetti there either. Thanks for the memory!
I love Wednesdays Prince Spaghetti Day. Still do it to this day, and my daughter is coming home tomorrow and asked what for dinner, my reply well you know it’s “Prince Spaghetti Day”. That is what we are having with homemade meatballs! Thanks for the memories, and for what we pass down to generations so that they never forget.
Raised in Norwich CT in the 1970’s and still quote this commercial slogan???? good memories????
For what it’s worth, a quick search of “Prince Spaghetti” on the most popular video website, the one with initials YT (don’t know if I’m supposed to say the name here), brings up the famous commercial, as well as other Prince commercials. ;-))
I spent the first 11 years of my life (born and bred) in Brockton, MA. And we had Prince spaghetti too. I loved spaghetti. My grandmother made Prince spaghetti too. The family made a trip to Boston once and we ate at Prince Spaghetti House. Yum yum. Delicious.
Not only do I remember this entire advertising campaign those ads were aired where I grew up, Berlin, NH, which is 200 miles north of Boston. I never knew about the egg product because my local grocer, whose name just happened to have been Freddie Prince, who was a close personal friend of my mother and her family because my mothers’ father brought him food to sell in his store during WWII when it was difficult to come by, who was Italian, by the way, and I remember his sister Kitty very well, also, who owned an Italian restaurant “up there”, which was fabulous. Kitty worked in the store when Freddie needed her, I don’t think she ever married, Freddie had 3 children who I knew quite well. Freddie let my mother eat her way through the produce dept. While we were shopping, my mother was very fond of his top quality fresh fruit, brought daily, M-F from Boston, especially cherries and red delicious apples. He eventually opened a second, very modern store with a loud speaker system and his office was “elevated” so he could watch what was going on. One day when red delicious apples were very expensive (produce prices fluctuate daily!) He saw my mother, “Shirl”, eat a red delicious apple and went on the pa system to tell her not to eat one that day because they were “Too expensive!” “Shirl’s” response was: “Good! I’ll eat 2!!!!!!!!!!” (And she did!). I’m probably your only subscriber that knows two “princes”… We came very often to Boston for entertainment. We stayed at the hotel madison at north station most of the time we came, where I got my foot stuck in the subway tracks when my mother “just had to go to Morton’s” (they sold fine quality ladies suits and coats only), which was on causeway st. Obviously I got my foot out of the tracks just before that train arrived at north station. I’ll never forget the look on my mothers’ face. Since I was well-behaved, she always took me to lunch at Ye Olde Union Oyster House on Portland St. At north station, where she always allowed me to order (because I ate it instead of playing with it, like my sister always did with food in restaurants) king crab sandwiches, which were the most expensive item on the menu at $1.50!!!!!!!! I believe they were served with potato chips, which were also very delicious and a pickle. Freddie princes’ sister Kitty used to let my sister and me pick a free ice cream novelty (they had a huge selection!) Or candy bar every time she was working. They don’t make people like that family any more!!!!! My best friend lived on Snelling place, at the bottom of hull st. Near old north church and I was born on her and her twins’ 11th birthday. They are both still alive and the one who lived near the church still lives locally and I see her often. She let “all of us” stay in her 2 room apt. When we visited and we liked to eat at Polcari’s when it was on Causeway St., “Speaking of Prince St., which is the First St. After that building.” I also lived in the North End, at 25 Charter St. Before I met my late husband.
I also grew up in Berlin, NH and remember Prince spaghetti bites!
No recipes for the wonderful sauce?????
Yes, I too would love the recipe from the 70s Prince Lasagna box. No
bottled jars of sauce. The one from scratch. Please send to nc1969@icloud.com
if you have it. Thank you enormously!!
We always loved Prince Spaghetti Day when we were kids, growing up in Needham, MA. My mom is Italian and we spent lots of time in the North End. We always remember that Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day. So guess what we’re having for dinner tonight?! Mangia!!!
