Catalog Level
Items (Cataloging Focus)

Title Proper/Title Text
Florio S. O. M. il miglior Marsala

Date of Publication/Creation Date
1911 ca. (unclear date on the verso)

Dimensions Description
9x14 cm

Inscription Language
Italian (Language)

Descriptive Note Text

This black-and-white photo postcard shows a whimsical display advertizing the popular Florio brand of marsala wine. Founded in 1833 by Vincenzo Florio, the Florio Winery in Marsala, in western Sicily, is still producing wine today. 

The display showed a giant bottle of Florio marsala with its signature label, sitting on a tall base made of wine barrels. The body of the giant bottle was comprised of hundreds of real-sized bottles of marsala. A cherub-like figure sat on the bottle stopper.

The postcard was sent to Rome, and the date on the stamp is illegible. However, the red ink stamp "Pro Tripoli" on the front of the postcard references Tripoli (modern-day Libya) as the target of the Italo-Turkish War, where Italy invaded Ottoman Tripolitania to gain colonies in North Africa. Italy captured Tripoli on October 5, 1911, and formally annexed it on November 5.

Current Repository/Geographic Location
Cristina Della Coletta Private Collection (San Diego, USA)

Current Repository Numbers
CDC-PC-STAN-0001