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G.P.: What we are interested in is the history of the Peroni Archives; its creation and its current relations with the company that generated it. Could you also tell us something about the synergies, but also the clashes between the cultural institution and the business? There often are contrasting priorities and, in the history of business archives, that generally leads to....
D.B.:... priorities!
G.P.: well… perhaps friction at times, but also collaboration with the business and its mission.
D.B.: I was joking…. priority is term most often used when a firm decides to reduce, or even eliminate investment in a cultural institution, even if it was created by the firm itself. The standard sentence “it’s not a priority” characterizes the ups and downs of this situation.
The Peroni archives grew out of a valorization project whose aim was to reconstruct the history of the company on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. The fact that the family owned the 100% of the company surely provided a strong incentive for the decision. The President at the time was Giorgio Natali, Peroni on his mother’s side. Since his family history corresponded with the company history, of course he was highly motivated.
My first contact with the company dates back to 1993, when I was conducting free-lance research on Peroni. I had examined the company’s papers with particular, interest in the ice factory. At the end of the study, the President asked me if I wanted to take on the writing up of the company’s history on the anniversary of its first 150 years – which occasion would take place three years later. So, the first goal was the book, which was to be the final product of the valorization project. The next step – the creation of a historical archives – absolutely wasn’t part of his initial intentions, quite the opposite! The company has always had a steadfast tradition of reserve that was considered a point of strength for the company and the family. This is why I think Dr. Natali abhorred the idea that his company’s documents would become freely available to the public.
Anyway, little by little, the project of the archives’ enhancement – including paper documents, but also objects – gained ground, thanks also to the increasing trust that we built up with the owners and the Archival Soprintendenza of Latium, who supported our efforts. It was a sort of miracle, considering the initial reserve and mistrust typical of Italian family capitalism. It was a slow awakening to consciousness, that turned into a period of great cultural growth for the company and, obviously, for me.
In the meantime, I realized what I had in my hands: an untouched archive made up of documents that had never been studied or sorted, and discovered almost by chance on a series of leads. We rummaged in cupboards, in archives that someone had taken home, and in storehouses. Most of the documents, absolutely untouched, were found in Rome. These papers recorded the company’s history from the end of the 19th century to the 50s.
So, having realized what they possessed, Peroni became even more aware of the importance of the valorization project. For this reason, an inventory was first carried out in order to write the book. Then a series of meetings took between Dr. Natali and the Soprintendente Salvatori Principe whose advice proved invaluable. They developed a very fruitful working relationship, and the archives were officially declared “of remarkable historical interest” by the Soprintendenza.
Dr. Natali supervised everything personally, as company directors did in the 19th century, because he truly believed in the company’s long-standing traditions. After the official recognition of historical interest, the company decided to build a physical space for the archives, inside the plant in Rome. Unfortunately there was no longer any link between the papers and the place where they were produced, because the Peroni’s historical headquarters, in Porta Pia, no longer belonged to the company. The original plant closed down at the beginning of the 70s, and was left unused for a long time. For a while, the plant housed the general administrative department and recently, it was sold off. For this reason Peroni is no longer in its historical premises. Today the general administrative department and the Historical Archives are inside the newer factory of Rome, set up in the 70s.
The permanent structure that houses both the Archives and the Museum was specially built and opened to the public between 2000 and 2001. Actually, the plan to build the company museum precedes the project for both the historical archives and the volume on the company’s history.
For 30-40 years, the company and its staff, the former directors and particularly, members of the family like Marco and Rodolfo Peroni, intended to create a museum and so, many old objects had been kept: old machines, keys, the cellarman’s shoes, the telephone uprooted from the storage cellar... almost a kind of fetishism! So much has been kept that, when it was decided to create a company museum in addition to the archives, Peroni already had vast number of historical items to exhibit! It was only a matter of hunting around the working and the abandoned plants and reassembling the pieces. This very interesting operation lasted many years: we started in 1993 and the museum was inaugurated in 2001. All the plants, many current and former staff have taken part in this slow and exacting process: it was a concerted effort that was very absorbing for all who were involved, and everybody did a great job.
Unfortunately, since 1996, the market has changed because Heineken bought Moretti, and Peroni lost the leadership it had enjoyed from the beginning of the Twentieth century. Furthermore, the second half of the 90s marked the beginning of a negative period for the Italian economy including the brewery sector. So there hasn’t been much time to celebrate Peroni’s 150th anniversary. On the other hand, the creation of the Archives and the Museum created a sense of cohesion within the company. The Peroni family pushed strongly for the museum project, which reflected the heritage of the firm, but also of the family.
The use of illustrations kindly granted by Archivio storico Peroni
