Vitale Barberis Canonico

VBC: History… on Letterhead – Part Two

To proceed in our analysis of the letterhead, the protagonist of this story, we need to sharpen our gaze and note the appearance, at the far right with respect to the building with the roof terrace and the smokestack, of other structures, other shed-style roofs, indistinct though they might be (they’re more pronounced on the stone, less so in the print). This indistinct “presence” is relevant because it represents a structure adjacent to the factory of Guglielmo and Luigi Barberis Canonico, which is why the time has come to read the lithograph through a genealogical lens.

Guglielmo and Luigi were the sons of Giuseppe Barberis Canonico, who in 1921 chose to divide his possessions among his six children. Upon retiring from an active role in the company, the Trivero-born entrepreneur decided that Alfredo and Giovanni would receive a factory located “off screen” with respect to the letterhead image. The structure, which no longer exists, lay just beyond the double curve in the provincial road, heading uphill after Pramorisio. A map published in the 1934 Annuario della Laniera indicates its location.

Photo of the map, taken from the 1934

From the 1934 Annuario della Laniera map

Guglielmo and Luigi, on the other hand, received the aforementioned 19th-century building and the first part of the 1908 expansion, the one visible on their letterhead. To Oreste and Vitale, finally, went the portion of more recently-built structures, those just visible beyond their brothers’ factories. All of this took place beginning in 1921, as we mentioned, and this arrangement remained in place until 1931. At that point Guglielmo and Luigi went their separate ways, bringing their partnership to an end. But it didn’t end there: Guglielmo got married and moved to Bergamo, and Luigi, in partnership with his brother Giovanni, founded a spinning mill in the valley below, the Manifattura di Ponzone (still active). Oreste and Vitale then bought up the spaces that had been freed up, adjacent to their mill. Two other maps from the 1934 Annuario della Laniera help clarify the situation.

Photo o the 1934

From the 1934 Annuario della Laniera map

Photo of the map, taken from the 1934

From the 1934 Annuario della Laniera map

This is why the engraved calcite may be found between these walls: it never left its place. One who did  leave, on the other hand, was Oreste, who between 1935 and 1936 broke away from his brother Vitale to start his own company. As a result of these changes, Vitale Barberis Canonico came to possess a vast manufacturing plant, which included the old core of the family business (later demolished to make room for the finishing unit) and the more modern expansions. And there is a further aspect to highlight as far as the lithograph’s date is concerned: the letterhead’s reference to the Province of Novara. At the time, Ponzone was still “under” Novara. And given that the Province of Novara was reduced in 1927 to create the Province of Vercelli, the letterhead’s date can thus be narrowed to the years 1921-1927.

The historical fabric of the archive.
261.814/3
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Photo of fabric no. 261.814/3
The fabric of the Vitale Barberis Canonico collection.

A unique document, like a sample collection or a piece of fabric, can bring a precise historical moment back to life. Archives like the one belonging to the Vitale Barberis Canonico Wool Mill preserve thousands, even millions of pieces of fabric, meaning thousands, even millions of stories … even stories on a letterhead.

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