Memoires of Hope “Ventimiglia” Cardinalli About Her Father Salvatore Ventimiglia Editing by Mike Ventimiglia

Hope "Ventimiglia" Cardinalli

My grandmother, Speranza “Bruno” Ventimiglia (Hope) bore six sons, of which my father Salvatore was the youngest, and two daughters. He was born in Isola delle Femmine on September l3, 1893. My grandfather Gennaro Ventimiglia was a foundling from Palermo born January 12, 1931. Salvatore Costanzo and Caterina Cardinale adopted him. They adopted him as Erasmo Costanzo. Gennaro Ventimiglia married Melch;iora Davi on December 25, 1851 in Isola delle Femmine. Their son Salvatore Ventimiglia was born May15,1853 in Isola delle Femmine, no reference to Ventimiglia which was his father’s birth name was given. Salvatore’s marriage to Speranza Bruno, February 12, 1878, at Isola delle Femmine. He is referenced as Salvatore Ventimiglia, son of Gennaro Ventimiglia and Melchiora Davi. He leaned his last name was Ventimiglia when he applied for Maritime license as a fisherman in Palermo.

His name was Salvatore Ventimiglia, as was my father's. Ventimiglia is a very prominent name in Genovese and Sicilian heraldry. There are cities both in Sicily and the Genoa area with that name. My grandfather came alone to America at the turn of the century, and returned to Sicily when my grandmother became gravely ill. She ran a small general store on the ground floor of her home, and a hoist was installed as an elevator to carry her up and down, because of her bad heart. My grandfather and his sons left after her death on the Star of Italy from Messina on March 10, 1906, after the earthquake there. They arrived in Martinez after the San Francisco earthquake. They fished the San Joaquin River, and after my grandfather's death went to Oakland, Pittsburg, San Francisco, and Monterey. Two of my uncles were involved in organizing fishermen's unions. When he was able to do so, my dad bought his first lampara boat the "Seawolf “ He owned and/or operated a succession of fishing boats. He bought the "Santanna" with Mr. Vincent Russo. Built the “Sea King" with Mariano Torrente, his niece's husband. Later they sold the "Sea King" and built the 82-footer the “New Rex”. He bought the “Sun Maid” and in 1940 built the 82-footer purse seiner “New Hope”, named for my grandmother and me .

"New Hope" purse seiner owner Salvatore Ventimiglia

At one time he owned a partnership in the "New Rex", largest share of the “Sun Maid” and all of the “New Hope”, The boats he leased over the years were the “Sonia”, “Senorita”, “Lucky Star”, “Orion”, “Cape Flattery”, “Reliangs” and “California Star”.

Catch mistake anchovies have to be dipped into tanning tanks to remove from net.

One of the leased, boats came, with, an all-Japanese crew. He was a founder and director of the Boat Owners organization. He had many interesting experiences in his fishing days. It was his idea to immerse a net hopelessly gilled with anchovies in hot water to keep the oils from rotting the net. And it was his idea to transport sardines in tomato tank trucks from the south after they disappeared from our fishing grounds. He met and befriended Mr. Wesley Dodge, who dealt in used farm machinery and interested him in buying machinery from the defunct canneries on Cannery Row. When the fishermen were accused of being greedy overfishers, he met a man formerly of the Atomic Energy Commission, who said his theory was that the plutonium plant in Hanford on the Columbia River and the toxic waste munitions dump in the Farallon Islands were interfering with the northern spawn. When he had enough information, the fishermen and canneries would have a case against the government, but he died before anything developed. The state set limits on canneries, as to the number of fish they could pack and/or reduce to oil and meal.

California Frozen Fish Company owner Salvatore Ventimiglia barrels of brime mackerel read for shipping to government.

My father's ultimate ambition was to build a cannery. He bought a plot of land from the Haldorn estate on Cannery Row, then known as Wave and Reeside streets. There was a moratorium on building during wartime, but he managed to build a freezing plant "California Frozen Fish, He secured a large government order for brine mackerel in barrels he was allowed to expand, and later came the one-line cannery.

Before the freezing plant there was the "salacchini" operation. He leased a warehouse on Eardley Avenue in Pacific Grove and processed salted herring, which were pressed and packed in 5-gallon kegs. Because of the war effort, he was the only one to ever have a permit to process fish in Pacific Grove and to the best of our knowledge, he was the only sole owner of a cannery-on-Cannery Row. He had no partners or investors. After the cannery went through bankruptcy, the City of Monterey acquired the property. When a park was planned for the site, we asked that the portion  my dad owned be named after him. Recommendations from Leon Panetta and then Mayor Clyde Roberson, the request was denied. We did get permission to install a plaque at the site, and it will be a park in perpetuity.