The cooperative system

»

In the last decades of the 19th century this manufacture developed from year to year and of course there were persons who took advantage of the lack of a trade union and increased their own high profits keeping low the workers’ earnings. These sort of contractors were called "Tombù". In those same years however cooperative movements gained on all over in Trentino. They were often supported by the Church but sometimes it was the workers and consumers themselves who founded the first cooperative stores and banks, as well as the first cooperative societies. All over and also in the Ledro Valley the cooperative system found valid supporters, beside stores and banks the hobnails craftsmen (called "chiodaioli") established the "Cooperative Broccami" di Molina di Ledro and in Prè. We must not forget to mention that in Molina Ledro the promoter of many social initiatives was the enlightened priest Lucillo Sartori. Actually he contributed to the foundation of the nursery-school (1893), the bank called "la Vigiliana" (1894), and through the bank the Cooperativa Broccami di Molina di Ledro (1898) and the Cooperative store (1895). These initiatives allowed the workers to become independent from the "Tombù" and from the exploitation by private contractors. In Prè the Cooperativa Broccami was founded directly by the workers and got its own statute and a board of directors whose first president was Giacomo Bastianelli. In 1896 Giuseppe Casari from Molina established his private firm "Ditta Casari" (nails manufacture and iron monger’s shop), which also had a smithy. For the Ditta Casari worked the many craftsmen who didn’t join any cooperative society. The Ditta Casari promoted the trade and sale of handmade "hoe-hobnails" and in the following years, with the help of his nephews, G. Casari opened a shop also in Riva del Garda. On Saturdays at the Casari’s and in the "cooperative broccami" workers used to gather and count their weekly production of hobnails and buy coal and iron for the next week. The difference between the sale price of the nails and the amount due for the iron and coal supplied was paid cash. Before 1914 these shoe nails, called "brocche" were largely needed all over in the alpine countries, in Tyrol, in the Habsburg Empire and even in Bayern. They were used in the nailing of shoes and mountain boots and of course the greatest demand came from the army.