Hi again: I remembered “lots of other pertinent things”!!! My mother made prince spaghetti every Thursday so she didn’t have to think of something else to make! She made homemade sauce for it every Thursday with beef only meatballs, with just meat, per my dads’ request. He wanted “all meat, no fillers”! On the way home from his store, every Thursday he stopped at an outstanding “pizza joint”, near brown company paper mills, called Caroline’s, which I can assure you sold the mill workers plenty of beer with their pizza! Nobody makes pizza exactly alike, all were good, with plenty of competition, but Caroline’s was outstanding. My mother always served good quality grated cheese with her spaghetti meatballs and sauce, of which we all had “a full plate” and then we each had 2 slices (there were 4 of us) of Caroline’s large pizza (the whole pizza!) “To wash down the spaghetti and meatballs”!!!!!! We never even left the table “stuffed”, just happy!!!!!!!!! Mom also made prince lasagna, which is how they spelled it, from the recipe on the box, which I used to have, but I think I finally threw it out because it was “old and ratty” and I remembered, by heart, what was in it. The very first thing I bought for cookware (I cooked at my college apartment, so I didn’t need a lot when I moved to Boston in 1976) was a le creuset lasagna (that’s how they spelled it!) Pan, which cost $40.00 and I bought it at Lechmere, remember Lechmere??? Yet another fond Boston memory. They had wonderful cookware sales. I am still using it and it is still in outstanding condition. As I recall the prince lasagna recipe is pretty close to this: 1 pound prince lasagna noodles, 1 jar prince pasta sauce. Cook noodles to your preference (a lot like it al dente, since it’s going to be baked in the oven). Place coating of pasta sauce on bottom of pan. Filling: 1 pound ricotta, 2 slightly beaten eggs, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (you can mix grated cheeses if you like. I buy outstanding parmigiania reggiano and Italian pecorino romano, equal amounts, to taste), 1/2 teaspoon salt, chopped parsley and about 1/2 cup chopped part skim mozzarella is what I use because I find whole milk is too salty for my taste). I use polly-o mozzarella that comes pre-wrapped in 1 oz. Packages because it tastes really good and melts nicely. Alternate layers of sauce, pasta, and filling until all ingredients are used up. Top layer of noodles should have sauce and cover top layer and sauce with mozzarella cheese. I believe recipe calls for 6 large slices (we used kraft mozzarella when I grew up, which are very large slices, there is much better stuff available everywhere now. I believe the cooking temperature is 400 degrees f for 30 minutes. I learned it takes a long time for everything to heat adequately (filling should be bubbly) so I bake lasagna almost completely before I top with mozzarella because mozzarella used to cook too much (almost burn) while everything else “was coming up to temperature”. A good friend of my mother used this recipe and put a little cinnamon in the filling, which tastes pretty good, too. Her sister-in-law was from the dimore restaurant family of salem st. In the north end and was quite a cook also, so was her sister-in law! After baking it is typically “soupy”. It is much better the second day! Yes, Felix, you are certainly correct on all counts, I can verify after having lived in the north end for 2 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A friend of her husband and mine rented a condo in the prince building when he ran the Boston marathon several years ago. I told her the history of that building and they really enjoyed staying there and “being Boston tourists”, they wouldn’t even let me give them “an insiders'” historic tour!!!!!!! Guess that’s about it for now!!!!!!! Enjoy!
jar sauce? never. and why no ricotta?
Re read the recipe, Filling: 1 pound ricotta…..
I read the recipe and it calls for 1 lb of ricotta.
Grew up in the Auburndale section of Newton (Norumbega Park territory!), I well remember the Prince Spaghetti commercial! Also, had my first pizza at Prince Spaghetti House on Washington Street back in the mid-1950’s!! Delicious, fond memories………
Norumbega Park, what a name from the past. When I was little, my father and mother would take me to McManus’s ice cream on Comm Ave right outside the entrance, and I would be in my pajamas, and you could hear the big band music coming from the Totem Pole ballroom above the din of amusement rides and people. There was afire there, and then the park closed and was replaced by the Newton Marriott. Wonderful times. I know this was about Prince spaghetti day but I got carried away.
I grew up in Ithaca, NY and remember Wed Prince Spaghetti Day in the 40’s 50’s and 60’s. I also remember their panel delivery truck with the logo on the side.
