The Botto House:�An Immigrants’ Home in 1908
Museum-in-a-Suitcase Program
American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark
83 Norwood Street, Haledon, NJ 07508
Phone: 973-595-7953
american-labor-museum.org
Real Estate Advertisement, Haledon, NJ circa 1893
“The Ground is High, the Atmosphere is invigorating, Health Producing and Health Preserving,” claimed William Buschmann in the Paterson City Directory of a tract of property that he owned in Haledon, New Jersey. In 1893, Mr. Buschmann’s goal was to sell lots to working families who lived in crowded city dwellings close to the mills and factories.
Entrepreneurs, like Buschmann, purchased land in the small community of Haledon, located at the end of a new trolley line which provided public transportation service to and from Paterson, a bustling industrial city. Land sales were vigorously promoted to upwardly mobile working people.
Working people were encouraged to attend land auctions by offers of free trolley tickets, lunch, and entertainment at the sales. Many new immigrants purchased lots in Haledon and built modest homes.
Real Estate Advertisement, Haledon, NJ circa 1893
Photograph: The New Home of the Botto Family, Haledon, NJ, circa 1908
Pietro and Maria Botto, skilled textile workers, and their two-year-old daughter, Albina, emigrated from Biella, Italy to America in 1892. Pietro, a weaver, easily found work in New Jersey’s textile mills. In 1907, after 15 years of weaving and the birth of three more daughters (Adelia born in 1894, Eva born in 1895), the Bottos had saved and borrowed enough money to buy a parcel of land (100’ x 125’ in Haledon and build their own home.
In this photo, four women appear on the porch of the Botto’s new home at 83 Norwood Street while workmen are at the side of the house leveling the grounds by hand. The house is a large twelve-room, two-story cement-block structure with wooden shutters, a front and back porch, and a balcony. When newly built, it was equipped with “water closets” (small rooms with toilets) on each floor, sinks with running water, a slate platform in the kitchen for a stove, a cesspool 25 feet from the house for sewage, and a gas line for heat and light. The house has no electricity in 1908 which was common for most working class homes. Soon after the Bottos moved into their new home, they added a grape arbor, clay bocce court, chicken coop, garden, and root cellar.
Photograph: The New Home of the Botto Family, Haledon, NJ, circa 1908
Photograph: The Botto Family with the Family Dogs, Haledon, NJ, circa 1911
Dressed in their better “Sunday” clothes, the Bottos assemble outdoors for a family photograph with a son-in-law, a family friend and their two dogs.
The Bottos were happy in their new home. Haledon was an attractive living place to Pietro, Maria, and their daughters, The trolley line made it easy to travel to the textile mills where Pietro and his daughters worked. The clean air and open space provided the family with a healthy and pleasant living environment. It supported a growing community of families of Piedmontese immigrants.
Photograph: The Botto Family with the Family Dogs, Haledon, NJ, circa 1911
Flat Iron, Haledon, NJ circa 1911
From the 1300s to the early 1900s, flat irons consisted of a single piece of cast iron. These irons were commonly heated on cast iron stoves and had to be reheated after every use.
Flat Iron, Haledon, NJ circa 1911
Wooden clothesline spreader, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
Like other women who tended children, Maria assumed responsibility for the housekeeping chores in her new home. She prepared food, cooked meals, sewed, mended, washed clothes and linens, nursed family members when they were sick, cleaned floors and windows, dusted the furniture, and swept the halls and the front and back porches.
Women usually began their week by washing clothes and linens. Monday was traditionally laundry day, since most people changed their clothes and on Sunday and washing was easier if done before soil settled into clothing fibers. Laundry was a heavy and labor-intensive task in the early 1900s, before electric washing machines and clothes dryers were available to working people. Several tubs had to be filled with water for scrubbing and then rinsing. Tubs full of water were heavy. Women submerged their arms into mixtures of hot water, soap, and starch that were sometimes caustic.
Once cleaned, wet articles were wrung and hunt out-of-doors on clotheslines to dry. Wooden spreaders supported clotheslines when heavy with wet articles.
Wooden clothesline spreader, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
Wooden bowl, Haledon, NJ, circa 1905
Canned, factory-prepared foods were available for purchase in the early 1900’s. Large corporations mass-produced and mass-marketed brand-name products like Campbell’s Soups, Quaker Oats, and Libby’s canned meats.
Many working families, including the Bottos, continued to produce as much as they could on their own. Fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices were raised in family gardens. Markets and small grocery stores provided some ingredients like flour and salt.
