Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SICK’S BREWERY CRATE AND CARBOY

Date Range From

1960

Date Range To

1985

Materials

WOOD, GLASS, METAL

No. Pieces

2

Height

48

Length

32

Width

30.75

Description

.1 WOODEN CRATE MADE OF THREE HORIZONTAL SLATS ON EACH SIDE, NAILED TO A VERTICAL POST IN EACH CORNER. TONGUE AND GROOVE SLATTED BOTTOM. GREEN PRINTING ON FRONT AND BACK SIDES READS "SICK'S - LETHBRIDGE BREWERY LIMITED, LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA". HANDWRITING ON CENTRAL SLAT, RIGHT SIDE READS "SILVIO MAURO". GENERAL GRIME AND STAINING, WITH RING ON BOTTOM INSIDE. .2 CLEAR GLASS JUG. RED, RUBBERIZED RING AROUND MOUTH WITH METAL HARDWARE FASTENING RED HANDLE. RAISED LETTERING AROUND BOTTOM EDGE READS "WARNING GLASS FRAGILE DO NOT BUMP OR HEAT", REPEATS TWICE. RAISED LETTERING ON BOTTOM READS "NET 6 GAL, 23 LTS BOTTLE, MADE IN MEXICO". 52H X 30DIA

Subjects

MERCHANDISING T&E

CONTAINER

Historical Association

INDUSTRY

RETAIL TRADE

DOMESTIC

History

THIS WOODEN CRATE AND GLASS JUG WERE USED BY THE MAURO FAMILY FOR TRANSPORTING WINE THAT THEY MADE IN THEIR HOME GARAGE IN NORTH LETHBRIDGE IN THE 1960S. THE CRATE WAS SOURCED BY FAMILY PATRIARCH SILVIO MAURO FROM SICK’S BREWERY, AND ACCORDING TO INFORMATION PROVIDED BY FORMER LETHBRIDGE BREWERY DELIVERY DRIVER JOE VAN DERBEEK, WAS ORIGINALLY USED BY THE BREWERY TO TRANSPORT DISTILLED WATER SOLD OUT OF THE SODA DEPARTMENT. VAN DERBEEK SAID THE DISTILLED WATER WAS USED BY DRUGSTORES FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES AND SERVICE STATIONS OF MAINTAINING BATTERIES. AT SOME POINT AFTER THE CRATE'S ORIGINAL USE, MAURO ACQUIRED AND REPURPOSED IT FOR USE IN HIS HOME WINEMAKING PROCESS, TO HOLD AND CARRY GLASS JUGS. ON JULY 26, 2013, GALT MUSEUM COLLECTIONS TECH KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED SILVIO MAURO AND HIS SON, JOE, ABOUT THEIR FAMILY’S HISTORY AND HOW THE WINEMAKING PROCESS CONTRIBUTED TO THE STRENTHENING OF ITALIAN-CANADIAN CULTURAL IDENTITY IN LETHBRIDGE. SILVIO MAURO SAID: “I BORN IN ITALY MARCH 12, 1924 [IN] GRIMALDI, CALABRIA… I COME TO CANADA 1951, IN TRAIL, BRITISH COLUMBIA BECAUSE… THE REASON IS MY FATHER, HE COME HERE IN 1901… HE WAS A MINER IN ROSSLAND.” JOE MAURO SAID: “WHAT ENDED UP HAPPENING IS MY GRANDFATHER CAME HERE IN THE EARLY 1900S, AND HIM AND TWO OTHERS OWNED A LITTLE MINE IN ROSSLAND. MY GRANDFATHER WOULD CONTINUOUSLY SEND MONEY BACK HOME. HE WOULDN’T GO BACK TO ITALY BECAUSE, #1, HE COULDN’T AFFORD IT, AND #2 IT WOULD TAKE DAYS TO GET BACK. SO MY FATHER’S OLDEST BROTHER WAS BORN IN ’03, HIS SISTER WAS BORN IN ’11, AND MY DAD IN ’24. SO THERE WAS A HUGE GAP BETWEEN ALL OF THEM, BECAUSE IT WAS ONLY WHEN MY GRANDFATHER WOULD GO BACK, VERY RARELY, THAT HE WOULD HAVE CHILDREN.” SILVIO SAID: “WELL I THINK NOW I MAKE THE IMMIGRATION TO HERE, NOW HERE, THE PEOPLE OF MY HOME TOWN, THEY CRY BECAUSE I SAY ‘MAYBE I NO COME BACK ANY MORE OVER HERE’, EVERYBODY, THEY LIKE ME, THEY CRY…” JOE SAID: “HE CAME