|
Circa 1951 Carmelo Pennisi on piano accordion and Agatha Florio (step sister) playing guitar. Photo courtesy of Carmelo Pennisi.
Circa 1938 Visiting relations of Salvatore Cardillo & daughter, Giuseppina, explore the unique granite formations of the district &enjoy a picnic nearby. Photo courtesy of M. Scalora.
Bortolo Favaro picking apples on his farm with wife & daughter helping. Arriving in Australia 1931, settling in Applethorpe in 1936. - Photo courtesy of F. Favaro
Circa late 1930’s. Grape Harvest at a Ballandean farm, Linda Torrisi’s uncle, Len Caruso, grandmother Leonarda Caruso, grandfather Rosario Caruso & cousin, Ross Pennisi, help with the harvest. Photo courtesy of L. Torrisi
Circa 1948. After a hard day’s work, sometimes it was time for the family to party, even dancing in the open. Photo courtesy of Alfina Girgenti
Circa 1953. Young Italians enjoying a Sunday afternoon picnic at Undercliff Falls, Rivertree. Photo courtesy of Edward Zanatta. |
|
The Granite Belt is privileged to have a strong Italian heritage as part of its short regional history. From 1874 when Italian Catholic priest Father Girolamo Davadi first arrived to take charge of the Granite Belt parish, to when the first wave of Italian immigrants settled on the Granite Belt between 1925 and 1936, our Australian - Italians have contributed so much to our community in business, community life and its love of food, wine, music and laughter. After WW II the Australian Government embarked on a widespread Soldiers’ Settlement Scheme. In many instances this scheme was not successful and soldier settlers walked away from their settlement blocks.
As a result Italian immigrants were able to purchase a home and farm at giveaway prices. Mr Bruno Zanatta commented on one of these home purchases for an exhibition of Italian photographs organised by the Dante Alighieri Society and curated by the Stanthorpe Art Gallery. Mr Zanatta noted that his father Pietro was working for Giovanni Reginato in 1933. He borrowed £50 from him. £45 was paid ‘up front’ and the balance of £5 was retained as interest. With this capital he purchased a property at Pozieres named Gittswick (later Biltmore Orchards). The farm came with a good house, horse and cart, and cow.
“When we arrived at the farm there were two acres of potatoes. For the next twelve months we ate potatoes. For meat, we ate well on rabbits and from our cow we had milk and cheese, butter, cream and ricotta.” In Italy, family farms were self sufficient - growing apples, olives, other fruit and vegetables and a few cattle. The farms were small and the families large. In the 1920’s young entrepreneurial men decided to emigrate. Australia being the chosen land, and with Italians already established on cane farms in Ingham-Queensland was the logical place to settle. Interestingly, Italians of northern Italy settled in the northern Granite Belt and were largely responsible for establishing our apple and pear industry. Meanwhile Italians of southern Italy, mainly Sicily, settled in the southern Granite Belt, and made the table grape growing industry their enterprise.
From left over table grapes and from the old Isabella grapes, wine was made and consumed mainly by the families and countrymen. Wine grapes were introduced in the 1960’s and the industry grew from there to what it is today. On Sundays families with horse and cart would visit neighbours and friends, playing bocce (Italian bowls) outside on a dirt track with a bottle of wine close at hand. The younger men played soccer and the women on the other hand would sit inside chatting. After an evening meal, the piano accordion provided music for song and dance. Picnics were also very popular. Friends and relatives would gather by a creek with plenty of water. Food was brought along by every family. It was laid out on tablecloths over boxes or clean grass. Everyone helped themselves. The younger generation would enjoy swimming and jumping from tree limbs into the creek. Men played the usual bocce on the roadside. A portable gramophone was always on hand to provide music, as well as the piano accordion and sometimes a guitar and mandolin.
A proud Italian heritage has been passed on through generations on the Granite Belt and many of the families of the first Italian immigrants to the area remain here today, carrying on the traditions and innovative approach to living of the past.
Special thanks to the Dante Alighieri Society of Stanthorpe for allowing us use of information and photography from the “Italian Pioneers of Stanthorpe” Collection.
|
|
