| Chapter 1: | Italian Americana 1920s–1930s |
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Prohibition
A heritage of World War I, Prohibition, that unique experiment to deprive Americans from imbibing in alcohol, was a distinctive sensational feature of the “Roaring Twenties” that also contributed to direct the spotlight on immigrant populations as it tended to focus on customs regarding drinking alcoholic beverages that were at variance with prevailing sobriety concepts. There was little appreciation for German beer-drinking customs or Italian wine-drinking practices, so graphically described by novelist John Fante in his memorable autobiography The Wine of Youth wherein he contrasted the pseudo wine used by the priest at mass with that of his father. “My father had swell red stuff in his cellar, … you can down a whole barrel without it fazing you.”7 The notion that to imbibe in alcoholic beverages was to act against the law impacted many an Italian American household where homemade wine created in cellars had become a proud feature of life. The pride Italian Americans took in winemaking was a practice that flourished both during the “dry” period and also the “wet” period following the termination of Prohibition in the 1930s. Unfortunately, the prominence of Italian names among the more notorious Prohibition violators served to exacerbate the problem. It was my impression that perhaps half of the Italian Americans on my block made their own wine. Indeed even though this did not include my family, we had multiple opportunities to purchase the homemade product from neighbors, invariably opting for next door neighbor, volatile Mr. Nene Amodeo’s creation that exuded his fierce personality and could readily produce a near bacchanal state.
Increased Influx
Despite these obstacles, Italian American enclaves in city after city increased significantly as Italian immigrants and their issue improved their lot by dint of hard work and sacrifice.