Sunday, March 06, 2016

VINTAGE LA NOSTRA COSTA PHOTOS - PART II

MANY OF THE PHOTOS BELOW ARE ASSOCIATED WITH MY BOOK "LA NOSTRA COSTA (OUR COAST), PUBLISHED IN 2006, BY AUTHORHOUSE PUBLISHERS www.authorhouse.com .  Some of the photos seen here are mine, others have been submitted by "Friends and Families  of La Nostra Costa (Our Coast)".






 
Aladino Gemignani (La Nostra Costa (Our Coast): Pages 175-176) stands in front of this group of ranceri, wearing his white "Cookahousa" apron. The tall rancere standing on the left is Amerigo "Piccino" Presepi (LNC: pages 38-39) who was the Foreman at the Gulch Ranch. Standing in front at the extreme right is Guiseppi "Joe Antonetti (LNC: pages 100-101), part owner of the Gulch Ranch. Standing next to him is his wife Noemi. Photo and clipping appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Feb. 1939. Photo most probably taken in front on the Old Barn locate in "Il Buco" on the Gulch Ranch (LNC: page 57).            









                                                                       
 
Cesare Dell'Orfanello (left front), and other 'Ranceri' (North Coast Italian Ranchers) cleaning and sorting Brussels Sprouts via a mechanized Sprout Cleaning Machine,  Marina Ranch, c.1950.  One of the first such machines was constructed by Dante Rodoni, on the Rodoni Ranch [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast), page 203-204 ] 
 
 
Madonna (Donna) DeLucca killed, Age 4, in an automobile accident (1947). Hwy 1 and Swanton Road just north of Davenport.  [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast), pages 291-292]
 
 
 
 
The Amerigo Delucca Family, photographed just prior to the Fatal Accident on Highway 1 and Swanton Road, just north of Davenport. The family is standing in front of the 1941 Buick that was involved in the accident. Amerigo (killed) is standing on the left, his wife Matilda (injured) is on his left, Dolores (injured), stands next to her mother Anthony (killed) is next, with Marie (injured) standing at the end. Madonna (Donna) (killed) stands in front of her father, Amerigo. [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast) pages 291-292
 
 
 
 
 
Margaret (Dimeo) and husband, John Fambrini, c.1960s. John was once the foreman ('Il Bosso') on the Gulch Ranch and then on the Dimeo Ranch, located, up the coast) 3 miles north of Santa Cruz.  [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast), page 39]

 
 
Louie Moro, playing his accordion, c.1945.  Louie was the father of Donna Moro, who subsequently married (1961) my brother John. [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast), pages 329-330]
 
 
 
 
 
A recent photo of the Comelli Family House (1937-53) as it still stands today (updated) on Bulb Avenue in Capitola.  In 1953, the house was moved from its location on the Gulch Ranch, 3 miles north of Santa Cruz, to its present location by John Landino & Company. (La Nostra Costa (Our Coast), pages 101-102
 
 
My Father, Gervasio "Bronco" Comelli, with sons Ivano (left) and Giovanni (John) standing in front of the Comelli Family House, c.1947, as it was then situated on the Gulch Ranch. [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast), pages 19-21]
 
 
 
John Landino (second from left) and family. John and his company, sawed the Comelli house (located at the time  on the North Coast of Santa Cruz) in half, and transported it to its present location on Bulb Avenue. [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast), pages 101-102]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gugliemo "Baffi" Campioni, c.1920s. "Baffi" was a rather eccentric 'rancere' who for many years worked along side my father "Bronco" Comelli, on the Gulch Ranch, "su per la costa".  [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast), Pages 91-92]
 
 
Primo Carnera, who stood 6'6" tall and weighed 260+ pounds, (pictured on the right with Max Baer and Jack Dempsey (center), was the Heavyweight Champion of the World in 1934. Because he was Italian, Primo was a particular favorite of the Ranceri.  [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast)Pages 89-90]
 
 
 
 Valentina Comelli, photographed here with her son, Ivano, c. 1948. My mother is dressed in her work clothes as she prepares to "clean" sprouts,  in "Il Buco" (The Hole), on the Gulch Ranch. [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast), pages 57-60]
 
 
"Il Capannone" (The Old Barn), located in "Il Buco", c. 1946. This is where the "picked" Brussels Sprouts from the fields on the Gulch Ranch were taken and where my mother Valentina Comelli went to work each day during the Fall. [La Nostra Costa (Our Coast), page 57]
 

 
 

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