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Oral history recording in English with Dora Marubbi. Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Part 1 of 4 (AV 11436 - 11439)

00:00:15 Dora states her married and maiden names. She was born in the village of Molfetta, north of Bari in South Italy. She describes Molfetta. When she was growing up people lived more in the old part of town. Dora gives her grandparents names, she was named after her paternal grandmother. Her mother’s parents died before she was born. She describes her parents’ families, both of which were large. Her paternal grandfather had a tile business and her maternal grandfather had a cake shop. She describes her grandfather’s tile business, fondly remembering the tiled floors they would make. Dora describes her grandparents; her grandmother was a housewife, looking after six children and the house with the help of maids.

Summary Part 2 00:00:19 Dora describes her grandparents house in Molfetta, which her grandfather built. Much of her family lived together in the house and her father inherited it. She talks about the house where she grew up which was rented from a Doctor, on ‘Piazza Garibaldi’; at the front of the house was a park and from the back she could see the sea, and the old town. She lived with two twin sisters and a brother, Sergio. Her sister died at sixteen. She talks about growing up in the house, going to school, and memories of her brothers and sisters- it was quite a strict upbringing. She went to a nursery school in a convent. She left at 17 when she got engaged. She remembers friends from her High School; one also married a man from Wrexham.

00:10:40 Dora talks about meeting her husband. He was a sergeant in the army working as a mechanic for army tanks and Lorries in a nearby football ground. They met at a Sunday evening dance, to which she was invited by her mother’s friend, at the Sergeant mess. She describes the evening in detail. The second time she went to a dance her father and her brother went with her, she tells a story describing her father’s strictness and his reaction to the attention she received from her future husband. After that her he continued to visit her house and was favoured by her mother.

00:15:55 Dora talks about her husband and their wedding. She got married very young for the time and had her children at a young age. Her husband was born in Wrexham, to Italian parents and she was very connected to his relatives in the North. When asked about the differences between her home is the South and the North of Italy she explains that her father had a good position and the family were quite well of as were her father in law’s family. Her mother in law grew up in the mountains to a poorer agricultural family. Her father in law came over to the UK to join his brother who had moved over to open a garage in the 1880s yet they went on to have an ice cream shop and a fish and chip van. She starts to recount a story about their travels in the fish and shop van.

Summary Part 3 00:00:06 Dora continues the story about her husband’s family’s fish and chip cart. Before the war they would travel to North West Wales with the cart making fresh chips. She explains how one day on the way into Betys-y-Coed the cart tipped over and potatoes tipped all over the hill- they now call it potatoes hill. The family was known all over North Wales. They had a caravan site and a cafe in Porthmadog in Blackrock Sands before the war. They returned after the war, everything was destroyed and they couldn’t get the lease back. There were a few more Italians in the area at the time; the Berni family who were in the car industry, Sidoli family who made ice cream, and a family with a cafe in Mold. Her husband’s family opened two fish and chip shops and a cafe in Aber Street, York Street and Bank Street. The Bank street cafe is the only remaining cafe. When Dora came over she lived upstairs in the cafe in Bank Street which was very popular with the Welsh people.

00:05:30 Dora talks about her first impressions of Wrexham and the journey over, the worst thing on arrival being the weather. She also talks about differences in the food. The interviewer changes subject to her hometown in Italy and asks about religion. Molfetta was a fishing port and boats were built in the area. She describes the boats going out to fish at night and getting fresh fish in the morning at the market or straight from the fishermen early in the morning. Everyone was Roman Catholic and Dora describes the Easter procession in detail which lasted two days. On the last day they have a procession at midnight accompanied by ‘beautiful solemn music’. They also celebrate ‘Our Lady of Martyrs’. There is a big procession and the statue is carried on fishing boats from a church on the other side of the harbour. Squares are filled with stalls, bands and fireworks. She talks about the community in Molfetta, many immigrants go back to celebrate the festival. Many people immigrated to America before the war and she describes the Italian community in New York where her aunt used to live.

