"Mangiate i prodotti della nostra patria!". Ethnic entrepreneurs and Italian-americans between political mobilization and food consumption (1914-1940)

The essay will focus on the dynamics wherewith food advertisings on ethnic newspapers in the United States created the illusion to live and consume Italy and italianness in a diaspora context in the first half of the XX century. These advertisings reproduced and structured at the same time immaterial, political and economic transnational ties between the reality of the Little Italies in the Us and the land of origin. Lots of entrepreneurs tried to take advantage of moments characterized by strong political-economic tensions to bring messages to activate Italian-American consumers in order to support commercial and political projects of Italy. Three advertising campaigns in particular saw an increasing number of propaganda messages the tied food consumption and loyalty for the Homeland: World War I and the following years, 1925-1926 campaign - during the Italian war debts payment negotiations - and the period begun with the invasion of Ethiopia (1935-1936) and the Italian war entry in 1940.