Rouses_March-April-2018_FINAL-rev

the Authentic Italian issue

[LEFT] Banana shipments arriving at New Orleans’ docks [RIGHT] New Orleans French Market

Many budding Italian entrepreneurs had stalls at the French Market where business was almost all wholesale. Chisesi Brothers, now famous for their hams, started in the French Market selling live chickens from a basket.

But for most immigrants, agriculture was the main attraction. One entrepreneur who capitalized on that was Alessandro Mastro- Valerio, who in 1888 established an agricultural colony on the Eastern Shore of Baldwin County, Alabama. Mastro-Valerio bought land in the area now known as Belforest. After subdividing the property, he went in search of would-be landowners, running ads in Northern newspapers to lure immigrants who came mainly from Central and Northern Italy via Ellis Island. Mastro-Valerio’s plan was a success. His agricultural roots run deep in Baldwin County at farms like A.A. Corte and Sons in Daphne. Francesco “Frank” Manci also helped create Lower Alabama’s agriculture industry. Manci opened the area’s first cotton gin in 1900. In 1901, its first sawmill. Manci shipped the first potatoes out of Baldwin County. Other Italian immigrants built processing facilities in Loxley on the rail line to make shipping produce north and northeast more feasible. THE ITALIAN FRENCH MARKET Like farming, produce vending was a common livelihood for Italian immigrants who settled around the Gulf Coast. In 1923, having saved enough money working at the family truck farm in Marrero, J.P. Rouse and his wife, the former Leola Pitre, moved to Thibodaux, where he opened City Produce

all wholesale. The Chisesi Brothers, now famous for their hams, started in the French Market selling live chickens from a basket. Other immigrants peddled food from horse-drawn carriages and later trucks. Each salesman traveled the same route each day, so people knew when and where to look for him. The Dole Fruit Company traces its roots back to the early French Quarter fruit carts.The Vaccaro brothers, who peddled fruit, joined another immigrant family, the D’Antonis of Baton Rouge, to form the Standard Fruit & Steamship Company. They dominated the banana business and helped make New Orleans the world’s largest fruit importer in the early 19 th century. Dole acquired 55% interest in the Standard Fruit & Steamship Company in 1964. It later acquired 100%. Giuseppe Uddo, the founder of Progresso Foods, also started as a peddler, selling olives, cheeses and tomato paste in New Orleans, first from a horse-drawn carriage —his horse was named Sal — and later from a truck. Eventually Uddo purchased a small warehouse on Decatur Street. After WorldWar I, Uddo bought a tomato paste factory owned by the Vaccaro brothers in Riverdale, California, and business expanded from there. THE SPAGHETTI DISTRICT

Company. He bought fruits and vegetables from big farms in nearby Chackbay and Choctaw, then trucked them to the public markets including the French Market. Many budding Italian entrepreneurs had stalls at the French Market in New Orleans, where business was almost

The Lower Quarter was also home to several macaroni manufacturing factories. In 1902, Giacomo “Jacob” Cusimano built the largest macaroni factory in the United States at the corner of Barracks and Chartres. The factory was capable of churning out 10,000 pounds of pasta a day.

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY MARCH | APRIL 2018