demolition of late 19th century building once housing chicago’s oldest italian food importer weeks away

near the intersection of grand and halsted, demolition was recently handed to a 19th century building which, until relatively recently, housed chicago’s oldest italian food importer -- a family business that operated from 710 w. grand for over a century. in documenting and salvaging the interior and exterior 4-story brick structure shortly before it is razed in the coming weeks, we discovered multiple "steamer" trunks filled with turn of the century heirloom artifacts – an utterly surprising time capsule of the family who lived and worked there.

in 1892, vincenzo formusa arrived to chicago from sicily. his parents had both passed away, but as a young man he learned his family's trade of jewelry and watchmaking. with these skills he set up his own shop on grand avenue, where he would eventually create a generation-spanning import business that is today 118 years running.

after several years spent helping other immigrants migrate to new york and chicago (and working as a broker), vincenzo had a large web of contacts among italians in the midwest. the desire among these communities for italian ingredients, led to his formation in 1898 of the first italian food import in chicago, the vincenzo formusa company. with family back in italy facilitating the import of pasta, oil, cheese, and tomatoes, he soon created a thriving business that allowed his wife to join him in chicago, where they had 4 children who would later join the business. they created what is popularly recognized as the "marconi" label. additionally, in the early 20th century they patented olive oil labeled with the family name.

the company operated continuously from the same site on grand avenue, even weathering trade interruption during world war II, and expanded to occupy five buildings in total. still, throughout the century they remained in the original 4-story brick building, with its storeroom and three flats. last year, the business relocated to des plaines, and continues to be run by the granddaughter of the founder (fourth generation). since they vacated the building rather recently, it is unclear why the remnants of the family were left behind.

the building's interior was in disrepair and badly neglected (the unused upper two floors had been sealed off since the depression), but this portal to the past -- containing old letters, italian newspapers, pins, regalia from a sicilian fraternity, and early 20th century clothing -- opened a window into another era of life, when the neighborhood was a "little italy," rather than a target for "transit-oriented development."

the time capsule lent a sentimental dimension to the salvage, with the recovery of an italian family's depression-era detritus. still research turns up additional fascinating information. a snippet of life in the neighborhood during the early 20th century is glimpsed by way of a november 1907 chicago tribune article which in fact mentions v. formusa. the food importer is named on an executive committee that formed "the white hand movement." it seems the founder of marconi food products was an active participant in a neighborhood organization countering the "black hand," a mafia-like group of blackmailers who terrorized the city. along with several other bankers, merchants and lawyers, v. formusa, apparently contributed some effort to a "special police force" (comprised of 1,000 detectives and a "war fund") that would address violence and extortion where chicago police were understood to be "at sea dealing with foreigners."

more to follow in an upcoming post.