Heritage Community Foundation PresentsAlberta Online Encyclopedia
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Home>> People and Communities>> Ethnocultural Communities>> Alberta's Italian Community>> Entrepreneurship>> Photo Gallery |
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| Entrepreneurship Photo Gallery | ||
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 Fumagalli came to Canada in 1911 arriving in Hillcrest in April with $20 in his pockets. His first job was as a tipple worker for the Hillcrest Collieries and then in the mechanic shop at the mine. He heard the explosion in the No. 1 tunnel in 1914 and helped to work the horses and wagons hauling the dead from the wash house to the Union Hall. In 1914, he bought two movie projectors and started a movie theatre in the Hillcrest Miner’s Hall. He then bought a draying business including a livery barn with horses, buggies, sleighs and wagons. In 1914, he bought a Model T Ford and started up a taxi service. This grew into a thriving garage and eventually a General Motors dealership. In 1929, he moved to Blairmore and opened the Red Trail Motors. He continued to learn and obtained mechanics and welders certificates.',13))
![Even the most respectable Italian families participated in making spirits and bootlegging. According to Aldo Montalbetti, his Uncle Jack Sartoris was "in the business." The young man joined him on his bootlegging trips with his buggy pulled by his horse Garibaldi (likely named for the founder of the Italian state). When "things got hot," Mr. Sartoris returned to Italy where he lived to a ripe old age.](javascript:Dynapop(2,'images/glenbow/na-3903-91_det.jpg','Even the most respectable Italian families participated in making spirits and bootlegging. According to Aldo Montalbetti, his Uncle Jack Sartoris was "in the business." The young man joined him on his bootlegging trips with his buggy pulled by his horse Garibaldi (likely named for the founder of the Italian state). When "things got hot," Mr. Sartoris returned to Italy where he lived to a ripe old age.',1))
![Emilio Picariello was born in Sicily in 1875 and emigrated to Canada arriving in Toronto around 1900. He was an electrician but he and his wife Marian operated a confectionary store. The family of nine moved to Fernie in 1911 where he worked in the Macaroni Factory operated by G. Maraniro. He eventually took it over when Mr. Maraniro moved to Lethbridge to open a new factory. According to community histories, he was a big man who loved life and was extremely entrepreneurial. He developed a foodstuff business which included a large ice cream manufacturing centre with ice cream parlours in Trail, BC, and Blairmore, Alberta. He began to gather beer bottles, which earned him the name, "E. Pick, The Bottle King" (subsequently, the Emperor Pick). By 1916, he had 27,000 beer bottled and the breweries had to deal with him. From there, he moved to importing liquor and, eventually, bootlegging. It was inevitable that tragedy would strike this larger than life character and this happened in September, 1921, when his son Steve in a liquor run encountered Constable Steve Lawson. Steve was shot and it appears that Emilio sought vengeance by killing Constable Lawson. For this, he and his son’s girlfriend, Florence Lossandro, were executed in May, 1923, in the Fort Saskatchewan Jail, Edmonton. For the media, he was "the Al Capone of the Pass," and this negative shadow has resulted in a stereotyping that Canadians of Italian descent still struggle with today.](javascript:Dynapop(2,'images/glenbow/pic_1_det.jpg','Emilio Picariello was born in Sicily in 1875 and emigrated to Canada arriving in Toronto around 1900. He was an electrician but he and his wife Marian operated a confectionary store. The family of nine moved to Fernie in 1911 where he worked in the Macaroni Factory operated by G. Maraniro. He eventually took it over when Mr. Maraniro moved to Lethbridge to open a new factory. According to community histories, he was a big man who loved life and was extremely entrepreneurial. He developed a foodstuff business which included a large ice cream manufacturing centre with ice cream parlours in Trail, BC, and Blairmore, Alberta. He began to gather beer bottles, which earned him the name, "E. Pick, The Bottle King" (subsequently, the Emperor Pick). By 1916, he had 27,000 beer bottled and the breweries had to deal with him. From there, he moved to importing liquor and, eventually, bootlegging. It was inevitable that tragedy would strike this larger than life character and this happened in September, 1921, when his son Steve in a liquor run encountered Constable Steve Lawson. Steve was shot and it appears that Emilio sought vengeance by killing Constable Lawson. For this, he and his son’s girlfriend, Florence Lossandro, were executed in May, 1923, in the Fort Saskatchewan Jail, Edmonton. For the media, he was "the Al Capone of the Pass," and this negative shadow has resulted in a stereotyping that Canadians of Italian descent still struggle with today.',1))
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 started the store in 1928 with Mrs. Angela DeCecco. Mr. Toppano worked for the International Mine as a "dinky driver" until 1941 when he and his wife became the sole proprietors of the store. He continued to run the store after his wife’s death in 1943 until his retirement in 1975. He served on the Town Council, Board of Trade and the B.P.O. Elks as well as being involved in the Italian Society.',13))
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 Miglierina came from Varese to Frank in 1911 working first on the railroad and then moving to mine work in Hillcrest, Bankhead and finally Drumheller. It was there that he met his future wife Teresa Rosetti who was visiting her sister. In 1917, they built the People’s Bakery on Third Avenue East in Drumheller, which operated as a bakery and confectionery until 1949. He was joined by his brother Enrico in 1923 who later worked for him. The bakery, known as "The Peeps" was a popular community gathering place.',1))
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![Antonio ("Tony") Pavan was born in 1896 in Breda Di Piave, Treviso, northern Italy and came to Lethbridge in 1914 where he worked as a boiler washer at the No. 3 Mine. In 1919, he married Isabella Tokar born in 1896 in Komena, Bucovina. The couple moved to Wigan where they operated a small store. In 1920, they built a general store in the Coalhurst Main Street. T. Pavan & Co. opened "miner’s hours"—9 to 6 every day except 9 to 1 on Wednesdays and 9 to 9 on Saturdays. They also had a small farm at which they operated an abattoir and Mr. Pavan did his own slaughtering and butchering. He was a councilor the Village of Coalhurst and a founding member of the Italian Society. After retiring, they moved to Lethbridge.](javascript:Dynapop(2,'images/coalhurst/625_unit08_det.jpg','Antonio ("Tony") Pavan was born in 1896 in Breda Di Piave, Treviso, northern Italy and came to Lethbridge in 1914 where he worked as a boiler washer at the No. 3 Mine. In 1919, he married Isabella Tokar born in 1896 in Komena, Bucovina. The couple moved to Wigan where they operated a small store. In 1920, they built a general store in the Coalhurst Main Street. T. Pavan & Co. opened "miner’s hours"—9 to 6 every day except 9 to 1 on Wednesdays and 9 to 9 on Saturdays. They also had a small farm at which they operated an abattoir and Mr. Pavan did his own slaughtering and butchering. He was a councilor the Village of Coalhurst and a founding member of the Italian Society. After retiring, they moved to Lethbridge. ',21))
![Brilliant Mine Workers - 1945](javascript:Dynapop(2,'images/clozza/clozza_14_det.jpg','In 1924, a small group of miners, headed by Luigia Stocco, purchased the Sunshine Mine in Wayne. The company hired mostly Italian miners and the Sunshine Camp became, in effect, a "Little Italy." The Mine continued to operate until it was exhausted in 1941 and the group went on to operate the Brilliant Mine. For a time they also operated the Mine in Midlandvale. The enterprise was unique in Canada.',3))
For more on coal mining in Western Canada, visit Peel’s Prairie Provinces.