Bisceglia Brothers
| Business |
Cannery |
|---|---|
| Main Location |
San Jose, CA |
| Active |
1908 - 1948 |
| Brands |
B. B., Crati, Arno, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Paradise, Roma, Uvas, Vesuvius[1] |
Bisceglia Brothers was a cannery in San Jose.
The extended Bisceglia family ran the cannery: Joseph, Alfonse, Bruno, and Pasquale Bisceglia, and Philippina De Rose. The family came to the United States in 1885[2], and initially farmed[3]. They set up their first cannery in Morgan Hill in 1903, then moved to Gilroy. In 1913, they moved the cannery to Monterey Road in San Jose[4]. Soon after, they relocated the cannery to San Jose. By 1919, the Bisceglia Brothers Canning Company was the largest cannery in the world and employed 1,000 workers."[5]. The company also made and sold wines before and after prohibition.
Clara Bisceglia Cribari, sister of the Bisceglia brothers, started running the cannery in 1919. Cribari had come to the U.S. in 1900 as a two year old. She later married Dr. Henry Zanger. She inherited land in Pacheco Pass from the brothers in 1938; in 1943, three of her sons started running fruit stands in Pacheco Pass and started the Casa de Fruta property along Highway 152.
Edith Daley visited Bisceglia Brothers in the summer of 1919 and reported on the workplace[6].
In 1922, Bisceglia Brothers funded the San Jose Warehouse Company to act as a public warehouse for themselves and others[7]. The California Railroad Commission case for the warehouse company explicitly notes that there were no existing public warehouses near the Bisceglia Brothers cannery, and that the warehouse would likely be used only by the cannery. The Commission reminded the warehouse owners that public warehouses needed to serve the public - they couldn't deny access to non-Bisceglia customers.
The Bisceglia cannery was acquired by Mayfair Packing in 1948.
Locations
| Location | Years | Address | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gilroy | 1908-1910 | ||
| Morgan Hill | 1906-1907 | ||
| San Jose | 1910-1913 | South Tenth Street | |
| San Jose | 1913-1936 | 1440 South First Street | Became Mayfair Packing / Sun Garden. |
Photos
dried fruit plant and rail spurs, 1940's
Bisceglia Bros. Canning Co, Monterey Road, San Jose San Jose State University
References
- ↑ Bisceglia Brothers: California Food Products directory. 1920, A. Marks, San Francisco.
- ↑ Frederick W. Marrazzo, "Italians in the Santa Clara Valley", 20xx, Arcadia Publishing
- ↑ Southern Pacific shipping order: boxes of tomatoes from Morgan Hill to California Canneries Co. in San Francisco.</a> Receipt for 30 boxes on Sept. 13, 1898, and 11 boxes on September 14, 1898. Robert Bowdidge collection.
- ↑ Frederick W. Marrazzo, Italians in the Santa Clara Valley, 20xx, Arcadia Publishing.
- ↑ from History San Jose blurb with fruit labels.
- ↑ Big European Contracts Held by Bisceglias: [July 21, 1919 San Jose Evening News].One of Edith Daley's summer-of-canneries articles
- ↑ In the Matter of the Application of San Jose Warehouse Company for an Order Authorizing Issuance of Capital Stock: California Railroad Commission. Decision #10634, June 29, 1922.