Among Friends
Move from Italy for job leads to a new home in Pictou County
Short-term job contract turns into lifelong love and friendships in Pictou County
Elsa Rastelli left Italy in the late 1950s in search of freedom and adventure. She found both as well as lifelong love and lasting friendships.
She had just begun working in a textile factory close to her home in the province of Milan when she was asked if she’d be interested in working outside the country.
“I said sure because I was the baby of the family and I was being suffocated at home. I didn’t even ask where and when I heard it was Canada, the America of the North, to me, I had no idea what I agreed to. I can still feel how my knees were shaking, but I was excited, too.”
She went to a more southerly factory, a prototype for the Donato, Faini and Figli facility that would open in Stellarton, for a year of training and six months of English night classes. At a company social event, she met Luigi Rastelli who was also going to Canada with the textile company.
“When I was 17, he came to my town to play soccer, semiprofessional soccer, and I remember telling my friends he must be the most beautiful man on the face of the earth. Of course, I was very young, so he was out of my league.”
The day after the company social, they met again and walked down the street together.
“When he said goodbye, he said, ‘You never know what might happen on the other side of the water.’ I didn’t know what he meant or if he meant anything at all.”
Elsa hit a major obstacle in her plans to go to Canada when she discovered that being underage meant she would need parental permission.
“My parents wanted me close and would never give their permission, so my brother-in-law forged my father’s signature. He was a very kind man and he believed I deserved an adventure.”
Initially, Elsa thought she and the others going to Canada were headed for New Brunswick where the French she learned in school would be useful.
“Frank Sobey had gone to work (through Industrial Estates Ltd.) to bring the plant to Stellarton. Of course, at the time, New Brunswick or Nova Scotia meant nothing to us. We only learned the full story over time.”
There were 1,600 Italians on Elsa’s ship, all destined for different parts of Canada. The factory training crew sailed first class and she remembers there was music, dancing and fine food until they were caught in a storm a day away from Halifax.
“It was so rough, a lot of damage was done in the bottom of the ship. I was so seasick I didn’t know if I could stand to walk off the ship when we docked.”
It was as passengers’ names were called out at Pier 21 that fear finally caught up to Elsa.
“Every day on the ship, we were reminded we had to obey the law of the land. Over and over again, we heard it, ‘the law of the land.’ As the names were called out, I had the feeling we could all be carried off to jail for something we didn’t do.”
The snow banks were higher than she could have imagined, but company representatives, including Luigi, were waiting to take the group to Stellarton as the media snapped photos.
“We were big news because we were bringing a business. Everything was so different from Italy, but everyone we met was very, very kind. Everywhere we went people were helpful and caring.”
Over the next two years, she and Luigi came to enjoy each other’s company.
“I was not lonely when I arrived because I was looking for freedom and it seemed like a fairytale place to me. It was strange, though, having nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon when we’d have been dancing or at the movies in Italy. I remember one night he asked me and another girl to the movies and he walked me home.”
When Luigi’s two-year contract ended, he went back to Italy for a visit, but first he signed up for another two years. A few months later, Elsa’s contract ended and she also went home.
“I had always said I’d stay two years, so I did not have a plan to come back. Luigi sent me such letters and then I had a big choice to make. When I came back, he asked me to marry him, so my two years in Stellarton turned to four and then six and then 58.”
Elsa remembers early friends, Bill Sobey and Elmer MacKay in particular, who took them into their homes and made them feel part of their families.
When the plant closed after more than a decade, the Rastellis had a young son and daughter and wondered where their future lay.
“We went to Montreal for a visit and we were both offered jobs without even looking, but in a very short time, we decided Stellarton was home. Patrizia and Max were in school and we had already made friends for life.”
For the next 33 years, they operated Rare Knits Ltd. on Foord Street, designing and knitting fabric and making custom clothing for a large clientele. When they outfitted a Nova Scotia Canada games team, they won the bestdressed award. Among the athletes sporting their work was their son Max who was on the curling team.
Luigi’s mother joined them in Stellarton and they went back to Italy often.
“We loved to visit family and friends but we never wanted to stay.”
Luigi passed away suddenly three years ago, but it still feels like yesterday for Elsa.
“I miss him every hour of every day but we enjoyed life in Pictou County and we have two beautiful Canadian grandsons. Now, when I have a lot of time for remembering, I wonder about the others on that ship. Did they find love and good friends?”