A large wooden bowl as essential in Maria Botto’s kitchen. It was used for preparing greens like chicory for salads. In the Botto kitchen in 1908, foods were made “from scratch,” without modern items such as cake mixes, frozen vegetable dishes, or prepared salad dressings.
Wooden bowl, Haledon, NJ, circa 1905
Hand-carved wooden mixing paddle, Haledon, NJ, circa 1905
Maria Botto frequently made polenta, A staple dish in the Piedmontese diet. Polenta is made by a mixing cornmeal and water in a pot on the stove until the combination is hot and thick. Maria usd a large copper pot because the copper evenly dispersed the heat. She stirred the polenta with a wooden spoon or mixing paddle. As the mixture grew thicker and required more effort to stir, her husband, Pietro, took over the task.
Simple wooden utensils were easily made with a carving knife and a short tree branch.
The Botto’s kitchen was equipped with a gas and wood-burning stove.
Hand-carved wooden mixing paddle, Haledon, NJ, circa 1905
Salt Bag, Haledon, NJ circa 1911
In the early 1900s, salt was often sold in large, cloth bags. This particular bag of salt was most likely bought at an Italian membership store in Paterson.
Salt Bag, Haledon, NJ, circa 1911
Epsom Salt, Pastiglie Leone Dissetanti, and English Mustard tins, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
Companies began producing medicinal remedies for minor health problems. Epsom salt, according to the label, could serve as a laxative. Pastiglie Leone Dissetanti aided digestion. English mustard mixed with water made a good poultice.
Epsom Salt, Pastiglie Leone Dissetanti, and English Mustard tins, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
Package of dried rosemary from the garden of the Botto House, Haledon, NJ, circa 1996
Herbs were used for personal hygiene and health purposes as well as for cooking. For example, Piedmontese immigrants used rosemary as a hair rinse. Sage leaves served as “toothbrushes” to clean teeth. Seven sage leaves (three for the body and four for the soul) were boiled into a tea to settle upset stomachs.
Rosemary is a native plant of the Mediterranean region. It is a type of herb that grows as a small shrub and produces blue flowers in the spring. The plant’s needle-like leaves are used, dried or fresh, in cooking.
The Bottos grew rosemary, sage and mint in their garden. Since rosemary is accustomed to a mild climate, the Bottos planted their shrub next to their chicken coop for protection. Pietro Botto often raised young herb plants for neighbors, friends, and acquaintances.
Package of dried rosemary from the garden of the Botto House, Haledon, NJ, circa 1996
Copy: Botto family’s recipe for homemade salami, Botto family ledger book, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
The Botto Family’s Recipe for salami requires pork butts, salt, white pepper, saltpeter (sodium nitrate), and casings. The recipe is written in Italian and includes ingredient measurements for various quantities of mean from 12 ½ pounds to 100 pounds of pork!
Copy: Botto family’s recipe for homemade salami, Botto family ledger book, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
In this photograph, a woman and two men raise glasses of wine to “toast the salami,” a customary celebration after salami-making. Several links of sausage rest on the table.
The Bottos and Haledon’s other Piedmontese immigrants made salami in their kitchens with ingredients bought at markets and grocery stores. First a meat grinder was used to prepare the meat (a grinder is anchored to left side of the table in the photograph). After grinding, the pork butt was mixed with spices and then stuffed into casings. The links were hung to dry in the house cellar. They were later placed in a large ceramic crocks between layers of fat. The salami could be eaten cold or cooked.
A day of salami-making meant a lot of work, but it was fun at the same time.
Postcard paragraph: Making salami, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
Ball Jar, Haledon, NJ circa 1933
From the 1880s to 1960s, the Ball Corporation dominated the market as the largest domestic manufacturer of home canning jars. Jars like this were used by the Bottos for preserves and placed in the cool root cellar.
Ball Jar, Haledon, NJ, circa 1933
Table cover drawn-thread work, linen, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
When her daughters were young, Maria Botto thought them various kinds of needlework techniques like crocheting, embroidery, and drawn-thread work. Like other Piedmontese women, Maria and her daughters sewed and embroidered household linens preceding marriage. Table cloths, napkins, towels, sheets and pillowcases were ornamented. Often women embroidered the initials of their maiden name on the linens.