00:16:29 Fishing was the main industry in her hometown, there weren’t many industries apart from the cake shop owned by her mother’s family, and the tile industry. There was a strong class distinction in the town; her family were well off but she talks about a poor family who lived in the basement of their apartment block. That was the reason that many moved away. The community was close but more in a family sense she feels; families were very close, more so than in the UK, she talks about this. She talks about family values and explains the dowry tradition. She describes how property was saved from when children were young to be given to them when they married, in particular for daughters.

00:23:10 Dora talks about leisure time in her hometown. In the summer people go to the beach, there are different clubs in the town where people play cards, drink coffee and eat ice cream and cakes. A lot of entertaining is carried out at home with the family, where dances were held. She describes the card games Canasta and Buracco, which they would pay with friends when they went to the club every night. At Christmas and New Year gatherings are held with choirs and music.

00:25:20 Dora remembers her first communion in a small chapel at seven years of age. After that they would visit all their relatives’ houses and receive presents such as a rosary or books. Her mother didn’t work but did house work with the help of a maid. She spent a lot of time cooking in the house which Dora describes in detail, eating different things in different seasons, fresh fish every day, and her speciality focaccia, pizza and cakes. She talks about games they would play when they were younger- marbles (with dried apricot stones) and hopscotch.

00:34:34 During the war Dora remembers the sirens in the evenings when they had to go to the basement, though most of the bombing was carried out on Bari. German soldiers came to the town, but soon after English soldiers came over from Africa (including her husband). They took over most of the schools, so they had to move their schools to flats; her husband was in sergeant mess in a nursery school. People were pleased to see English soldiers, children would make fuss of them. She talks about her husband visiting her house and the gossip they would cause; Dora got married in the cathedral in her hometown.

00:38:48 Dora’s husband was in Africa- Tripoli or Tunisia as a mechanic, then moved to Sicily and South of Italy, Taranto, Bari and Molfetta. She describes the bombing in Molfetta in detail; around September 1942 when she was around 14, it flattened an apartment block. She describes going to the basement when the alarms sounded as very frightening. Dora also remembers schooling during the fascist regime. They would have sports days held in honour of ‘Il Duce’ where they would wear la piccola italiana uniform. She talks about laws not being able to say anything against Mussolini, after the war she recalls strange atmosphere; life felt more free but unstable and at that point she left Italy for Wales.

Summary Part 4 00:00:21 Dora moved to Wales on 9th July 1946. She remembers getting up and putting her dressing gown on, on seeing her sister in law told her to put on her overalls for work in the shop. She settled in well as her parents in law spoke Italian, and she loved serving ice cream in the shop and trying to speak a few words of English; coming straight from school it was a new experience for her. She talks about food, and remembers going to Lena Stores in Brewer Street in Soho to buy pasta and parmesan cheese. She says when she knew she was coming to Wales she thought she was going to ‘heaven’. She packed the clothes that she had and all the war brides came on a train full of English troops. They then met other Italian war brides in Villach in Austria and the atmosphere was one of anticipation. When she arrived in London her husband wasn’t at the station, so she was taken with other girls to a hotel where they would be picked up.

00:10:40 Dora didn’t like Wrexham when she first arrived; the food and the weather were so different. As she had studied English at school, and working in Marubbi’s cafe, she learnt the language quickly. She talks about the cafe’s long opening hours, as well as selling ice cream on a Sunday afternoon. It was hard work along with bringing up children as well, but she thoroughly enjoyed it. She describes the people as welcoming, and talks about the customers who would come in. One lady would read the tea leaves in the cup. Marubbi’s was noted for its ice cream. She describes how the ice cream was made every night and remembers the queue across the street.

00:20:30 Dora now sees a couple of Italians regularly, she often meets others at funerals. She explains always being able to tell an Italian, even in airports, by their presentation. Dora goes back o Italy twice a year; she feels at home in her hometown and was in Italy for two or three years continually to look after her mother when she was ill. People there still see her as ‘Molfetese’ and are welcoming, as are the people in Wrexham. Her children learnt Italian through their grandparents, her daughter has picked it up since going back to Italy. They are fond of their Italian heritage and love going back. She says if she didn’t have so much family here then she would stay in Italy but family values are very important to her and generally in the Italian culture. She says it can be a good thing and a bad thing, here there is more freedom and people do things more independently. She talks of the Italian attitude to women, which has changed a lot since she left Italy. Her children see themselves as half Welsh, half Italian.