L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE M ore, January jottings with Italian Connec- tion. As 2018 begins, I thought Readers "who were not born yesterday" would enjoy a trip down memory lane, culled from the 1989 pages of Comm Unico, magazine of Unico National, the largest Italian American Service O rganization in the U nited States. WE ARE SURVIVORS! We were born before televi- sion, before penicillin, before polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, plastic, contact lenses, Frisbees and the P ill. We w ere born before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ballpoint pens. Before pantyhose, dish- washers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip dry clothing, and before man walked on the moon. We got married first and then lived together. How quaint can you be? In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out," Bunnies were small rab- bits, and rabbits were not Volk- swagens.  We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and Outer Space was the back of the movie theater. We were born before hous e hus bands , gay rights, computer dating, dual careers and commuter marriages. We were born before day care centers and group therapy. We never heard of F.M. radio, tape decks, electronic typewriters, artificial hearts, word proces- sors, and except for pirates guys weren't wearing earrings. For us timesharing meant together- ness...not computers or condo- miniums. A chip meant a piece of wood. Hardware meant hard- ware and software wasn't even a word. Back then "Made in Japan" meant junk and the term "mak- ing out" referred to how you did on your exam. We hit the scene where there were 5 and 10 cents stores where you bought things for a nickel or a dime. For one nickel you could ride street car, make a phone call, buy a P eps i or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. You could buy a new Chevy coupé for $600, but who could afford one? A pity too, because gas was 11 cents a gal- lon! In our days grass was mowed, COKE a cold drink and POT was something you cooked in. ROCK MUSIC was a Grand- ma's lullaby and AIDS were helpers in the Principal's Office. We were certainly not before the difference between the sexes was discovered, but we were the last generation that was so dumb as to think you needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder there is such a generation gap today...But, WE SURVIVED! *** The Romans were ancient masters at harnessing water. The City of Rome had 11 aqueducts that serviced the city of Rome alone. The source of the water traveled miles, flowing by gravi- ty along the contours of land through a series of aqueducts that provided w ater through pipes to cities, fountains, homes, public latrines and baths. Perhaps there is no greater achievement of Rome's technological prowess than in architecture. Whichever lands the Romans conquered they introduced their engineering knowledge to them and changed their culture. *** T he bes t thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time. Abraham Lincoln  *** The Dole Food Company was started in 1899 by the Vaccaro brothers, Sicilian immigrants, and Salvatore D'Antoni. Initial- ly, the company was called the Standard Fruit Company and began importing bananas to New Orleans from Honduras. It was acquired in the 1960's by the Castle & Cooke Corporation, and it is known today as the Dole Food Company. *** Earthquakes are often detect- ed by animals long before they are detected by humans many miles away. In the book Farms, Factories and Families (The His- torical Roots of Southern Italian Women) author Anthony V. Ric- cio interviewed dozens of elderly Italian American women living in Connecticut, and included their stories in his book. Here is an excerpt: Antoinette Tommasi Mazzot- ta said her father Tommasi's wine was well known in the area of P achino in S icily. P eople often recited this rhyme:"O' vino di Pachino/È sempre fino, The wine of Pachino is always fine." My parents were newlywed in November nineteen-oh-eight. They were married in Melilli, Sicily, and then they went to their home in Pachino. It was their first Christmas and they were going back to Melilli to cel- ebrate the holiday with her fami- ly. There were no cars in those days and they were traveling by horse and buggy. After a few steps the horse stopped. And he wouldn't move. They were hitting him and he wouldn't move. They stayed there for a while. My mother kept saying, "But why isn't he going?" So they just had to wait until he felt like moving. When they got to Melilli, the people were saying, "C'è stato un terre- moto a Messina! E distrutta com- pletamente! There was an earth- quake in Messina and the city is completely destroyed!" It was the earthquake of nineteen-oh- eight in Messina. Thousands and thousands of people were killed; they had to build a new Messina becaus e the w hole city w as des troyed. That's w hen that horse felt the ground shaking under his feet, and he wouldn't budge. They couldn't feel it. They didn't know w hy he stopped, but the horse did. *** On more than one occasion, the definition of Cavaliere has been requested. Cavaliere as used by Italians or Italian Americans, is an honor granted by the Italian govern- ment bestowed upon outstanding individuals who have distin- guished themselves in their fields of expertise on behalf of the Ital- ian community. It is a special knighthood w hich gives the recipient a title which may be us ed before his or her name thereafter. The following titles are issued in four ranks: Cavaliere (Cav.): Knight, Cavaliere Ufficiale (Cav. Uff.): Knight Officer, Commendatore (comm.): Knight Commander, and Grande Ufficiale (Gr. Uff): Grand Officer. Sometimes non-Italians are awarded the title of Cavaliere as, in San Francisco, the cases of the late Ben Swig, owner of the Fair- mont Hotel, for his effort on behalf of Italian boys towns, and Adolph Schuman, founder of Lill Ann Fashions, for helping to rebuild a devastated fabric and fashion industry in Italy after World War II.

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