In the Piedmont of Italy, women made linen from flax. The Bottos purchased linen. The table cover seen here features drawn-thread work. The Maker carefully cut and withdraws horizontal and vertical threads. The remaining threads are overcast with a needle and thread to form a spectacular and delicate band of flower-like shapes. Drawn-thread work relies on careful planning and accurate counting.
Table cover drawn-thread work, linen, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
Table runner with embroidery and crochet work by Rosina Comazilio Stramese, Biella, Italy, circa 1895
Embroidery is a very old form of needlework. Here, the seamstress uses satin stitches to complete the design for the initials of her maiden name in reverse (“C. R.”) and crochet work for the border.
Table runner with embroidery and crochet work by Rosina Comazilio Stramese, Biella, Italy, circa 1895
Botto family crocheted nightgown collar, Halden, NJ, circa 1905
Crochet is the French word for “hook,” the instrument with which crochet work is done. A small hook produces the fine and lace-like effect that can be seen in this nightgown collar.
This collar was made by Maria Botto or one of her daughters. When completed, the collar was attached to a linen gown. When the gown grew old and worn, the collar was cut away and sewn to a new gown. This was a smart and clever way of reusing (rather than discarding) items that were still useful.
Botto family crocheted nightgown collar, Halden, NJ, circa 1905
Man’s shaving brush, Haledon, NJ, circa 1908
Pietro Botto shaved his beard with a straight razor, a strip of steel sharpened to a fine cutting edge on one side. First he applied shaving cream from a shaving cream mug with a small brush. Then, while looking in a mirror. He carefully glided the razor across the contours of his face. He always kept his mustache!
In 1900, barber shops charged men 10c-15c for a shave. Men frequented their barber every day for this service. With the advent of the safety razor, brushless shaving creams, and then electric razors, this practice all disappeared by 1930.
Man’s shaving brush, Haledon, NJ, circa 1908
Child’s chamber pot, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
The Botto’s home was equipped with running water and “water closets” (small rooms with toilets) when it was built in 1908. Young children in working families were “potty-trained” on small enameled chamber pots.
Child’s chamber pot, Haledon, NJ, circa 1900
Copy: Le reve d’Amour (Love’s Dream) sheet music for mandolin, La Corale, The Italian Singing Society, Paterson, NJ, circa 1900
Before Maria Botto’s death in 1915, the Bottos welcomed neighbors and working families to relax in their gardens on Sunday afternoons. The family ran a kind of informal inn: Maria would prepare meals while guests played bocce, enjoyed a game of cards on the side lawn, or relaxed under the grape arbor. Often members of the group would bring an accordion, mandolin, or guitar and play traditional Piedmontese melodies.
This copy of a piece of sheet music comes from a collection of music that originally belonged to La Corale, the Italian Singing Society formed in Paterson, NJ. Piedmontese immigrants supported family life through involvement in ethnic associations like La Corale. These associations preserved the members’ culture through music and dance. They also introduced appropriate marriage partners and often provided death benefits and recreational pursuits.
Copy: Le reve d’Amour (Love’s Dream) sheet music for mandolin, La Corale, The Italian Singing Society, Paterson, NJ, circa 1900
Photograph: Maria Botto feeding chickens with Olga Botto (on swing) and her friend Lily Coda, Haledon, NJ, circa 1910
Different breeds of live chickens and fowl (and eggs and incubators) were available for purchase by working families. A catalogue of the Shady Farm Poultry Farm advertised the great egg laying capacity of several of its breeds of chickens.
The Bottos cared for several hens who laid eggs for the family. A chicken coop was built in a corner of the Botto’s property.
Photograph: Maria Botto feeding chickens with Olga Botto (on swing) and her friend Lily Coda, Haledon, NJ, circa 1910
Photograph: Men playing bocce, Botto House, Haledon, NJ, circa 1910
The Bottos laid out a clay bocce court along the side of their home. The court area is approximately 12’ wide by 60’ long. It is seen in use in this photograph.
Bocce is an Italian bowling game. It is especially popular in Piedmont and Liguria. It is played throughout the United States.
Bocce is played with 8 large wooden balls (4 red and 4 green/4 balls per team) and smaller white, wooden ball, the “jack” or “pallino.” During a game, each player (usually four per side) rolls (“lagging”) or throws (“volo”) a ball into the pallino which has been previously tossed onto the court. The object of the game is to bring the ball closer to the pallino then any ball of the opponent, the protect a well-placed ball or to knock aside an opponent’s ball. Players are given points for the balls resting closest to the pallino.
Photograph: Men playing bocce, Botto House, Haledon, NJ, circa 1910