1,000 Bottles of Wine in the Ground, 1,000 Bottles of Wine: The Preservation of early 20th century Italian Heritage at the John Bradford House

Summary

In 1919, the production of intoxicating beverages was legally prohibited in the United States. However, excavations in the 1970s at the John Bradford House in Kingston, MA indicate that its inhabitants at the turn-of-the-century were consuming large quantities of wine, champagne, and hard liquor. These bottles were consumed and then discarded at a time when the consumption of alcohol was considered immoral by the American middle class. This paper will explore the meaning behind the presence of these wine bottles that belonged to an Italian immigrant family, the Acollas, who consumed and possibly manufactured wine within their new life in a foreign country that eventually prohibited alcohol sale and manufacture. This paper will examine themes of ethnic and immigrant identity and the preservation of heritage by using the remnants of wine drinking to discuss how the act of consumption shaped and impacted the Acolla’s own identity within a foreign society.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Us and Them: Immigration and Identity   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 503