S/S Salvatore di Giorgio (1903)
Reefers from the 1950s are among the most beautiful ships, in my opinion. But also the early reefers, like the S/S Salvatore di Giorgio
shown here, were very nice. Oslo photographer Anders B. Wilse took this photo - here shown digitally hand painted by me - on April 29 1903, the day the builder, Akers Mekaniske Verksted, delivered the ship to her Norwegian owners.
The ship´s not so Norwegian sounding name was chosen by the future American "Fruit King", Joseph di Giorgio, who chartered
her in 1903 - 1913 to be used as a "banana boat".
The Henry Ford page has a very readable article written by curator Samantha Johnson on Joseph di Giorgio, from which I have
chose a couple of excerpts:
Giuseppe “Joseph” Di Giorgio (1874-1951) was introduced to the fruit business at a young age. His father grew lemons and grapes, among other seasonal crops, in Sicily. In 1888, at the age of 14, Di Giorgio immigrated to the United States. When he arrived in New York, speaking little-to-no English, he found work as a fruit jobber, a middleman who would buy large quantities of goods from fruit packers and sell those goods to retailers or merchants.
After a short time of learning the business, Di Giorgio moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he set up his own store selling lemons. By the age of 16, he had become one of the most successful fruit receivers and distributors in Baltimore. But lemons were a seasonal crop. To supplement his income in the off-season, he began importing bananas from the West Indies – a prosperous endeavor that eventually became a year-round business.
His good fortune allowed him to invest in other business ventures, including partnerships with investors to open auction houses for fresh produce in various cities across the United States. Shipments of produce were brought into the auction houses and sold quickly at fair prices to merchants who would gather daily for their pick of the products. It was a profitable business. Owners of the auction house received money from packing and shipping companies for hosting the sale, and received commission on the sold goods. By 1904, Di Giorgio owned auction houses in New York and Baltimore, and had partial interests in others along the East Coast and throughout the Midwest.
With the profits he made through this lucrative acquisition, Di Giorgio was able to expand even further. His first land acquisition came in 1918 when he purchased citrus groves in Florida. The following year, he developed open desert land in California’s San Joaquin Valley, turning it into a thriving oasis for various fruits. By 1920, Joseph Di Giorgio was the leading supplier of California’s deciduous fruit (that is, fruit that grows on vines, trees, and bushes, excluding citrus fruits.) He also owned apple orchards in Oregon and Washington, plum orchards in Idaho which produced prunes, and citrus orchards in Florida that yielded oranges and grapefruit. At this time, Di Giorgio still owned an operation in the banana industry as well, but he abandoned this venture in the 1930s as he turned his focus to his domestic interests.
Here you can read the entire article about the man, who became America´s "Fruit King":
www.thehenryford.org/.../the-fruit-king-joseph-di...
During his time in the banana business in Baltimore di Giorgio survived an assasination attempt by the Black Hand mafia, instigated by his former business partner Lanasa:
"Assassins were hired to kill Di Giorgio: Joseph Sunseri of Pittsburgh, who actually shot down Rea (a Salvatore Sunseri, possibly related, was one of the New Orleans mafiosi accused in the 1890 assassination of Chief of Police David C. Hennessy), and Nunzio Battaglia of Pittsburgh (whose name was recorded in many newspapers as Battaglonia). The assassins were to be paid $30,000. It was widely believed that Lanasa instigated the hit, deciding, «If we kill Di Giorgio, I will be the banana king of Baltimore.»
The hit against Di Giorgio was botched. A couple of sticks of dynamite were placed under the kitchen area of his residence in the suburb of Walbrook when he wasn’t home. The explosion damaged the kitchen, a pantry, and a bathroom but hurt no one. Investigators tracked the perpetrators to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and western New York."
Here you can read the entire article:
etgdesign.com/.../joseph/mafia-assassination-attempt
If you wonder what happened to the 227 ft Salvatore di Giorgio later:
In 1924 she was sold to Japanese owners
and renamed Hisayoshi Maru (later renamed Sawa Maru). On April 6th 1945 she was mined and sunk off Kyushu, Japan.
skipshistorie.net/.../UKJ10119030400000...
