#52Ancestors52Weeks....Week 46...Cultural.....The Tradition of Swaddling and The Brondolo Fasce (Swaddling Band)

 

 This mysterious roll of embroidered linen belonged to the Brondolo Family. What was it used for?? 

 

   This mysterious and intriguing roll of embroidered cloth has been in the box of Brondolo/Bertonasco pictures for years.  I have unrolled it on occasion, wondering what it was, how it was used and who it belonged to.  It was a mystery!  

 

 When the piece is unrolled, it is 6 feet in length.  It has a width of 6 1/2 inches.  It has strings on the finished end for tying. 

The finished end, underside, with  strings for tying. 

 "Amato Bene" means "Loved Well" or "Beloved" in Italian.  The embroidery was not done by hand, but by machine. 

 Amato Bene is repeated along with the pattern.  

      Was this a keepsake from a wedding? A confirmation?  A wall hanging or a table runner?  I found a Facebook group for all things 'Italian Genealogy' and several members knew right away that this was a beautiful  swaddling cloth.  It must have belonged to my grandmother Tersilla Palmina Brondolo, born in Vesime, Northern Italy, on March 31, 1911.  The swaddling cloth, or band, could have also been used for her siblings Emilio, Celestina, Francesco, Agostino and  Guilio.  Considering the relatively good condition it is in, it may have only been used for Nino (Tersilla) who was the baby of the family.  Sadly, we have no photographs of her as a baby. 

   After discovering what the cloth was used for I did some quick research into the practice of swaddling and its cultural significance.  I also found pictures of swaddling bands that were very similar to ours.  

   Swaddling is an ancient practice that has been passed down through generations and cultures. From ancient Greece to Roman times through the Medieval period and up to the 1800's, the practice of wrapping babies helped promote a sense of security and warmth, helped promote better sleep,  and served to limit a baby's movement to prevent accidental injury. It was also thought to prevent limbs from growing crooked.  Swaddling garments were often adorned with intricate designs and patterns to reflect the cultural artistry and craftsmanship of each society. Italian swaddling bands could be beautiful works of art...

 This is a needlepoint (cutwork) lace swaddling band made in Italy, Sicily, in the 16th century.  From the Cleveland Museum of Art. 

     The embroidery on our swaddling band appears to have been done by machine.  A contributor on the Italian Genealogy Facebook site suggested that it may have been done on a special embroidery machine after the turn of the century.  She said that it was not unusual for young girls to do this kind of embroidery after school hours.  These types of bands are still beautiful! 

This was advertised on Etsy as an "antique Italian swaddling band" from the 1920's.  It is made of cotton.  This one has Mille Baci embroidered on it....or "thousand kisses".  So sweet!  And very similar in style to ours. 

     Swaddling is a practice that was once widespread in Italy and much of Europe and the Mediterranean.  In fact, it was still a part of baby care in Italy, Germany and Russia up until the 1960's.  

  Linen fasce (baby band) from Italy, 1600-1625; Victoria and Albert Museum

This is how it was done!

Swaddling has come back in style with new parents these days, although in a more modern form.  Pictured are my grandchildren; both were swaddled as babies.  

Photograph taken in 2021. 

Amato Bene! 

Fasce:  Swaddling

      

References:

Victoria and Albert Collections

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O38155/swaddling-band-unknown/

Baby Wrapping-Traditional Baby Swaddling in Italy and Beyond October 29, 2018 Michael Curtotti     https://beyondforeignness.org/7340

{{cite web|title=Needlepoint (Cutwork) Lace Swaddling Band|url=https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1920.1132|author=|year=16th century|access-date=14 November 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

#52Ancestors52Weeks....Week 30...Boats...."Hello My Dear Ones"....Nino Traveled By Steam Ship to Italy in 1934

   S.S. California List of Passengers (front cover)

1934

S.S. California List of Passengers (inside)

Tersilla Brondolo's name appeared as Miss T. P. Brondolo from San Francisco, destination: Genoa Italy.  The Lloyd Triestina shipping company was created in 1919 and ran passenger services all around the world. 

  S.S. California List of Passengers

Back

Nino's passport picture.  She was still an Italian Citizen at the time of this trip, and did not become a naturalized citizen of the United States until 1936. 

       I posted on June 29th, 2024 about my paternal grandmother Terry Brondolo (Nino) and her trip to Vesime, Italy in 1934.  She was 23 years old.  She took many pictures of her family still in Italy on that trip,  which I shared.  How did she get there?  What was that trip like?  Thankfully, she saved small nuggets of memorabilia, postcards, and her "log" which give us an idea of what steam ship travel was like in 1934!   

