Americans have come to love espresso. For some, it’s seen as continental, cultured, and sophisticated. Sure, it might be mixed with milk to make a cappuccino, latte, café au lait, or mixed with hot water to make an Americano. We drink it for the intense flavor and aroma, not to mention the caffeine punch it packs. Where did this brew begin?
On Wednesday, June 5, 2024 Diana Garvin will share her story of “The Coffee Bean and the War Machine: Northern Italian Coffee Business between the World Wars” at 5:30 p.m. at Capitello Wines, 540 Charnelton St. for the Oregon Humanities Center’s spring Wine Chat.
Garvin traces the business histories of Lavazza, Illy, and other major Northern Italian coffee companies to illustrate the surprising ways that early 20th-century espresso machine technology and caffé design came together to create the distinctive aromas and flavors that afficionados around the globe associate with Made in Italy coffees today. The story begins in turn of the century Florence, where industry titans, Futurists, and warmongers gathered in caffés to sip coffee, and to debate the merits of Italy entering World War I. But contrary to the predictions of the caffé philosophers, the Great War brought hardship to many Italians, and the growing discontent of its veterans ushered in the dark years of Fascism. Lavazza and Illy, now known by name for their small but growing businesses, suddenly found themselves negotiating the perils of foreign trade against nationalist policies that branded South American coffee importation as a crime against the Fascist state. At stake in the daring solutions made by these early entrepreneurs on the eve of World War II lies the origin story of so many apparently timeless qualities of Italian espresso: dark roasts, short cups, and a foaming head of crema.
Diana Garvin, an Associate Professor of Italian and Mediterranean Studies at the University of Oregon, is a historian of Transnational Italy and a specialist in food and politics. Garvin’s research examines the history of everyday life across Fascist Italy and Italian East Africa. She is the author of Feeding Fascism: The Politics of Women’s Food Work (2022), which uses food as a lens to examine daily negotiations of power between women and the Fascist state.
Garvin received a 2021–22 Fulbright Global Scholar award to support her forthcoming book, The Bean in the Machine: The Global History of Italian Coffee, a history of coffee culture during the late 19th and early 20th century. Using the framework of coffee to connect the histories of world regions that have previously been explored independently, Garvin untangles the trade of beans and machines between three continents, bringing to light an untold story of imperial aggression and caffeinated resistance.
Garvin’s Wine Chat is free and open to the public. Beverages are available for purchase and there is a food cart on the premises of Capitello Wines. There is ample parking at Banner Bank across the street.