Am I the only one disappointed that the window-hollering woman who greeted the perspiring Anthony in the kitchen after his epic run home was not his real mother! 🙁
Did Prince make “wagon wheels”? It was boxed pasta with that distinctive wheel and spoke design and was heavily advertised on t.v.,targeting kids of the early 60’s when westerns ruled the airwaves. We loved them not on Wednesdays, but as a change of pace from franks and beans on Saturdays.
Yes, I am originally from Connecticut, now living in Minnesota…but Wednesdays are still Prince Spaghetti Days in my home. Thanks for the memories!
I grew up in a suburb of Boston. We were about 5 miles from the North End of Boston. My aunt ( who did not have any children) would take me and my siblings to ” in town” to eat at the Prince Restaurant. In those days, you always dressed up to go to Boston. Dress, hat and gloves. I loved it when we went to have spaghetti there. To this day, and I am almost 69, when I hear Wednesday, I say to myself, Prince Spaghetti day!
I grew up in NJ (across the river from PA). Prince Spaghetti wasn’t available in my area but I remember those commercials on TV. It must have been when we were watching NY channels instead of Philly ones. I remember walking in Boston’s North End one Sunday morning many years ago and I swear to God a lady leaned out of a window and yelled, “Anthony, Anthony!” I turned to my friend (who was from the NY side of NJ) and we both said at the same time, “Prince Spaghetti!”
My Pepere worked in the Lowell plant his whole life.(after serving in the Navy during world War 2) So many fond memories of picking hIm up after work. Such beautiful grounds.
I grew up in Newburyport Massachusetts. Wednesday was always Prince spaghetti day. I would drive to Lowell Mass. and take my wife to the Prince Gratto restaurant. Great food and great memories.
Rose obviously didn’t like the thought of using jar sauce! Neither do I! The reason I quoted that is because that is how the recipe was written on the Prince Lasagna box! I make very good, Italian-style, homemade sauce when I make lasagne, what I believe is the correct spelling, preferably from native plum tomatoes, which I have grown myself and am now able to buy locally from a lovely gentleman in the next town, Norwell, MA, who grows his own for sale in his back yard! I realize everybody makes tomato pasta sauce differently. Mine is pretty good, if I do say so myself!!!!!!!!!!! Reading all the comments really makes me smile!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday became “spaghetti (or other pasta) day” in my home back then, and it has remained so ever since!
Wish they would bring the original ad back to TV. Loved it and Prince Spaghetti.
Our family was in Rome, Italy where our son Billy studied Year 3 as an architecture student then landed a job there as an architect in a small Italian firm.
The very first time we visited him in his fifth floor apartment, something came over me…I flung open the window and yelled out of his apartment “Anthony! Anthony!’ towards the small piazza below. I have no idea why that happened! Talk about a (literal) shout out to “Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day.” (And it wasn’t even Wednesday!)
Prince spaghetti- timeless, traditional and always yummy product.
Haven’t bought Prince spaghetti since they moved out of Boston!
I grew up in RI had family in Dorchester and am very familiar with Prince Spaghetti Day. ( Wednesday). As a child we always had Prince Spaghetti and their jar sauce on Wednesday nights. I thus carried it over to my family when I married and had children. I made the recipe for lasagna from box many times. Must admit we all loved it as well as all the products. The memories are great.
Cheryl, if you have the Prince recipe that makes the sauce from scratch, not
bottled sauce, please send recipe to my email nc1969@icloud.com
Thank you very much
I was recently in the North End – I went into several souvenir stores hoping to find a t-shirt or something referencing Anthony, or Prince Spaghetti Day, but came up empty. I guess I’m too old.
Unfortunetly I do not ever remember hearing about Prince Restaurant. I wish I had however as I would love to have eaten there. Is it still open?
It was in Lowell and was called Prince Grotto. I believe it closed quite a while back.
Love the comments and article on Prince Macaroni Manufacturing Co. Brought back a lot of good memories. I worked stated working for the company in 1974 as the Home Ecomonist which ment I developed recipes for store brands and Prince boxes and all the various types of pasta sauces the Prince developed. Did demonstrations for school food service on how to use Prince products. Eventually more Quality Assurance testing, revising the Prince cookbook, answering consumer questions. I was there for 23 years before the plant was closed by the Borden company. Nice to know a lot of people have good memories of the Prince Company.
