In Sicily, decorated carts (carretti) pulled by horses and donkeys over country paths are an important creative cultural expression. These carts feature visions of the saints, Charlemagne, operatic scenes, and the histories of Napoleon, Columbus, Cortez, and even Mussolini. The authors examine the history, culture and use of these carts, as well as the generations of artisans who decorated them. They include who owned them, which museums have the best examples, where to buy the carts and over 100 vintage black and white and fourcolor illustrations giving the best examples of these pieces of art.
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Marcella Croce is a lecturer, Italian language teacher and Elderhostel coordinator. She has written many books and articles about Italian folklore.
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Sicilians immigrated to the United States in several periods. Immigration was heaviest between 18901920 and again after the Second World War. Major destinations were Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. A neighborhood with many Italian immigrants would become known as a Little Italy or even a Little Palermo (as it was in New Orleans). Sicilians came as laborers to work on railroads and construction projects, as fishermen, and as fruit and vegetable sellers. For the earliest immigrants carts were probably too cumbersome and expensive items to bring to a new country. Some immigrants would later become truck drivers using their expertise as drivers of carts and some would open restaurants. Just as a northern Italian immigrant might use a gondola as an image for his ristorante, what better decorative motif for a Sicilian restaurant than a carretto’ From the preface by Mary Taylor Simeti: My first night’s sleep in Sicily was shattered before dawn by a huge and rasping sound, unmistakably ‘ although I doubt I had ever heard it before ‘ the braying of a donkey. The donkey, who turned out to be a mule of the typical Sicilian variety, dark brown and longlegged, was calling out from the house across the street to the first of his fellow beasts make the daily journey from the small town of Partinico to the surrounding farms. His call was promptly followed by a noise of hooves and a rattle of wheels. Slightly muffled on the tar, louder and more irregular as the iron rims of the cartwheels clattered over the paving stones at the end of the street, the pattern would be repeated many times before the faint light that rimmed the mountains to the east broke into dawn. Eventually I would learn to love this premature alarm, its rattle and clop a familiar cradle of sound into which I could nestle just a little bit longer.
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