In the 1850′s to 1930′s photography wasn’t as accessible as it is today, and families would seek out a photographer usually at a studio to document an important milestone of a family’s history. From the simple portrait to the family photograph, their child’s first communion, the newly wed portrait. The photograph generated from such a session would be given to a loved one, family member or dear friend who at the time may have lived abroad, a long-boat journey away.
Recently my mother handed me a box containing old family photographs, but they are more than just mere photos, they are historical documentations of my ancestry! The Fiore family who were one of the first Italian Immigrant families to arrive by boat to North America, they came from a small Town called, Casacalenda, in Campobasso, Italy, on the outskirts of Rome, in the early 1900`s, to later find themselves newly planted in Montreal, Canada. They came to make a new life, striving for better working conditions, quality of life and most importantly, to start a family.
Many of the photographs contain people and faces I do not recognize or know about, and are representations of the early working class emigrant settler. There are also photos from Casacalenda, Italy, the origins of the Fiore family. Possibly these where photos sent to family members who already immigrated to Canada and this was a lifeline, a way of keeping family ties across the Atlantic.
It`s a great opportunity to look at these historical photographs, records of not only the people, but a representation of a modest lifestyle, the use of natural light and faces of the everyday person,the immigrant,the worker, dressed in their Sunday best, who willingly went in front of the lens to have his and her likeness recorded and permanently documented in the form of a photograph. Each photograph contains a little piece of Montreal history and the hardships that went along with an newly immigrants life. Many of these people where the tradesmen and craftsmen of the yesteryear, who helped to build, shape and create the living Montreal that we know of today and for generations to come.
Do you have a place where you keep your family treasures of old photographs to the present? Do you print the photos you take or simply store them on some hard drive? Is the family album a thing of the past, or is it something that is still a central item, a visual family record keeping track of your families evolution?
These photos are predominantly from Montreal, who were mainly photographed by one Photographer, Giuseppe Iacurto or Giuseppo Iacurto and seemed to have had two studio locations, one being, 129 St Lawrence Blvd, Montreal and the other on 42 Dante St., also in Montreal.
Bellow you`ll find some of the many photos from the box, and encourage anyone who believes any of these people to be a relative of theirs or family friend to please leave a detailed description in the comments box bellow.
Enjoy!
[...] Visiting the Past | Fiore Family & Friends | Montreal in the Early 1900′s [...]