I am amazed looking at the Prince web site how many types of pasta produced and links to recipes for each, I copied some, easy. Nice atrticle, little did I know and the associated comments.
I grew up in Chicago. My Mom’s parents came from Sicily. She always used Prince products and I remember her telling me, when I was a kid, that this (Prince) is the best pasta. She made her own sauce and had her own recipes from our family. We pronounced pasta, basta, and sauce was called sugo pronounced zoogoo…lol, Sicilian dialect, also pronounced zeejeeleeahnoo…lol. I remember this commercial vividly and loved seeing it again. I was a few years older than Anthony, I was 15. Thanks for the memory of this commercial. I live in the deep South now, retired, and can’t get Prince. I brought some with when I moved…lol
Where can this product be bought or is it only online bc I’m in Florida? I love the article and I wish I could buy the book too. Sidebar: my sister-in-law has an old Italian cookbook and I wouldn’t doubt its from the 60s. They live in Pennsylvania.
Love this. I’m in Florida so where can I purchase this product. I was looking for a recipe. Lol ????. My sister-in-law has an Italian cookbook that looks like this one and possibly from the 60s too. I’ve made lasagna from it and now my niece/goddaughter makes the same lasagna only she got fancy and makes homemade pasta. Funny though I made that lasagna when her mother was pregnant with her.
Bertha, by any chance, do you still have the Prince Lasagna recipe? The one
that you make the sauce from scratch, not bottled sauce. My email is nc1969@icloud.com. Would love to hear from you or anyone who has
that recipe. Thank you
Love to see recipe for sauce to complete the sweet memories!!
I have wonderful memories of Prince Macaroni. My dad worked in maintenance and later became the maintenance manager. I was hired to work in the office, above the Prince Grotto where Chef Leo ran the restaurant, part-time after school. When I graduated in 1974 from Dracut High School I worked full-time in the office. I met the love of my life at Prince Macaroni, my husband was attending Lowell Tech working on his Masters in Plastic Engineering and he worked in Quality Control. He started in October and we started dating in December of 1974. In July of 1975 we were married and in December of 1975 we moved to Maryland. My dad worked until 1983, he certainly was a true blue company employee. I have so many wonderful memories working there during that time and I worked on the cord switchboard, which was later placed in a museum in Boston. Peggy was front desk, switchboard operator and I learned so much from her. Sadly, my wonderful husband of 45 years passed away in March 2020 from Cancer, but I will always hold dear to my heart how we met at Prince Macaroni.
If anyone has the Prince Lasagna recipe off the box of Lasagna from the 1970’s, PLEASE, PLEASE Post the exact recipe. The recipe I need prepares the sauce from scratch, not from a bottle. I will be FOREVER grateful! Thank you
Feel free to send the recipe to: nc1969@icloud.com
Thank you!!
I went to school at Keith Academy in Lowell and walked past the Prince plant every day. (1958)
To me, Wednesday is, and always will be Prince Spaghetti Day!
I am from RI and remember that commercial so well. My family owned a restaurant and the special on Wednesday was always Spaghetti and Meatballs. My Dad made his own sauce but we still called it Prince Spaghetti day. Commercials back then really left there trade mark and to this day I still make Wednesday night our pasta night! Thank you Prince Spaghetti!
I live in CT & according to their product locator none of their products are available with in 100 miles,of me. How is that possible?? This is a New England brand!
I used to live in New England. Now in NC. Xan’t buy Prince and its the only spaghetti i
I will eat. I have contacted Prince told them I would pay SH if the would please send me some vermicelli. I guess it doesn’t matter to them that I can’t get it.
Try StockupExpress.com or Amazon, though Amazon is $1 more expensive. Jeff has to buy that rocket fuel you know
I remember this commercial being aired on the Philadelphia stations.
I lived in Lowell and when I was 14 I played in a band that played at weddings and events. I often played at the Prince Grotto Restaurant party room and also enjoyed the great Italian food.