S/S Salvatore di Giorgio (1903)
Reefers from the 1950s are among the most beautiful ships, in my opinion. But also the early reefers, like the S/S Salvatore di Giorgio
shown here, were very nice. Oslo photographer Anders B. Wilse took this photo - here shown digitally hand painted by me - on April 29 1903, the day the builder, Akers Mekaniske Verksted, delivered the ship to her Norwegian owners.
The ship´s not so Norwegian sounding name was chosen by the future American "Fruit King", Joseph di Giorgio, who chartered
her in 1903 - 1913 to be used as a "banana boat".
The Henry Ford page has a very readable article written by curator Samantha Johnson on Joseph di Giorgio, from which I have
chose a couple of excerpts:
Giuseppe “Joseph” Di Giorgio (1874-1951) was introduced to the fruit business at a young age. His father grew lemons and grapes, among other seasonal crops, in Sicily. In 1888, at the age of 14, Di Giorgio immigrated to the United States. When he arrived in New York, speaking little-to-no English, he found work as a fruit jobber, a middleman who would buy large quantities of goods from fruit packers and sell those goods to retailers or merchants.
After a short time of learning the business, Di Giorgio moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he set up his own store selling lemons. By the age of 16, he had become one of the most successful fruit receivers and distributors in Baltimore. But lemons were a seasonal crop. To supplement his income in the off-season, he began importing bananas from the West Indies – a prosperous endeavor that eventually became a year-round business.
His good fortune allowed him to invest in other business ventures, including partnerships with investors to open auction houses for fresh produce in various cities across the United States. Shipments of produce were brought into the auction houses and sold quickly at fair prices to merchants who would gather daily for their pick of the products. It was a profitable business. Owners of the auction house received money from packing and shipping companies for hosting the sale, and received commission on the sold goods. By 1904, Di Giorgio owned auction houses in New York and Baltimore, and had partial interests in others along the East Coast and throughout the Midwest.
With the profits he made through this lucrative acquisition, Di Giorgio was able to expand even further. His first land acquisition came in 1918 when he purchased citrus groves in Florida. The following year, he developed open desert land in California’s San Joaquin Valley, turning it into a thriving oasis for various fruits. By 1920, Joseph Di Giorgio was the leading supplier of California’s deciduous fruit (that is, fruit that grows on vines, trees, and bushes, excluding citrus fruits.) He also owned apple orchards in Oregon and Washington, plum orchards in Idaho which produced prunes, and citrus orchards in Florida that yielded oranges and grapefruit. At this time, Di Giorgio still owned an operation in the banana industry as well, but he abandoned this venture in the 1930s as he turned his focus to his domestic interests.
Here you can read the entire article about the man, who became America´s "Fruit King":
www.thehenryford.org/.../the-fruit-king-joseph-di...
During his time in the banana business in Baltimore di Giorgio survived an assasination attempt by the Black Hand mafia, instigated by his former business partner Lanasa:
"Assassins were hired to kill Di Giorgio: Joseph Sunseri of Pittsburgh, who actually shot down Rea (a Salvatore Sunseri, possibly related, was one of the New Orleans mafiosi accused in the 1890 assassination of Chief of Police David C. Hennessy), and Nunzio Battaglia of Pittsburgh (whose name was recorded in many newspapers as Battaglonia). The assassins were to be paid $30,000. It was widely believed that Lanasa instigated the hit, deciding, «If we kill Di Giorgio, I will be the banana king of Baltimore.»
The hit against Di Giorgio was botched. A couple of sticks of dynamite were placed under the kitchen area of his residence in the suburb of Walbrook when he wasn’t home. The explosion damaged the kitchen, a pantry, and a bathroom but hurt no one. Investigators tracked the perpetrators to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and western New York."
Here you can read the entire article:
etgdesign.com/.../joseph/mafia-assassination-attempt
If you wonder what happened to the 227 ft Salvatore di Giorgio later:
In 1924 she was sold to Japanese owners
and renamed Hisayoshi Maru (later renamed Sawa Maru). On April 6th 1945 she was mined and sunk off Kyushu, Japan.
skipshistorie.net/.../UKJ10119030400000...