In December, 2002, my first cousin, Rose (Lentine) Green, was sorting out old papers and various photographs from the estate of her mother, Maria (Mariano) Lentine Critelli. Maria was the oldest sister of my mother, Caterina (Mariano) Migliazzo.
We had just had our Mariano Family Reunion and she knew I was researching our family history.
One very special photograph was of our great-grandparents, Tommaso and Maria (Trapasso) Paonessa, with our uncle, Louis Tommaso Mariano, taken around 1910-1911. It is glued onto a post-card sized type of poster board.
The back of the card has the name of the photographer’s studio. Di Scarpino and Figli, Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy, along with a notation, Specialita per Bambini (Specializing in Baby Photographs).
Rose died a month after giving me this photo. Needless to say, I was very grateful for her gift as I didn’t know anything about my great-grandparents or the story of why only my uncle was in the photo.
As I understand the story, told to me by my mother’s sister, Angelina (Mariano) Nudo, born in Niagara Falls, NY, and still living, my great-grandparents were distraught over my grandparents’ decision to emigrate to America.
My grandfather, Agostino Salvatore Mariano (ship manifest records list him as Salvatore Agostini Mariano) traveled from Gimigliano to Genoa sailed on the Duca Degli Abruzzi, arriving at Ellis Island on May 9, 1909. After settling in America he sent for my grandmother, Maria Saveria (Paonessa) Mariano. She sailed from Naples on the Cretic and arrived at Ellis Island on September 17, 1909, with her daughters Maria (age eight) and Caterina (age nine months). Left behind in Gimigliano with my great-grandparents was my grandparents’ only son at the time, Luigi (age four).
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Because my Uncle Louie was the first and only grandson, my great-grandparents expressed their wish to keep him with them for a few years. It was agreed, and my grandmother was sent off to America with her two daughters. My great-grandfather did eventually bring my uncle to America and I am in the process of researching when they arrived.
My grandmother had a total of 13 children, the three born in Italy and ten in America (of whom seven died at birth or shortly thereafter). I’m in the process of researching when and where they were born and their whereabouts.
My mother, who died in 1992, told me she remembers at least three girls that were born in Niagara Falls, each of whom were named Mary. She described them as beautiful, healthy, cherub-looking babies, who died shortly after birth.
I didn’t know my great-grandfather’s first name or my great-grandmother’s surname until I obtained a copy of my grandmother’s death certificate. What a great find!
Now, about the photograph, which is the oldest picture in our family.
The dress my great-grandmother is wearing is very unusual. This dress has led me to research the dresses of Italian women from Calabria.
I tried to narrow down the significance of this type of dress that was worn in the hometown of my great-grandparents and grandparents, Gimigliano.
This was not an easy task, as not much is readily available on the subject of everyday attire worn by the peasant class. Unfortunately, more has been written about the clothing worn by the nobility, which was much more elaborate.
Maybe 100 years ago, the peasant class wore simple everyday dresses, which are now considered to be what I would classify as a folk dress. These folk dresses are most likely the ones worn in Italian festivals today.
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My research shows the peasant folk dress is the regional dress of people who have retained the original basic design and artistic qualities of their ancestors’ clothes.
These garments reveal the influence of religion, superstition, festivals and historical events of earlier times.
In the south, the predominant colors are red, green and maroon. Blouses are made of linen or cotton; bodices and jackets velvet; and aprons of lace, silk, cotton, linen or velvet.
Many existing Italian costumes, embroidery, designs, patterns of materials and dances stem from the Renaissance period.
Before the unification of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III, the various states had developed their own characteristics, customs and costumes.
My ancestors were farmers in the high mountains of Gimigliano Inferiore, and this appears to be their local folk dress, which stems from the 18th Century.
As you can see in the photograph, the dress appears to be an ankle-length, dark colored dress (probably red, green or maroon) of heavy quality, with a white cotton (or possibly silk) blouse underneath.
The long sleeves appear to be trimmed in velvet. A long dark colored apron is tied around the waist, showing a white and possibly red or green stripe around the bottom. At the end of the hem is another larger, white stripe or added piece of material.
There is a long veil type of head-piece pinned to the top of her head extending down her back. This type of headdress (which looks like a tablecloth) is found in central and southern areas of Italy and is known as the tovaglia. It is designed to protect the back of the neck and the head from the sun. It can be worn in many different ways. It is made from linen that is starched and folded to form a type of veil.
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The Gimigliano folk dress appears to be a variation of folk dresses found in different regions throughout Calabria and other parts of Italy.
When Ulysses mythically landed in Calabria, he commented not only on the hospitality offered by the people, but also that the women of this lush land were the most beautiful that he ever saw.
The apparel that Calabrians wore evolved with the Greek and Roman conquests and remained the same until the last century.
Up until early 1900, Calabria was known throughout Europe as a producer of fine silk and traditional costumes reflect this.
Today, Calabria is known as a silk producer to a smaller market, people who have been lucky enough to discover its secrets of style, colors and prices from a hundred years ago. One town close to Gimigliano is Tiriolo, well known for its hand-woven, classic silk shawls. Worn on the sholulders, they are long and colorful and are still worn in high fashion in Italy today.
Torre di Ruggiero became an important center of trade because of its passing point between the mountains that rise from the Ionian Sea on the east; the Tyrrhenean Sea on the west coast of the Calabrian/Italian peninsula, and the bluffs that eventually dive into the Mediterranean Sea near Sicily in the South.
Two traditional costumes are attributed to Torre, but these folk dresses are not work today.
However, when I visited Girifalco, Calabria, the hometown of my father, Rocco Migliazza, in 1997, I did see a woman walking along a rural road dressed in a variation of this folk dress, carrying a basket on her head with produce from the farm.
References:
• The Dictionary of Costum, R. Turon Wilcox, pg. 263
• Folk Costumes of the World, Robert Harrold and illustrated by Phyllida Legg, pgs. 57-61
• Excerpts taken from the website of Traditional Costumes of Torre and Calabria, http://www.intercomm.it/Calabria/sag
The Italians of Niagara Falls 