WITH HIS BROTHER AND HIS NEPHEW AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF THEM, AND THEY ALL CAME TO WORK BUILDING HOUSES. THERE WAS A GROUP OF ITALIANS… THERE’S STILL A LOT OF HISTORY IN TRAIL ABOUT THESE ITALIANS THAT EMIGRATED THERE AND BUILT THE HOMES AND CREATED A LIFE IN CANADA AFTER THE WAR. THAT’S WHY THEY CAME, BECAUSE ITALY GOT BEAT UP PRETTY BAD IN THE WAR… FROM THE PHOTOS I HAVE SEEN, I THINK THAT THEY HAD A GREAT TIME [IN TRAIL], BECAUSE THEY WERE MAKING MONEY, THEY WERE WORKING, AND THEY ALL SPOKE – IT WAS LIKE THEY WERE STILL IN ITALY BECAUSE THEY ALL SPOKE THE LANGUAGE AND THEY WERE ALL ITALIANS. THE OWNER OF THE COMPANY, BALBI CONSTRUCTION, THEY ALL WORKED FOR THIS INDIVIDUAL OWNER.” SILVIO SAID: “BALBI CONSTRUCTION WAS MY BOSS. I WORK FOR HIM… AND THEN WE COME [TO LETHBRIDGE]. WHERE WE GOTTA GO? BALBI CONSTRUCTION, THEY HAD A HOUSE HERE… AND ME AND ANOTHER GUY, WE GOTTA FIND A HOUSE. WE RENTED A HOUSE, ME AND PETER FIORINO… YOU KNOW A COUPLE OF YEARS TOGETHER; I BUY A HOUSE, MY HOUSE. I PAY $60,000. I LIVE THERE. IT’S OK. I AM VERY HAPPY… A BEAUTIFUL PLACE. STILL I LIVE THERE.” JOE SAID: “MOST OF THE ONES IN TRAIL CAME HERE [IN 1954], BECAUSE THE WORK IN TRAIL WAS LIMITED. AND BALBI IS THE GUY THAT IF YOU KNOW, YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH STAFFORD DRIVE, ACROSS FROM DAVE ELTON PARK, ALL THOSE HOMES, HE DID, MY DAD DID. AND SO THERE WAS A LOT OF WORK HERE, AND SO MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT WENT TO ROSSLAND OR TRAIL, MOST OF THEM, PROBABLY 90% OF THEM ACTUALLY MOVED WITH BALBI BECAUSE THIS WAS WHERE THE WORK WAS.” SILVIO SAID: “I MAKE WINE, YES… THERE WERE GRAPES, EVEN HERE IN LETHBRIDGE, SOME ITALIANS THEY HAVE A LITTLE… SOME KIND OF GRAPES… [IN ITALY] EVERYBODY THEY HAVE A LITTLE PROPERTY WITH GRAPES. WE PICK IT UP, ALL THE GRAPES FROM THERE AND WE HAVE SOMETHING TO PUT IT IN… IT WAS LIKE A PASTIME, TAKE THE SHOES OFF TO [CRUSH GRAPES]… FROM VANCOUVER [THE GRAPES] COME, [THE ITALIAN CANADIAN CULTURAL CENTRE] ORDER A LOT OF GRAPES… EVERYBODY, THE TRUCK COMES. EVERYONE WOULD ORDER TWENTY, THIRTY, FORTY CASES… THE JUICE WE WOULD PUT IN A BOTTLE [TO FERMENT]. IN A BIG BOTTLE, INSIDE HERE [POINTS TO WOODEN CRATE].” JOE SAID: “NOBODY MAKES WINE ANYMORE BECAUSE NUMBER ONE, YOU BUY THE KITS, OR YOU BUY THE BIG WHITE FIVE GALLON PAILS [OF JUICE]. IT’S A SIMPLE PROCESS. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO THE CRUSHING AND ALL THAT… IT IS A LOT OF WORK, IT IS MESSY AND WE DO NOT HAVE THE EQUIPMENT THAT THEY HAD. IT WAS A PASTIME FOR THEM AND IT WAS SOMETHING THAT THEY DID… I REMEMBER THEY WOULD PUT PLASTIC ALL OVER AND YOU WOULD HAVE ABOUT TWENTY OR THIRTY CRATES OF GRAPES AND YOU DUMP THEM INTO THIS PRESS… SO, THE PRESS, YOU WOULD CRUSH THE GRAPES AND IT IS LIKE CARDBOARD NOW BECAUSE YOU HAD PRESSED IT SO HARD AND YOU’VE SQUEEZED ALL THE JUICE OUT OF IT, LIKE A DRY RAISIN… HOMEMADE WINE CAN HAVE SOME PRETTY GOOD STRENGTH TO IT. I CAN VOUCH FOR THAT BECAUSE WHEN