About the producer
Legend
The man-coq
When "the man-coq" was still a young Italian, with a lot of dreams in his pocket
Giuseppe Gasco was born in Gallipoli, in Puglia, in 1903. He was the youngest of 9 children born to Maria and Antonio Gasco, a respected pharmacist and a fervent patriot.
At the start of the First World War, Giuseppe was barely more than a child, his family is rich and respected thanks to his father's business, a man considered an important figure in the city. Antonio the Doctor, as everyone calls him, is already 45 years old in 1915 and is therefore excluded from the project. He could live peacefully at home, but after having witnessed as a spectator of the Gallipoli's naval battle the previous year, he cannot remain indifferent to the call of the country: he leaves his family and heads north for engage in the army.
Giuseppe has always been his father's most loved son for his joyful and easy -to -live manners and his lively intelligence. From an early age, he spent a lot of time in the store, helping to prepare potions and tonics, putting order in the ingredient pots and working as an apprentice.
For this reason, although he is not the eldest son, Antonio says goodbye by entrusting him with the responsibility of the family. It was June 5, 1915 and it is the last time that Giuseppe will see his father.
The war begins and ends without leaving any particular signs in the Gascos and their lifestyle habits, until the first days of 1919, when the hopes of seeing Doctor Antonio go home are suddenly broken by a telegram from the Ministry of the Defense.
New life
The choice of a courageous mother who changes the fate of J. Gasco
1919 is a horrible year: the pharmacy is closed, Mario, one of the brothers of Giuseppe, falls seriously ill and dies, the economic resources begin to miss and it is at this moment that mother Maria makes a very difficult decision: emigrating .
In Chicago saw his brother Vito, who moved there a few years ago and launched a prosperous transport company. From the moment he learned of the situation of his sister, he insisted that she came with his family to America.
On June 20, 1920, Giuseppe and his family embarked on the port of Naples on the Duca degli Abruzzi steam boat, destination America, with very little money in their pockets and so much hope in their hearts.
A little more than a month later, on August 2, the ship accosted in the port of Chicago and an impressive man and with soft eyes, uncle Vito, awaits them: this is the start of a new era for The Gasco family.
Shortly after Giuseppe, or better still, Joseph as the Uncle Vito calls him, begins to work in his uncle's business and it is at this point that the adventure that will make him "l 'Man-Coster ”begins.
These are the years of prohibition, the years of great contradictions, of lived lives, the desire for freedom and pleasure, but also of anarchy, of violence and great fortunes quickly created from nothing.
Joseph, as everyone calls him now, quickly understands that the wealth that his uncle is constructed is not only the result of trucks that enter and take out funds of funds at any time. The transport company actually serves as a cover for a much more profitable company: alcohol trade, declared illegal on January 16, 1920 by a law promoted by Senator Volstead.
Vito "uncle" Rizzo, thanks to its close relations with the Italian community and with certain people with a less than impregnable criminal record, created a production and delivery network which supplies the major part of the "speakeasy" of the city, as well as half of the country.
Golden years
From the suburbs of Chicago to New York salons
Gasco is an intelligent young man, with a busy business sense and a unique ability to create and develop social relationships. Under the wing of his uncle, he grew up quickly and at only 19 years old, he is already a leading figure from the Chicago "border", that which cultivates good relations with politicians, the police and known families, but Also with emerging gangsters.
He becomes J. Gasco, the nephew of Vito Rizzo de Gallipoli: he is a beautiful and charming young man with charisma, he likes elegant clothes and accessories that make him recognizable, like colorful suspenders and a long beard always careful and dark. Celebrity does not take long.
Its main task is to manage and supply the network of "speakeasy" belonging to the family in the "windy city", as well as in other cities; Among them, New York Club 21, one of the most famous clubs of the time.
J. Gasco contributes to the notoriety and the success of the places he frequents: he is brilliant, magnetic, always accompanied by beautiful women and his presence makes the holidays memorable; Holidays where, of course, alcohol flows like rivers, dollars multiply but not enough for a businessman like Joseph Gasco.
But how? As all good Italian Joseph knows it, the problem lies in taste: beers, "moonshine" whiskeys and other spirits on the black market are of very poor quality, they have a horrible taste and are barely drinkable, especially For women, who regularly come to her clubs. It was at this point that the experience acquired by helping his father Antonio, the pharmacist, to prepare tonics, digestives and decoctions, came to the rescue.
The idea is simple but successful: create a range of drinks which, mixed with alcohol, make them more pleasant to taste, gives them a more pleasant, lighter appearance and thus increase consumption.
The success of the tonics and sodas created by J. Gasco goes beyond all expectations and travel by word of mouth across all the United States, to the point that even the competitors of the Vito uncle want the products created by Joseph Gasco de Gallipoli: "L'Homme-Roquer".
Winning intuition
When defeat becomes another starting point
Years pass quickly and we find J. Gasco on December 4, 1933 seated at the central table of one of his clubs. It's been a long time that a boy named Giuseppe, full of fears and hopes, left Italy in search of fortune ... Sitting in a dominant position while smoking a cigar, now there is a respected man and feared that carries tailor -made costumes and moves with the awareness of a winner. A man who is ready this evening to give life to the longest and wildest party of the last decade.
But what is the opportunity? In fact, nothing. In fact, for the Gasco family and many others, it is the beginning of the end: tomorrow around 5.30 p.m., the prohibition will finally end, the sale of alcoholic beverages will be legal again. With this freedom, millions of dollars from illegal trade in alcohol and "speakeasy" will disappear.
Even so this evening, with the carelessness and audacity that has always distinguished him, J. Gasco just wants to party. Many things have changed: Uncle Vito and his mother Maria are dead, her brothers and sisters have a family, a house and children. Joseph remained a free agent instead, a lone wolf, but also a visionary, a dreamer, a daredevil.
What will be of J. Gasco? An accumulated fortune quickly, a transport company and several hundred barrels of soda and tonic of different flavors and colors, created to make alcohol of the black market less mediocre.
"The Man Rooster" - Oh yes, because from "Uomo di Gallipoli" (the man of Gallipoli) to "the Uomo Gallo" (The Man -Rooster in English) The stage was short - I had another intuition: the price of alcohol will collapse, consumption will change, people will try new things and develop new tastes, so why not create a range of drinks to be drinks mixed with alcohol as well as 'To taste directly?
It will only be necessary to improve the formulas of existing products, to create bottles with labels that make them recognizable and finally to deliver them to anyone in fact, but this is not a problem.
And this is how the line of soft drinks J.GASCO was born on Tuesday December 5, 1933 at 5:57 pm in the transport company "Vito Rizzo & Sons"; The "The Man-Rooster" products which, in a few years, have become the most bus and the most "mixed" in the trendy clubs of America, the places where jazz and bebop were played and where a generation of young rebels , dreamers and revolutionaries is the host: these are the "hipsters", but it's a whole different story ...
Country
Italy
