Fontana Macaroni

If you were looking for some fun in San Francisco during World War II, the thing to do was to go dancing at the Fontana macaroni factory.1 Indeed, it was a lively time in the Golden City, a place packed with the military gearing up for deployment to the Pacific. At the end of a busy day, the pasta factory turned into a dance hall where you could boogie down amid boxes of freshly minted golden macaroni. For a perfect recipe, just add some dancing sailors to spice up the mix and a few Marines to turn up the heat. The dances at the macaroni factory offered a good break from an otherwise challenging period. The Fontana macaroni factory was built to look pristine, exuding an aura of cleanliness to all who saw it. It was a 100 x 300-foot (30 x 91meter) four story building in South San Francisco, covered in massive windows to maximize natural lighting, thus acquiring the moniker of the “Sunshine Plant.”2-3 The factory was state of the art, with hydraulic power and its own water purification system.4

Fontana made about 28 varieties of pasta and noodles, including elbows, macaroni, rings, shells, spaghetti, stars, vermicelli and alphabets, which they recommended to be served for breakfast with cream and sugar.5 In addition to retail packages, Fontana offered pasta in 20-pound bulk boxes, large wooden barrels and cans, in an offering they called a “5-Pound Handy Can.”6-7 In the early 1930s, Fontana sponsored cooking schools in Hawaii to promote the health benefits of pasta and advertise their products in that region.8 Whether out of a sense of patriotism during World War II or just plain unconventional marketing, opening the doors of the factory to the public was certainly a unique way to promote their product. Fontana Food Products Company was formed by Mark E. Fontana as President, Lucian Podesta as Vice President, and A. E. Sbarboro as Treasurer.9

Mark Fontana was the eldest son of Marco Fontana, who immigrated to the United States from Genoa, Italy and founded the successful canning enterprise M. J. Fontana and Company.10 Podesta previously owned and managed the Pioneer Macaroni and Vermicelli Factory, which claimed to be the oldest and largest macaroni company on the Pacific Coast.11 Sbarboro worked at the Italian-American Bank of San Francisco.12

Construction of the factory commenced in the Fall of 1921 and operations began sometime in late 1922.13-14 The company grew steadily over the years, becoming the number one brand on the Pacific Coast and securing 75% of the Hawaiian dry pasta market.15 In 1946, it became a division of Hunt Foods of Los Angeles after becoming a subsidiary of Hunt a year earlier.16 In July 1948, a “spectacular” fire started on the fourth-floor drying section and spread throughout the building causing $500,000 in damage, the same amount it cost to initially set up the factory.17-18 At the time, the factory was making 1,500,000 pounds (680,000 kilograms) monthly and had about 70 employees.19-20 The company never fully recovered from the fire and ceased operations in 1951.21

1. Michelle Robertson, “A 92-year-old SF native reflects on how the city has changed – and hasn’t“, SFGATE (November 23, 2018, updated December 12, 2018), https://www.manisteenews.com/expensive-sanfrancisco/article/A-93-year-old-SF-native-reflectson-how-the-city-13417093.php.

2. “Work Starts on Great Macaroni Factory”, The Enterprise, Enterprise Publishing Company, South San Francisco, California, volume XXVIII, number 42 (October 21, 1921), page 1.

3. ”Fontana Products ‘Sunshine Plant’: Payroll $75,000”, The Enterprise, volume XXXVI, number 50 (December 14, 1928), Industrial Section, page 13.

4. ”Making Macaroni”, American Miller, Mitchell Brothers Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, volume LIII, number 10 (October 10, 1925), pages 1096-97.

5. “Eat and Serve Fontana’s Macaroni Products Often”, The Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu, Hawaii, 75th year, number 15,999 (August 27, 1931), page 17.

6. Ibid.

7. Food and Medical Authorities on Food Value of Macaroni Products, published by Fontana Foods Products Company, San Francisco, California (undated company information and recipe booklet).

8. “Fontana Macaroni Products Made From Finest Grade Durum Wheat”, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, (Evening Bulletin, established 1882, number 12234), (Hawaiian Star, volume XXXIX, number 12375) (October 7, 1931), Cooking School Section, page 2.

9. ”Work Starts on Great Macaroni Factory”.

10. Ibid.

11. ”Food Products Manufacturing Co. to Build Great Modern Plant in So. S. F.”, The Enterprise, volume XXVIII, number 37 (September 16, 1921), page 1.

12. Ibid.

13. “Work Starts on Great Macaroni Factory”.

14. ”Fontana Forms New Firm in San Francisco”, The Enterprise, volume XXIX, number 13 (March 30, 1922), page 1.

15. “In the Matter of Golden Grain Macaroni Company, Et Al.”, Federal Trade Commission Decisions, Findings, Opinions, and Orders, January 1 to June 30, 1971, volume 78, published by the commission, compiled by the Rules and Publications Section of the Office of the Secretary, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, DC (1973), pages 72 and 119.

16. “Hunt Foods Takes Over Fontana”, San Mateo Times, San Mateo, California, volume 45, number 201 (August 28, 1946), page 7.

17. “Works Starts on Great Macaroni Factory”.

18. ”Four-Story Macaroni Plant Burned in SF”, Salinas Californian, Salinas, California, volume LXXVII, number 171 (July 19, 1948), page 4.

19. ”Hunt Foods Takes Over Fontana”.

20. ”Fontana Macaroni Factory In S. F. Burns”, The Fresno Bee, Fresno, California, volume 52, number 9329 (July 19, 1948), page 2.

21. ”In the Matter of Golden Grain Macaroni Company, Et Al.”, page 72.