Sons of our race! Help your motherland! Buy Italian! Italian propaganda through food ads among Italian American ethnic communities at the turn of the century

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay will focus on the political meanings about food consumption among Italian Americans at the turn of the Century underlining how and where these meanings were spread and affected the idea of ‘italianness’. Food advertisements published on ethnic newspapers reported political messages and the images of great Italian personalities, such as Giuseppe Garibaldi, Cristoforo Colombo or Dante Alighieri, fostering the sense of nostalgia among migrants. Similarly, some brands were named after personalities such as D’Annunzio and Mussolini, to emphasize political affinity to the motherland The groceries and other small food shops that sold these goods represented not only a place to buy things, but also a hangout for the ethnic community and depicted the landscape of the ethnic neighbor. Often the owner came from the same village of his customers and became a symbol because his origin ensured the authenticity of the products. Go to a particular shop and buy a particular food could represent a political choice. Italian Governments, and above all Fascist Regime, forced migrants to demonstrate to be loyal patriots and kin with the family left in Italy buying Italian products first.