  Nino began her "Log" on April 14, 1934 "Somewhere out at sea nearly four and one half miles from San Francisco".  I will at some point scan her papers and another notebook and transcribe them.  Her beautiful handwriting can be hard to read!  But for now, let's begin her trip.  

    Nino's "Log", page 1

   On page 2 Nino described "A most memorable scene...is our own Golden Gate, as I watched it while we were steaming thru, with the Presidio, Cliff House and Beach on one side, and the Sausalito Hills and part of our new bridge on the other, while the sun was just beginning to wend its way to the other part of our world".  And off she went! 

  She went on to describe her room on board...."After conversing and walking a bit I came down to my cabin to unpack, as I decided to stay.  It really is more lovely than it seemed at first, for I have more privacy and it is so cozy and snug.  In fact, I have a large board panel in my dresser which I pull out, and on which I am now writing".  She made use of the ship's stationery to write letters as well as her log. 

Post card of the  "Salone da Pranzo" or

Dining Saloon on the S.S. California

   Nino described her first lunch on board...."Now for lunch--first, antispasto of all kinds such as we have when we entertain company including mushrooms al olio, etc. Then came ravioli, and not until then did I realize today is Sunday! Veal and potato chips and egg plant followed sausages and sour kraut (?)  Then pastry ...and cheese of three kinds, with fruit and strawberries and cream--ah! Now let me tell you, the courses were served by a gallant young man, with white gloves on, if you please, and each item we had a different plate, even a different fork and knife with each change.  Oh boy I'd hate to be the dishwasher!  Honest to--he changed plates, knives and forks seven times, no foolin'!  And, Louie, take note, we had vino bianco di Santa Margarita-and it was good-also a bottle of vino rosso,  Chianti Ruffino,  which was almost better.  Flowers on the table and music at intervals made a delightful atmosphere.  My two friends were saying just what I thought 'marvelous service, grand food, delightful passengers, cheerful surroundings, grand boat, what more could we ask?' ". 

Four kinds of fish knives for passengers on the SS Victoria, also in the Triestina Line.  Pretty fancy!

Chiswick Chap April 2022/Wikipedia 

     The ship docked in Los Angeles to pick up more passengers and then continued on to Guatemala.  While on board, Nino took Italian lessons from the ship's doctor (she referred to him as Il Dottore), got a haircut from the ship's barber and participated in a life-saving drill. She saw flying fish and huge turtles trying to keep up with the ship.  She switched to using the Purser's typewriter (she had special permission to use his office during his lunch hour) to continue with her Log, making things much easier for me to read!  She also gave Mrs. Perasso and Mrs. Podesta a "manicuring".  After dinners, there were movies and dancing in the bar-room.  Nino danced with a friend named Ingrid to "thunderous applause" from the guests.  

  April 27, 1934..."We are approaching the Panama Vicinity and we are all up at seven 0'clock so that we do not miss anything..."

 

 A Postcard from the Panama Canal Zone 1934

Another postcard from the Panama Canal

   After some shopping in Colon, Nino got back on board and the ship passed through the Panama Canal (there are copious notes on what she saw) and headed for the Canary Islands. On the way, she wrote, "Miss Dorothy McLain and Miss Winona W. are two very lovely young ladies who are traveling with W.'s aunts and intend to go around the world , after spending six months in Europe--Kay and I have befriended them and the other day we had a game of shuffle board.  What an exciting game.  Kay and I were winning and had only 1 point to get, when Kay shoves the last disc and pushes Winona on the winning side.  Well, there were plenty of shrieks then.  Next time, we'll see that we win.  Practically living in a bathing suit--have a swing over the covered hatch and the children have a great time with me swinging with them.  Also have other games such as hit the bull's eye, and a rowing machine, etc. Always something to do."

    

 Postcard of the  " Sala da musica" or the Music Room on the S.S. California 1934. 

   "Last nite we had a Musical Evening, and I was very happy to see that Miss Evelyn Antonelli had been invited here to play for us.  She plays beautifully and received quite an applause...the Commandante (the captain) came over and congratulated the mother and Evelyn after the program was finished, and invited them to drink with him. He also asked Evelyn if she had some friend she would like to invite, as he noticed she and I had been quite friendly, and she mentioned me, so I , too, went along with the specially favored guests of the evening in the music room where a table set for six was waiting for us.  Two glasses of champagne certainly did wonders for me, for I felt like dancing the rest of the nite.  Which we did until twelve anyway.  It certainly is a good thing that the officers are invited to dance with the passengers on nites of festivity, as otherwise we would have to dance with ourselves--the only male passengers are ancient." 

