Description

This paper label from the 1930s was used on bottles of Zinfandel produced by the Bargetto family in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains. Zinfandel, a red grape variety favored by Italian producers and consumers, was one of the grapes most widely grown during Prohibition. Its thick, dark skin helped keep the grapes intact during long, cross-country rail shipments to home winemakers back East. During Prohibition (1919-1933) male heads of households were permitted to make up to 200 gallons of wine for home use, a provision that created tremendous demand around the country for winemaking grapes.The Bargetto family’s story reflects in many ways the history of Italians in California, with several themes threaded throughout: multiple migrations between Italy and America, opportunity and work in the wine industry, and the importance of family and community. The first Bargettos to arrive in California were Giuseppe (Joseph) and his eldest son Filippo (Philip), who left their ancestral home in Italy’s Piedmont region, in 1890. They settled among other Italians in the winegrowing area around Mountain View, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where they found work at the Casa Delmas Winery. Although Joseph moved back to Italy two years later, Philip remained until 1902, when he returned to Italy to be married. Three years later Philip and his new family arrived back in California, settling first in San Francisco, then, with remarkable prescience, to Mountain View just before the devastating earthquake and fire in 1906.In 1909, back in San Francisco, the Bargettos opened their first family...

Record Contributed By

National Museum of American History

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution