additional artifacts from vincent formusa's "time capsule" found within his shop on grand avenue documented

as covered in a prior post, last week brought about the salvage of a century-old three-flat commercial masonry structure located near grand and halsted, set to be demolished in the near future. the facade belies somewhat its historic character as residence and production space of the city's first italian food importer.

astoundingly, the building’s interior upper floors had essentially been sealed off, seemingly since the depression era, and within one of these dark and neglected rooms were a number of strapped wooden and pressed tin steamer trunks (impressive in scale and even adorned with decorative leatherwork) filled with unusual ephemera, clothing, bottles and other memorabilia belonging to the family who lived and worked within its walls for a century.

artifacts within bore witness to a well-recorded but lesser known history, of an eminent sicilian who made chicago his home during the late 19^th century. in this doomed building on grand avenue, vincenzo formusa got his start by selling jewelry and watches, and soon after created his import business in the city, an enterprise which flourishes to this day.

items unveiled in what was essentially a walk-in “time capsule” corroborate every phase of the family’s life, from old black and white photographs depicting the original storefront, to delicate metal timepieces, and tin containers of olive oil with original product still inside.

ribbons and pins reflect formusa’s network in new york and chicago, where he assisted italians traveling or migrating to the united states. as for his life before arriving to america, several ribbons indicate his membership in or fraternity with sicilian society by the trinacria, a gorgon forming a triangular configuration with three bent legs around a central head.

the images included in this post intends to share the rare photographs, abandoned clothing, and mysterious labels and drawings which were unexpectedly recovered.

one  of the more thrilling finds, among all the odd remnants, was a pair of decorative wrought iron gates which early on guarded the entryway to formusa’s original storefront. taken alongside this architectural piece is a haunting black and white photo which depicts "marconi" founder and/or family member (possibly son) and original tenant, standing in the doorway of his family's watchmaking business. the formusa family member appears much shorter than the metalwork-- a man from another time and place lending human scale to the building which would outlast him.