  

  Caption on back "May 9, 1934 In the Mid Atlantic

Terry, Kay, Evelyn

Day after the Masquerade"

    Masquerade night was held May 8, 1934 on board.  "There were several Mae Wests, a Zulu native, Indian Prince and Princess, Spanish Senoritas, ...And of course, the Sailorettes, namely Evelyn Antonelli and I..."    Nino won third place and was presented with a "..darling little Italian Compact with powder and mirror" by the Captain. Ben Hur with the outfit made of bath towels received second prize and the Zulu native won first prize. Nino had borrowed a purser's sailor outfit for the party and returned it, to his delight, perfumed. 

    On May 15, 1934, Nino got up at 3 A.M. to view the Rock of Gibralter.  She stayed up to see the sunrise, and promptly went back to bed.  That night, she dined with the Captain for dinner. 

 Captain's Dinner Menu May 15, 1934. (inside)

    "Three nites ago, we were invited over to the Captain's table, and are thrilled with our Captain--he simply is everything a man could be--charming, pleasant, sociable, and what not.  At any rate, the dinner passed along beautifully...."

 Captain's Dinner Menu (back and front)

"After which a dance followed.  This is the last dance of the trip and I was thrilled to have had the very last dance with the Cap't.  Oh Katia is our song!"

  Nino arrived in Genoa on May 20, 1934 at noon.  She had worked very hard at her job in San Francisco as a stenographer to pay for her trip; this cruise was a much different trip than the one she took from Italy to America in 1917 on the Giuseppe Verdi with her mother and two brothers as they immigrated to their new country.  There is so much more to share with family about this trip (pages and pages in fact), but for now, we can see how much she enjoyed her first cruise back to her home country.  She enjoyed every minute of it!  She continued to go on cruises with friends and family and had other travel adventures throughout her life.  She always made new friends where ever she was going. Her life was filled with family, friends, music, dancing and of course, shuffleboard. 

Shuffleboard Courts at the Valley of the Moon Mobile Home Park....the site of many games with family and friends! 

Nino at her stenographer's job in San Francisco.  Date stamp on back September 12, 1935.

 Postcard of the Rex, the ship Nino came back to New York on, October 3, 1934.  She had $10 in her pocket. 

Nino on an Alaskan Cruise in 1978, acting as Captain!

Relationship Reference:  me->Dale Boothby->Tersilla Palmina Brondolo Boothby (Nino)

#52Ancestors52Weeks...Week 7...Immigration....Tersilla Brondolo Boothby Wrote Her Own Ellis Island Immigration Story

 Caterina Bertonasco Brondolo with (l-r) Tersilla (aged 5 1/2), Agostino (aged 11) and Guilio (aged 8). 
 

  This week's theme of Immigration focuses on my paternal grandmother Tersilla Palmina Brondolo Boothby (Nino).  She was born in the tiny municipality of Vesime (Province of Asti, formally in the Division of  Alessandria) in northern Italy on March 31, 1911.  She was the youngest of six children born to Caterina Bertonasco and Pietro Brondolo.  During WWI she, along with her  mother and her older brothers Agostino and Guilio, boarded the Giuseppe Verdi and sailed for America and a new life.  It was an immigration story that she was very proud of. 

  Sometime before 1986 Nino received this letter in the mail.  In 1973 the Ellis Island Oral History project began preserving first hand recollections of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island. They must have done a mail campaign later on, probably when the Statue of Liberty was being restored.  She had made a donation for the restoration and may have received this flier with her tax deductible donation form.  

  The final restoration unveiling was scheduled for July 4, 1986.  My grandmother, who was an avid and enthusiastic traveler, had scheduled a visit to the festivities and to celebrate the fact that she too had come through Ellis Island 69 years earlier.  She responded to the flyer by writing to the Foundation on January 24, 1986.  She wrote down her own immigration story from the perspective of a 5 1/2 year old girl coming to a new country. 

 

 Caterina Bertonasco Brondolo's passport (cover).  Nino included copies of this passport with her letter to the Foundation.  

An inside look.....

Caterina's signature is at the bottom of the left page.  They were headed for San Francisco, California where the rest of the family were waiting. She boarded with $100, this passport, her children and probably very few belongings. 

 Caterina came with her youngest three children Agostino, Guilio and my grandmother Tersilla.  Her husband Pietro had come before the rest of the family beginning in 1913  with the oldest son Emilio, and then came Frank and Celestina, and then the rest of the family on the "installment plan". 

