L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano Dear Readers, N o v e m b e r n o t e s w i t h a n Italian connection: A . P . G i a n n i n i ' s m o t h e r , Virginia Scatena, way back in 1925, established the Scatena t r u s t f u n d f o r t h e b e n e f i t o f teachers both active and retired who may be in financial need. Virginia Scatena, established this fund in gratitude for the San Francisco Public School e d u c a t i o n o f h e r e l d e s t s o n Amadeo, founder in 1904 of the Bank of Italy in San Francisco w h i c h l a t e r b e c a m e B a n k o f America. This trust fund still continues to assist teachers each year. In fact applications are available at United Educators San Francisco (UESF) office in North Beach, at 2310 Mason S t r e e t , o n t h e i r w e b s i t e www.uesf.org, or by phoning their office at 415-956-8373. A p p l i c a t i o n s a r e d u e i n November and then an advisory b o a r d m a d e u p o f b o t h t h e C a l i f o r n i a R e t i r e d T e a c h e r s Association (CRTA) and UESF members review the applications i n D e c e m b e r . A l l g r a n t s a r e confidential. *** A . P . G i a n n i n i , V i r g i n i a S c a t e n a ' s e l d e s t s o n w a s a n e a r l y 1 9 0 6 , S a n F r a n c i s c o earthquake hero. The Bank of Italy founder pressured other bankers to open San Francisco banks right away, as a gesture to their worried customers. He was also known for giving loans to men with no collateral, except a rough handshake. *** T h e b a n k e r o n c e t o l d r e p o r t e r s , " W h e n a m a n h a s more money than he needs, he's a slave to his money." He lived by those words; when Giannini died, despite also founding Bank of America, he had less than $500,000 to his name. He had given untold millions away. *** Accounting Wiz, Fra' Luca Pacioli, explained to the world the Italian method of double- e n t r y b o o k k e e p i n g . P a c i o l i p u b l i s h e d t h i s f i r s t b o o k o f accounting in early November 1494. Although Luca Pacioli, (born at Borgo San Lorenzo) wrote the first bookkeeping manual, it is t h e I t a l i a n B a n k e r s o f t h e Middle Ages that deserve the most credit. The influence of Italian bankers in England, is a t t e s t e d t o o b y t h e f a c t t h a t Lombard Street was so called because the Lombards, were the I t a l i a n m e r c h a n t s w h o o r i g i n a t e d n o t o n l y f r o m Lombardy in Italy, but from other cities as well, principally Florence, who thanks to the support of the Popes and the impetus given to trade by the c r u s a d e s , f o r m e d a s o r t o f establishment for their time, i n a s m u c h a s t h e y h a d a monopoly over money. Most F l o r e n t i n e b a n k e r s w e r e e x c e p t i o n a l l y r i c h a n d w e r e a c t u a l l y m o n e y - l e n d e r s n o t b r a n c h b a n k e r s a s w e k n o w them today, however, several I t a l i a n b a n k i n g f a m i l i e s interested in banking, like the Vetturelli banking family in L o n d o n , a l s o h a d o f f i c e s i n Naples, Tunis and Venice in the early 1500s. *** B a s e b a l l ' s " J o l t i n ' J o e DiMaggio" was born November 25, 1914, to Joe and Rosalie D i M a g g i o , i n M a r t i n e z , California, then a small fishing v i l l a g e , t w e n t y - f i v e m i l e s n o r t h e a s t o f S a n F r a n c i s c o . Joseph Paul DiMaggio was the eighth of nine children born to the young couple. Dom, later Boston Red Sox centerfielder of the 1940s was Joe's little brother a n d t h e i r n i n t h c h i l d . J o e ' s father had settled in Martinez, a f t e r l e a v i n g I s o l a d e l l e Femmine, a small island off the coast of Palermo (Sicilia), where t h e D i M a g g i o s h a d b e e n fishermen for generations. In 1915, when Joe was one year old his father packed his boat with f a m i l y a n d f u r n i s h i n g s a n d moved his fishing operation to San Francisco. Two of his sons, T o m a n d M i c h a e l b e c a m e fishermen. Joe, Vince, and