Giordani (toy manufacturer)

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Giordani

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founding 1875
Seat Bologna , Italy
Number of employees 1000
Branch Toy maker

Two Giordani Corsa pedal cars (right) at the start, 1930s

Giordani was an Italian manufacturer of toys made of wood and sheet metal, including particularly pedal cars , but also tricycles , children's and doll carriage , bicycles with side cars , electric cars , airplanes , roller skates and dolls . The company, which presented itself with its slogan as Fabbrica della felicità ( German  Factory of Happiness ), was run for five generations by the Giordani family in Bologna and most recently in Casalecchio di Reno from 1875 until it closed in 1984 .

history

Raffaele Giordani the Elder († 1889) ran a forge on Via San Vitale in Bologna in 1875, which he soon ran with his son Pietro the Elder. Here they were already busy building and renting velocipeds . After Pietro's death in 1911, the eldest of his sons, Raffaele the Younger (1889–1963), took over the management of the company and looking after his four brothers. In 1915 he published his first catalog of toys, including pedal cars . From that year until 1918 he worked as a skilled worker in the Italian arms production of the First World War .

After the war, his company mainly manufactured tricycles and prams, along with other metal products. Raffaele the Younger was supported by his brothers Giuseppe, Alberto († 1928) and Aldo Giordani, all of whom died early. In the meantime, the company had moved to new premises on Via Ronzani, where it now focused exclusively on the production of toy vehicles and prams. In the 1930s the company experienced steady growth, so that in 1932 a move to a larger factory on Via Nicolò Dall'Arca became necessary. Giordani now sold its products in Italy and the Italian colonies . From 1930 Raffaele Giordani visited several times abroad to establish business relationships, to buy new machines, but also to visit the factories of his competitors and study their work systems. His eldest son, Pietro Giordani the Younger (1913-1996) traveled to South America in 1937, where the company exported pedal cars, and to the United States to negotiate a license to build pedal cars from a company there.

During the Second World War Giordani was used for war production. In 1941 the plant covered an area of ​​11,600 m² (6600 m² of which was covered) and had modern machinery and 592 employees, 420 of whom were women. At that time, in addition to ongoing production, the company also manufactured chairs, stools, beds and bedside tables for hospital wards. In 1943 the building was targeted by an air raid, but was rebuilt in 1946 and equipped with modern machinery so that the company could continue to produce toys and strollers.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Giordani was one of the leading Italian manufacturers of toys and strollers. Pietro Giordani the Younger had since taken over the management of the company and was supported by the siblings Ermete, Guerrino (rubber processing), Luciano (sales) and Emilia Giordani (administration). In 1961 a new, larger factory building in Casalecchio di Reno with an area of ​​around 70,000 m² could be moved into. Of the approximately 1,000 workers, around 80 percent were women. Tricycles were built in the existing premises in Bologna until 1966. The company ceased operations in 1984 due to operational problems.

The pedal cars produced were u. a. based on the original Maserati 250F , Ferrari , Mercedes-Benz 190 SL , Studebaker or Lotus .

In 2013, the Museum of Industrial Culture, Museo del Patrimonio Industriale in Bologna , showed 37 of the most representative toys from Giordani production, many of which are coveted by collectors today.

literature

  • Antonio Campigotto, Roberto Martorelli: La Ruota e l'Incudine la memoria dell'Industria Meccanica bolognese in Certosa. Minerva, Bologna 2016, ISBN 978-8-87-381761-1 .
  • John Gunnell: A Collector's Guide to Automobilia. Krause Publications, 1994, ISBN 978-0-87-341295-7 , p. 201.

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