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Threshing song (Canti dell’aia)
Sciur padrun da li beli braghi bianchi
Uva bianca uva nera
Uva uva
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Work Parties
Work parties involving groups of relatives, neighbours and friends
were common in rural Italy.
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Workers in a field with the Bubba wheat thresher, village of San Giovanni in Galdo, Molise region, Italy, 1958.
Third from left: Luciano Daniele. Fourth from left: Filomena Fiorilli Daniele.
Photograph by Luciano Daniele
Lent by Luciano Daniele, Filomena Daniele and family |
The most spectacular gatherings occurred
at critical times in the agricultural cycle, when families did not have
the resources needed to do the work. Several dozen people might get
together to sow or harvest crops, pick grapes or make wine, for
example.
The tradition of work parties underwent a transformation in the
Canadian urban and industrial context. But Italian-Canadian immigrants
still resort to it from time to time, when preserving tomatoes, or
making wine or sausages at home; building or renovating a house;
organizing community events, etc.
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Wedding dress
Made by Isa Mazzella, with the help of her sister Rosa Mazzella Conte
and other women in the family
U.S.A.
1976
French lace, chiffon, peau-de-soie, seed-pearls
Lent by Loraine Mazzella Maiolo
Work parties, the exchange of services and mutual aid took various
forms in Canada. This wedding dress was made by Mrs. Maiolo's mother,
with the help of a sister, a daughter and five nieces, who met in the
evenings for what they liked to call "the wedding factory". Loraine
Maiolo remembers those evenings as times of celebration. Those shared
moments also gave the family members, who usually lived apart, a chance
to get together and strengthen their relationship.
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