Dom became baseball players. *** Joe was never a big spender, but then as now, the men who o w n e d b a s e b a l l c l u b s complained that athletes were o v e r p a i d a n d n e v e r b e h a v e d generously. The merciless and a u t o c r a t i c m a n n e r i n w h i c h m a n a g e m e n t t r e a t e d J o e DiMaggio and other ballplayers at the time indicated that the relationship between owners and their players was little better t h a n a l e g a l i z e d " p l a n t a t i o n system." When DiMaggio joined the Yankees in 1936 (leaner times, to be sure), he earned $8,500 a year as a rookie player. Ignited by DiMaggio, the Yankees, in each of his first four seasons in New York, won the American league pennant by more than ten games. Three times they won more than 100 games. This did not go unnoticed, and his rookie salary was soon s u p p l e m e n t e d b y a n e n d o r s e m e n t f o r C a m e l cigarettes. (Coffee commercials came a quarter century after his r e t i r e m e n t w h e n D i M a g g i o became the spokesman for Mr. Coffee). 1936 was a big year for Joe's m o t h e r , a 5 7 y e a r - o l d S a n F r a n c i s c o h o u s e w i f e n a m e d R o s a l i e D i M a g g i o . J o e D i M a g g i o s a y s t h a t h i s f i r s t World Series lives with him as perhaps the highlight of his life in baseball. "Here I was," he says, "just a boy and getting to play in the biggest Series in the country." H e a r r a n g e d f o r h i s m o t h e r , R o s a l i e , a n d b r o t h e r T o m t o m a k e t h e t r i p f r o m S a n F r a n c i s c o , f o u r n i g h t s i n a P u l l m a n c a r . T h e N e w Y o r k press was waiting for them, but Mrs. DiMaggio spoke almost no E n g l i s h . P u b l i s h e r s m e t t h i s f e a t u r e d e s k c r i s i s b y dispatching a reporter named B a r t P a g a n i n i , w h o s p o k e Italian. Paganini, reported and the telegram headlined Rosalie's W o r l d S e r i e s s e l e c t i o n " T h e Yankees in Four Straight." "My son Joe," she said, "will win." Mrs. DiMaggio had been in New Y o r k o n c e b e f o r e , p a s s i n g through on the way from Sicily to San Francisco. She said she now really missed real Italian f o o d . S o m e o n e m a d e a f e w phone calls, and Rosalie and Tom were taken by taxi to Little Italy on the Lower East Side, w h e r e t h e y f e a s t e d a t P a p a Moneta's restaurant. L a t e r , t h e p a t r o n s o f t h e restaurant hired Rosalie a taxi for a sightseeing tour that lasted until midnight. "Where was Joe?" Paganini asked. "He told me, 'Mama, I got to go out with the boys'." As the 1936 World Series began, Roosevelt's touring car rolled past DiMaggio in center field, and the President gave him a big smile and a "thumbs-up" s i g n . T h e Y a n k e e s w o n t h e Series, four games to the Giants' two. DiMaggio seemed to have the country at his feet. His World Series share was $6,430. At 21, i n a d e p r e s s i o n e c o n o m y , together with its rookie salary of $8,500, he had earned more than $15,000. Soon he was able to move his f a m i l y f r o m t h e c r a m p e d apartment on Taylor Street to a stone house on Beach St. in San F r a n c i s c o ' s l o v e l y M a r i n a district. He also invested wisely in a restaurant called Joe DiMaggio's Seafood Grotto on Fisherman's W h a r f , w h i c h b r o t h e r T o m m a n a g e d p r o f i t a b l y . T h e Y a n k e e s s o o n d o m i n a t e d baseball, and Joe became known as "The Yankee Clipper." J o e r e t i r e d f r o m t h e N e w York Yankees in 1951. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955 for his flawless center fielding and .325 lifetime batting average. U p o n h i s r e t i r e m e n t J o e became the face of Mr. Coffee a n d o t h e r l u c r a t i v e b u s i n e s s deals. He also lent his name to the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida. LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Amadeo Pietro Giannini

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