Great article! These are my favorite type of Yankee stories. Thanks for doing this!
Was just talking about this commercial to someone from Midwest and could repeat the entire commercial to them!!!! Loved the nostalgia and fond memories of my Maine childhood and Prince Spaghetti Day with Anthony!!!
I worked at Prince for 23 years. I graduated from South Dakota State University and was hired as the Home Economist. I was hired to create recipes for the back of the Prince boxes and for the private labels that Prince packaged. I got to travel all over New England to conventions, schools to work with the school food service people in using Prince products. I ran taste panels on the new line of sauces called Classico that were regional pasta sauces created by the sauce plant in NJ. Prince had some of the first flavored pastas ,Penne with red pepper, was a favorite, Superoni spagehtti with more protein so the amount of meat could be cut in half, a lite product with less calories, and introduced some new shapes of pasts. There was a sauce commercial with Maria and her Mom, I was behind the scenes cooking the pasta for the family shots, long day of trying to keep the pasta hot. Learning how to keep food look good for pictures of the boxes. Just to keep busy I was also part the the Quality Assurance team keeping track of every thing going on the the plant, then Prince became the 2nd largest producer of paste in the world with the “new plant” being built. I even got to revise and up date recipes for the Prince cook book. It was a fun and exciting 23 years which eventually lead me to work in 2 other pasta plants before retiring.
Nancy, I have been looking for the Prince Lasagna recipe that was on the back of the Prince Lasagna box back in the 1970s and later. At the time, there were two recipes, one making the sauce from scratch, one from jarred Prince sauce.
I having been searching and searching for the lasagna recipe making the sauce
from scratch. Please, if you have this recipe email to nc1969@icloud.com or
just post here. Please. Thank you, Nanny
Hi Nancy- I just read the N.E. Magazine’s April,2022 article on Prince Spaghetti Day, your subsequent comment, and Nanny’s request for the recipe for the Lasagna recipe from the box from the 70’s, in which the sauce was made from scratch. That recipe was the BEST! Since you didn’t post the recipe here, could you send me the recipe to ellenohnemus@msn.com.com? Many thanks
Growing up Thursday was spaghetti day in my house. On his way home from work, my father would stop off at a local italian bakery and pickup a fresh loaf of italian bread. My canadien french mother fed her irish canadien french children with spaghetti and meat balls. Great memories.
I live in Spaghettiville! Ishtar around the corner from the old Prince factory. I miss it. I wish it was still operating. Sad they left. But the low railroad bridge is still here! And there’s still oversized trucks hitting it lol. Thanks for the article! It was a fun read.
I have lived in Florida for 27 years and I still have spaghetti every Wednesday including tonight. Every time I remember the advertising that it’s prince spaghetti night.
I’d love to find out how to get a copy of the cookbook. One of my classmates at Boston College was the son of Mrs. Fiumara.
You can find recipes today at princepasta.com!
The “egg bonnet pasta” mentioned in the Prince cookbook wasn’t little ravioli, as the article conjectured. It was a shape of egg pasta that looked similar to shell pasta, but with frilly edges, sort of like a bonnet.
For years I have been trying to find the Prince Lasagna recipe from the 1970’s, in which you made the sauce from scratch. The recipes “Prince” posts now uses jarred sauce, and is just not the same. Does anyone have the ORIGINAL recipe?? Many thanks
Our family loves Spaghetti Night! It can be on ANY night of the week. Spaghetti Night is not just saved for Wednesdays. Back home we have a family dish called “slupgullion” or “slumgullion” which is created w/ Prince spaghetti w/browned ground beef, sweet onions, and topped w/DelMonte ketchup. I know it sounds strange, but it is really delicious! Serve it w/toast!
I grew up in Beverly MA and on Wednesdays, from when I was very young, we would have home delivery of a loaf of Italian bread from Sunray Bakery on Rantoul St. (The best!) This was because Wednesday was “Prince Spaghetti Day!” I was 16 in 1969, and Wednesday as Prince Spaghetti Day was already a sacred institution in my house. Perhaps their ad was finally made into a TV ad. BTW, I now live in VA and it is still “spaghetti day”, but Prince was not a brand ever found here.