Italian American Innovators: How their inventions make our daily life just a little bit nicer

The entire world is familiar with the accomplishments of the great Italian inventors, artists and explorers. The artistic contributions of Leonardo DaVinci to the art world, the genius of Guglielmo Marconi to science, and of the discovery of America through the explorations of Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo). But what of the lesser known inventors and innovators, the ones whose creativity and inventions have given America some of its most beloved daily used products and places?

For decades, Saturday morning television acted as a mother's helper, keeping the small fry in the house occupied with their favorite animated morning shows cartoons and weekly series. The Jetsons, Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, and dozens of other characters. These popular TV animations were created by the imaginative mind of Italian American, Joseph Barbera and his partner William Hanna (Scottish-American).

Joseph Barbera had been working as an accountant for a New York bank firm when, to his surprise, Collier’s magazine bought a cartoon he had created. Barbera, inspired by his small success, decided to give up accounting and embarked on a career as a cartoonist. Together, Hanna and Barbera received seven Oscars in the 10-year period that ended in 1953. The names Hanna and Barbera were joined for good when the pair formed Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1957.

The next time you use your Bank of America charge card you can thank Amadeo Giannini, the Italian American executive who founded the Bank of America and made it all possible. Amadeo Pietro ("A.P.") Giannini (1870-1949) established the bank in 1904 in San Francisco. In 1919, he innovated the system of branch banking. Originally called the Bank of Italy, it changed names in 1928 and, in 1998 merged with NationsBank Corp. Giannini financed the Golden Gate Bridge, and the fledgling film industry, including Cecil B. DeMille's "Ten Commandments," and Disney's "Snow White," as well as California's aerospace and agricultural industries.

In the world of fashion there are few of us who haven't heard the names Gucci, Dolce, Cassini or Versace, but what of the man who invented the first California shopping mall, the place where all Americans go to pay homage to these clothing designers The innovator who created suburbia’s shopping malls was Edward J. DeBartolo, the son of Italian immigrants, who worked his way up from construction jobs when he was 13 years old in 1922 to become a successful real estate developer who built the first American shopping plazas in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

One of the products found at a shopping mall would be a relaxing Jacuzzi hot tub. This popular tub and spa was invented by the Jacuzzi family, an Italian family of seven sons and six daughters who came to America from Italy in 1907. In 1915, they formed the Jacuzzi Brothers Incorporated, which supplied the American military with propellers. In 1926, they developed the deep well (jet) water pump that led to the famous whirlpool bath.

Like a lot of American book readers and coffee drinkers, I spend a lot of time at my local Barnes & Noble bookstore. I never thought of the bookstore as having an Italian American connection, but two industrious Italian American men are at the helm of the U.S. book sale industry. Leonard Riggio is the founder and CEO of Barnes & Noble, the largest book store in the nation while Borders, the second largest book store chain in the U.S., is chaired by Robert DiRomualdo.

If you like chocolate (and who doesn’t?), then you probably enjoy a chocolate bar or two. We know chocolate comes from the cocoa bean. But do you know how it became a candy bar? We owe that invention to Domenico Ghirardelli, who, in 1867, perfected a method to make ground chocolate. Today, Ghirardelli chocolate is sold all over the world, including the famous square in San Francisco named after him, where his chocolate factory - now a shopping center -- still stands.

If you’re a peanut lover, then you should know that Mr. Peanut and the Planters Peanut Company (the most popular and prolific of them all) were created by Italian immigrants Amedeo Obici and Mario Peruzzi in 1887 in Pennsylvania. By 1930, the partners had four huge factories, and grossed in over $12 million annually. And that ain’t peanuts!

Most Americans have a favorite commercial Italian food, one of America’s most popular is the trademark "Chef Boyardee". The man behind the nation's leading brand of ready-to-eat spaghetti dinners, pizza, sauce and pasta, was Ettore Boiardi, an Italian immigrant, who began as a chef's apprentice at age 11, eventually opened a restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio and in the 1930s, began selling his pasta and sauce in cans. During World War II, Chef Boyardee (Boiardi) was the largest supplier of rations for the U.S. and Allied Forces. Yes, Virginia, there really was a "Chef Boyardee".

Food icon, "Mama Celeste" is also for real; the industry originated with a real mama Celeste. Celeste Lizio, who came to America during the 1930s and opened a restaurant with her husband in Chicago. She founded Mama Celeste's Pizza, a line of frozen Italian foods that she later sold to Quaker Oats.

When it comes to food and food products, it may be surprising to know that Italian American Jeno Paulucci founded another of America’s favorite foods, Chun King Chow Mein, which he launched with a $2,500 loan in 1946, and sold 20 years later for $63 million in cash. He has also founded Jeno's Pizza Rolls, Luigino's Inc., a line of frozen pasta entrees, and Pasta Lovers Trattorias.

For all those lovers of fast food, you'll be interested to know who invented McDonald’s "Big Mac." The McDonald's sandwich classic was invented by Italian American Jim Delligatti owner of a McDonald's franchise in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since its introduction in 1967, more than 14 billion Big Macs have been sold, making it the most popular sandwich in the world.

And what beverage do we Italian Americans like best with our food? A chilled glass of Gallo Chardonnay or perhaps a room temperature 1995 Gallo Sonoma Pinot Noir? We can thank the Gallo brothers, Ernest and Julio, for creating the Gallo wine company when they took their entire savings of about $5,000, and began producing wine from the vineyards their father had owned in California when Prohibition was lifted in 1933. They made a profit of $34,000 in their first year of business and helped launch California's wine industry. Today Italian Americans own more than 100 popular wineries in the U.S.

 

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