MY WIFE AND I GOT MARRIED IN ’84, BACK IN THOSE DAYS, AT THE LODGE THEY ALLOWED US TO BRING HOMEMADE WINE. SO, WE HAD HOMEMADE WINE FOR DINNER, [MY FATHER’S] WINE. WELL, MY WIFE’S SIDE OF THE FAMILY WHO ARE NON-ITALIANS AND NOT REALLY WINE DRINKERS. THEY HAVE TWO GLASSES OF HOMEMADE WINE AND THEY DON’T DRINK THE REST OF THE NIGHT. SOME OF THEM HAD TO GO HAVE A LITTLE SNOOZE IN THEIR ROOM AT THE HOTEL AND THEY MISSED A LOT OF THE DANCE PORTION OF THE WEDDING BECAUSE IT’S POTENT… I TALK WITH MY NEPHEWS WHICH IS THE NEXT GENERATION AND WE ARE INTERESTED IN MAKING THE WINE THE WAY THEY DID FOR SEVERAL REASONS. NUMBER ONE, IT BRINGS THE FAMILY TOGETHER. IT WAS A MAJOR THING AND EVERYBODY WOULD COME. AS HIS GRANDCHILDREN GREW OLDER THEN THEY WOULD HELP. AND THEN YOU KNOW, MY MUM AND THE LADIES WOULD PREPARE A NICE BIG MEAL. AND THEN, IT WAS A HUGE, HUGE EVENT FOR THE ITALIANS. YOU KNOW HOW HE TOLD YOU THE PROCESS, YOU CRUSH IT, AND THEN YOU LET IT FERMENT AND THEN YOU PUT IT IN A BIG TANK, A BIG FIFTEEN GALLON TANK. WELL, THEN YOU LET IT SIT, I GUESS THAT WOULD BE SIMILAR TO THE TIME THAT IT SITS IN THE OAK CASKETS IN THE WINERIES. THEN IT WAS A BIG ‘TO DO’ WHEN YOU WERE TO, IN THEIR WORDS, ‘OPEN THE NEW WINE’. USUALLY THEY WOULD SAVE, MOST OF THE ITALIANS, BECAUSE THEY MIGHT HAVE TEN OF THOSE. THEY WOULD SAVE ONE OR TWO OR THREE FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS. CHRISTMAS, EASTER, SOMEONE’S BAPTISM, SOMEONE’S CONFIRMATION, SOMEONE’S WEDDING… MANY PEOPLE WOULD COME OVER, IT IS LIKE A CELEBRATION. EVERYONE WAS ANTICIPATING, WAS GOOD OR IS IT GOING TO BE BAD… SO WITH MY NEPHEWS, WE TALK ABOUT IT, AND IF WE COULD GET HIS EQUIPMENT BACK AGAIN. I MEAN I WOULDN’T KNOW WHERE YOU CAN GET GRAPES ANYMORE TO CRUSH. THAT IS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST THING. THAT IS WHY THE ITALIAN CANADIAN CULTURE CENTRE WOULD GET AHOLD OF A LIST OF NAMES AND THE AMOUNT OF CASES THAT A PERSON WOULD WANT WHETHER IT WAS RED OR WHITE AND THEN THEY WOULD ORDER… EVEN THOUGH [MY NEPHEWS] WERE BORN HERE, AS WAS I, THESE ARE CUSTOMS THAT YOU WANT TO TRY TO KEEP THEM GOING… OBVIOUSLY, WE ARE ALL PROUD TO BE CANADIAN BUT THEY ARE PROUD TO HAVE THEIR ROOTS AND THEY WANT TO TRY, AND, SO, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN EASILY DO. THE PRESSES NOW ARE MUCH BETTER.” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT, SEE PERMANENT FILE. *UPDATE* ON 23 FEBRUARY 2015, GALT STAFF INTERVIEWED MR. MAURICE WENDELBOE OF LETHBRIDGE WITH RESPECT TO HIS HISTORIC CONTACT/INTERACTION WITH DISTILLED WATER PRODUCED BY SICKS BREWERY AND CRATES IDENTICAL TO THAT DONATED BY MR. JOE MAURO. WENDELBOE’S KNOWLEDGE OF THE CRATES AND DISTILLED WATER STEMMED FROM HIS OWNERSHIP OF A SERVICE STATION IN CHAMPION, AB IN THE LATER 1950S AND EARLY 1960S. FOR INFORMATION AND MEMORIES RETRIEVED FROM MR. WENDELBOE, PLEASE SEE THIS ARTIFACT’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20130013001

Acquisition Date

2013-07

Collection

Museum

Less detail