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In NJ, in the past, there were probably many towns which were "more italian" than even Hammonton, but demographic changes always occur. Hammonton is just a holdover in some ways.
LOL! I was there about 1.5 months ago looking for shed and while stopped at a convenience store I asked this middle aged man on a motorcycle if everyone in that town was italian being I saw many business billboard signs with italian last names and he said that everyone is everyones brother and sister and cousins and are married to each other. Where I came from in Northern NJ once had plenty of Italians but has changed much in 20 plus years.
The way we claim we're related is ridiculous. For example, I have cousins in Hammonton who run a business, and by cousins, I mean my mother's cousin's daughter's husband's uncle... Yup
As for the Hispanics, there's a lot of Hispanics in Vineland and Hammonton (both predominantly Italian) due to the fact that many Hispanics moved to where there were people of a similar culture.
The way we claim we're related is ridiculous. For example, I have cousins in Hammonton who run a business, and by cousins, I mean my mother's cousin's daughter's husband's uncle... Yup
As for the Hispanics, there's a lot of Hispanics in Vineland and Hammonton (both predominantly Italian) due to the fact that many Hispanics moved to where there were people of a similar culture.
So not much in a way of the Hatfield's and McCoy's.
I wonder how that all works out for these "so related" marriages if one of them goes to divorce?
This is surprising. I would say selected towns around NYC would have a much denser and higher Italian population. Aren't there areas in Brooklyn, Queens, or even out on Long Island that are more Italian than Hammonton? Not sure I buy this alleged "fact."
This is surprising. I would say selected towns around NYC would have a much denser and higher Italian population. Aren't there areas in Brooklyn, Queens, or even out on Long Island that are more Italian than Hammonton? Not sure I buy this alleged "fact."
It not that surprising when you think about it. There are plenty of Italian Americans who call South Jersey home. Not to mention Hammonton, NJ has gotten a huge booster of Italians from South Philly who have moved there over the pass 50 years.
...is Hammonton, NJ. They just said this on NBC 40 news. I have lived in south Jersey my entire life and never knew this!
I think it's a pretty interesting history:
"By almost every account, the unprecedented Italian influx can be attributed to one man, an Italian farmer named Salvador Calabrese who came to Hammonton in 1863 from tiny Gesso, Sicily. Calabrese wrote to two of his countrymen in Gesso, petitioning them to come start farms of their own. Within a few years most of the town of Gesso had relocated to Hammonton. Additionally, an organization called the Italian Labor Bureau was contracted at the time to supply Italian day laborers from nearby Philadelphia to harvest crops and work the fields. Slowly but surely, says Stafford, these laborers began buying land of their own and encouraging family members in Italy to join them."
My Grandfather was one of those day laborers who lived in Philly - but he remained in the city. Never saw Hammonton...I should visit someday.
Hammonton is very Italian and a lot of old school families are there. A lot of them bled down into the East Vineland area as well.
Historical side note...
During WW2 many POW camps were located in South Jersey. These camps housed Italian, German and even Japanese prisoners. The prisoners were put to work as laborers on the local farms and in the canning and processing plants do to the manpower shortage during the war. The prisoners were generally pretty happy in South Jersey where things were quiet and food was plentiful. Happiest of all though were the Italian prisoners. For many of them working on the various farms almost became a family reunion of sorts especially as most Philly/SJ Italians are from Sicily and Southern Italy, the same areas where the Allies first landed in Europe. A lot of the prisoners chose to stay after the war and settle in the area sponsored by the local families and many married into the farmers families. Still others went home only to return later.
I find this fascininating. Weren't Americans hostile to former war prisoners? I would think that, given the heavy death toll of our soldiers, the population , Italians included, would not be very friendly to their former "enemies." Interesting.
Last edited by soulsurv; 11-23-2012 at 08:19 PM..
Reason: spelling
I'm sure that others felt differently but, my grandmother who lived in England during the war used to take snacks to the German street laborers. They were cleaning up bombing damage. It seems that my mother was, at first, appalled. Grandmother said that they were just boys far away from home and family and that she hoped someone would do the same for one of her sons.
The immigrants were't well received anywhere. They formed their own communities and new word traditions.
This is surprising. I would say selected towns around NYC would have a much denser and higher Italian population. Aren't there areas in Brooklyn, Queens, or even out on Long Island that are more Italian than Hammonton? Not sure I buy this alleged "fact."
Maybe those areas are like south Philly, which used to have a heavily Italian population, but many have long ago moved to the 'burbs.
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I'd have thought Hammonton was mostly hispanic...
Where I came from in Northern NJ once had plenty of Italians but has changed much in 20 plus years.
