Foreword: Of the various nationalities that made up the distillers, liquor dealers, saloonkeeper and other whiskey men of the pre-Prohibition era, the majority of immigrants were either Irish or German. Italians were a distant third, often selling liquor in connection with a grocery business. Here are vignettes of three men born in Italy, each of whom in his own way climbed the ladder from penury to prosperity while contributing to their communities.
In 1859, an immigrant Italian boy of 16 stepped off the S.S John Simon onto the dock at Memphis, Tennessee. It would be his home town for the rest of his life and upon his death he had created a liquor and mercantile family dynasty that survived until 2010. Shown here, his name was Domenico Canale.
Canale’s first employment was in a liquor and wine business owned by his uncles. Saving his money, he struck out for himself about 1866. He began selling fruits and vegetables from a push cart while continuing an interest in the liquor trade. Within seven years Canale had graduated from his produce wagon to selling from a warehouse at Eight Madison St., near Front Street. Called D. Canale & Co., his company sold wholesale vegetables and fruit and also a quality bourbon whiskey that he named “Old Dominick.”
The D. Canale organization first showed up in Memphis business directories as a liquor house in 1885. Old Dominick whiskey rapidly gained a local and regional customer base, advertised lavishly by Canale in large signs in downtown Memphis. He sold his liquor in stoneware jugs as well as in glass bottles with his name prominently displayed, Canale also became known for his giveaways to saloons and other favored customers, including paperweights and shot glasses.
Meanwhile, the italian immigrant’s continued success was drawing attention in Memphis business circles. A 1905 book entitled “Notable Men of Tennessee” featured him among the notables. His biography stated: “Today [he] stands at the head of the fruit business of Memphis and, perhaps, of the South. It added that: “Mr. Canale is what is rightly termed a self-made man, and has won his position in the social and commercial life of Memphis by his industry, his native ability, and the exercise of correct business principles.”
Canale died in 1919 just before the advent of National Prohibition. Because whiskey and beer were only part of D. Canale’s business, the firm weathered the temperance “storm” by concentrating on fruit and vegetable sales. With Repeal the Canale family continued to market Old Dominick whiskey for a time, but eventually dropped their liquor business to concentrate on produce.
Ernesto Bisi arrived on American shores in 1880 as an impoverished Italian immigrant with limited education. After getting a start selling groceries and liquor in Pittsburgh, he went on to become the largest pasta producer in the United States. But he did not do it alone. Under highly unusual circumstances, Bisi in 1895 married Emilia, a woman who became the mother of his children and his valuable partner in business.
After arriving in Pittsburgh in 1884, Ernesto joined in a grocery business with Civil War veteran Frank Bonistalli and Bonistalli’s vivacious young wife, Emilia. Eventually Bonistalli took Bisi as a full partner. They added a full line of spiritous beverages, advertising widely. In addition to featuring wines, E. Bonistalli & Bisi claimed “…A full stock of Guckenheimer, Silver Seal, Crystal Wedding and other whiskies.” Many of the brands were Pennsylvania-made and would have resonated with the Pittsburgh clientele. As one biographer put it: “It was clear that Ernesto possessed a remarkable business sense.” Within a few years the store registered gross sales of over $100,000 — a fortune in the late 1880s. Goods were being sold in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and further west.
All was not well, however, at Bonistalli & Bisi. Emilia was the cause. As a “silent partner” in the store she was constantly on the scene. Known to fudge her actual age, Emilia was 18 to possibly 26 years younger than her husband and virtually the same age as Bisi. In addition to her business savvy, Emilia, shown here, was talented. She spoke three languages in addition to Italian, was noted for a fine singing voice, and performed with the Pittsburgh Opera Society. She could see the promise in Ernesto and the two became lovers. Their liaison produced a son in 1891, baptized as a Bonistalli. Four more years elapsed before Emilia sued for and in 1895 was granted a divorce from her husband. Ernesto and Emilia soon married.
The liquor business subsequently was taken over by Carmelio Bisi, a younger brother whom Ernesto had brought from Italy in 1889 to assist him. This move allowed Ernesto and Emilia to concentrate on macaroni, spaghetti and linguini. Together they established a large pasta factory at Fort Pitt on the periphery of Pittsburgh. Shown here is an illustration of the plant. Situated on fifteen acres of land, the couple employed 150 employees. The Bisi United States Macaroni Factory eventually would be accounted the largest in the Nation. Ernesto was president; Emilia was corporate secretary, in charge of all communications with suppliers and clients.
When he died in 1907, Bisi was eulogized as “one of the most prominent Italians in the eastern part of the United States.” Floral tributes and condolences poured in from all parts of the country. Beginning in America as an impoverished, poorly educated immigrant, because of the opportunities presented, his own “remarkable business sense” and his marriage to Emilia, Ernesto Bisi had risen to become a wealthy manufacturer and nationally recognized Italian-American leader.
In 1893 Benjamin “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman, Governor of South Carolina and a man of dictatorial instincts, in order to enforce his hold on the sales of alcohol in the Palmetto State decided to make an example of a self-educated Italian immigrant Charleston saloonkeeper and liquor dealer named Vincent Chicco. In targeting Chicco, shown here, Tillman had picked the wrong man.
Trying to placate prohibitionist forces in South Carolina, the wily Tillman, shown left, had proposed a halfway solution: Saloons would close along with all liquor dealerships but whiskey, wine and beer would still be available through a state dispensary system. In protest, speakeasies called “Blind Tigers” became rampant throughout Charleston. Tillman was outraged. He vowed that if residents did not comply he would make the city “dry enough to burn” and would send sufficient compliance officers “to cover every city block with a man.” In July 1893, Tillman’s officers made their first arrest. It was Vincent Chicco.
The Italian immigrant’s arrest occasioned a near riot as local supporters rallied to protest the action. Taken to court, he faced a friendly judge who freed him immediately to return to his establishment, shown below. Overnight Chicco became a local hero in Charleston, dubbed as “King of the Blind Tigers.” In short order Chicco had become a public nemesis to Tillman, who called him “a kind of Dago devil.” Hauled into court repeatedly over the years, Chicco always walked away a free man.
Tillman’s attacks on Chicco heightened into a personal battle, one that the Italian immigrant seemed to relish. He introduced a line of cigars he called “The Two Determined.” They came in a box with his picture and Tillman’s on the lid. Chicco explained the concept to newsmen this way: Tillman was determined that he should stop selling liquor; Chicco was equally determined to continue selling it. He also used his Charleston popularity to be elected to four terms as an alderman.
Tillman’s dispensary scheme in time became so corrupt that it was abolished by the South Carolina legislature. In 1915 the state went “dry,” however, and the Italian immigrant was forced to end his liquor trade. When Vincent Chicco died in 1928, wrote one Charleston observer: “The city nearly shut down for his funeral, as well it should have. The "King of Blind Tigers" is someone we can all draw inspiration from. He was an underdog, a free spirit, an independent thinker….”
Note: Longer articles on each of these whiskey men may be found elsewhere on this website: Domenico Carnale, November 26, 2011; Ernesto Bisi, June 2, 2020; and Vincent Chicco, July 4, 2020. This blog featured a post about Ben Tillman and the South Carolina Dispensary on November 20, 2013.
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