Original passport in our family collection

My grandmother's Inspection Card stamped by the U.S. Public Health Services Ellis Island February 13, 1917.  Original in our family collection.

   Caterina and her three youngest children  left Italy on the 23rd of January 1917.  The trip from Genoa to New York took three weeks. It must have been a relief to finally make it to New York, and also an anxious time as the family went through line inspections to determine their physical and mental health.  For most immigrants it only took several hours to go through inspections.  They were eventually  deemed fit to enter the United States and continued their journey to San Francisco.  I'm not entirely sure how they made that journey...possibly by train? Another boat journey? That information is lost to history. 

  I have several other documents pertaining to my grandmother's trip from Italy to New York. 

 

 "Qui accluso troverete biglietto"....an invoice will be sent with the tickets?  Preparations were made on September 27th, 1916. Original in our family collection. 

Everyone needed vaccinations before departure.  These were done January 1, 1917. Original in our family collection. 

 The Brondolo's third class boarding ticket on the Giuseppe Verdi from Genoa to New York. Original in our family collection. 

Wikimedia Commons

    Although the Foundation did not include my grandmother in the Oral History Project she made sure her immigration story was remembered. My grandmother's name is on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor.  Her Certificate of Registration was signed by Lee Iacocca.  She also had her parents' names added to the wall.   

  In  1997 our son (and future daughter-in-law) were able to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty as part of a school trip to the east coast.  Our son found his great grandmother's name, as well as his great great grandparents'  names and used a rubbing kit to take home a memorable souvenir. 

Tersilla Brondolo can be found on Panel 493.  Pietro and Caterina Brondolo can be found on Panel 494.  

 CaseyA. at the American Immigrant Wall of Honor in  1997. 

     Later in life my grandmother lived in an adult mobile home community in the beautiful town of Sonoma California (wine country), which she said reminded her of her home town of Vesime.  She was a very active member in the community, and loved dressing up during their many parties. She did indeed win prizes for her costumes, and was the Statue of Liberty a number of times.  She was always very proud of her immigration story and thankful for the opportunities  that coming to America brought her and her family.  

Nino dressed as the Statue of Liberty 

Shared by StephanieE.

Relationship Reference: Me->Dale Richard Boothby->Tersilla Palmina Brondolo Boothby

 

Happy Birthday Nino.....Tersilla Brondolo Took a Trip Back to Italy in 1934

 

  Today, March 31, is my Nino's birthday....she was born in Vesime, Italy on March 31, 1911.  She is my paternal grandmother, but she will always be Nino to me. She came to the United States at the age of 5 and was raised and educated in San Francisco.  In the spring of 1934, at the age of 23, she made a trip back to Italy to see family that was still there and do some sightseeing.  I thought I would share her Italian passport from that trip. The above picture is one of my favorites of her as a young woman.  It was her passport picture taken in 1934.  

Passport Cover 

Inside cover.  She was not accompanied by anyone...she went by herself! 

Page two.  Her signature was beautiful.  

Professione...profession...stenografa...stenographer

figlia di..daughter of...Pietro

nat a...born  Vesime

31 Marzo 1911 

statura...stature....not sure! I think it translates to 5'2"

occhi...eyes...castagni...chestnut

capelli...hair...chestnut 

barba...beard.....none

baffi...moustache...none

colorito...complexion?....roseo...rosy

segni particoloari...particular signs...none

Her passport was issued by the Italian Consulate in San Francisco. She was still an Italian citizen, as she didn't apply for naturalization in the U.S. until 1932.  She became a U.S. Citizen on 14 September, 1936, two years after this trip. 

                                           It is still located at 2950 Webster Street, San Francisco.                                                                                                                                                                         

The fourth pages of the passport...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The last pages...I wish my Italian was better....

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

 Nino arrived back in New York on October 3rd, 1934 after sailing from Genoa on the S.S, Rex  (Ancestry.com New York, Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists 1820-1857 for Tersilla Palmina Brondolo).  She had $10.00 in her pocket!  

  

I've shared this picture before, but here it is again. I'm sure Nino loved every minute of being a tourist in her home country on this trip.   Here she is in Florence with the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore  in the background.  The dome was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1436. 

  

   Nino remained an avid traveler the rest of her life.  She enjoyed many, many trips to all parts of the globe with family members and friends. As always, she traveled with a sense of adventure and a deep appreciation for the beauty around her.  

                                  Buon compleanno!  Tia amo! 

    Relationship Reference:  Me->Dale Boothby->Tersilla Palmina Brondolo Boothby b. 31 March 1911 Vesime Italy d. 3 September 1995 Sonoma, California.