The ONAOO national organization of olive oil tasters, the oldest olive oil tasting school in the world, active internationally for oil training, and to be, has chosen an original and very interesting way to celebrate its 35 years of activity: an exhibition that reveals an aspect, little known to most, of the world of Italian emigrants abroad at the end of the century. The figures are impressive, they were approx 28 million of our compatriots who sought their fortune in the Americas above all but also in Europe between the end of the 800s and the first decades of the 900s. And this population strongly felt the call of their homeland, the nostalgia of the domestic flavors of their countries that the new worlds certainly could not offer them: two above all, pasta and oil. In the city of Imperia, where ONAOO was born 35 years ago, the families of millers had a great intuition, to organize themselves as a commercial group. The great boats of hope across the ocean departed from Genoa. Shipping the oil in glass bottles by ship would have been nearly impossible. But about twenty years ago, the British and Americans had discovered the usefulness of containers made of tinplate for shipping and storing perishable foods that had hitherto been handled in bulk.
Entrepreneurs from Imperia immediately adopted the idea and had it built 10 liter cans that could thus be assembled in the holds of ships and shipped without risk of breakage. Within a very few years, there was the development of important factories dedicated to the production of packaging for the Italian olive oil industry. This whole world is explained in great detail in an exhibition in Rome on the occasion of the 4th International Meeting organized by ONAOO which attracted members from different parts of the world, curated by Daniela Lauria, art historian and Manuela Guatelli, whose family in 2006, in the hinterland of Imperia, inside a XNUMXth century oil mill, created the “Oil Can Museum”, a collection made up of 6000 packages.
Ligurian entrepreneurship, well in advance of what would have been the developments of international trade, had therefore understood in the 20s that to make their product more appreciated by potential consumers, it had to not only be excellent, but above all have an attractive package , able to meet the wishes and aspirations of its buyers .
To meet the demands of the international market, containers began to be produced in Liguria with all the images that best represented our country.
Intelligently and ahead of the times on marketing, we didn't limit ourselves to making simple tin containers. “If the quality of the product was guaranteed by the importer, who was always of Italian origin, our compatriots abroad – explains Riccardo Guatelli, heir to the dynasty – wanted a can that had to recall their land of origin”.
So to make the content more emotional it was decided to embellish the package with artistic images that refer to Italy, to the homeland, to the great personalities, pride of Italy in the world. It was therefore essential to turn to graphic art, in particular to young designers who, having graduated from the various Academies and specialized in industrial design, found employment in the lithographed tinplate factories.
Despite their commendable work, as can be seen from the quality of the projects created for the various packagings, little is known about their identity.
They were also joined by important designers who dedicated themselves to the graphic representation of cans, such as Gino Boccassile, Aurelio Craffonara, Plinio Nomellini and later Armando Testa.
And here Enrico Caruso, Giuseppe Verdi, titles of operas appear on the cans of oil, such as Aida, Rigoletto, Othello, Norma, but also Napoleon (evidently a reference to Europe landing on the new continent). There is certainly no shortage of saints from San Gennaro to Santa Rosalia to Pope Pius X.
An oil called Marca La Patria, complete with the Savoy coat of arms, does not need any comments. This series certainly could not miss an oil dedicated to Christopher Columbus, portrayed seated with a geographical map on his knees while meditating on his expeditions to which are added many others that always depict an Italy of smiling girls, industrious young men, or views of cities , lakes and mountains that make the hearts of buyers in foreign lands sigh. The one with the depiction of the Blue Grotto is very beautiful, even if the oil contained therein was from a Bari producer. And those nostalgic for the empire are spoiled for choice between Olio Duce, Il Fascio, Tripoli. There is even a Black Face Oil, with a black girl in the foreground so that there are no errors or omissions.
"Surely the female figure plays a privileged role - continues Guatelli. She is represented alternately in the role of the woman-angel, as for example in the Madonna oil, in which the protagonist appears wrapped in a soft peplos, according to the typical Art Nouveau representation which allowed streamline images and give them an elegant leap of shapes with floral or abstract graphic symbols; however, there are also typical representations of the Belle Epoque, characterized by slender waists and generous décolleté, showy sinuosity of shapes as in the case of the Odalisque oil, or those that refer to the popular peasant tradition as for example in the Tana oil, in which the woman appears portrayed with the typical Sicilian folk costume”.
The great director also became aware of this culture of “artist's” cans Francis Ford Coppola, who used one for a shot in his film but then became passionate about the subject to the point that he hoarded it on the market, collecting over 600 which are now on display in California at his Napa Valley estate.
