This is the recounting and the diary of my life - Marino Mattei

20.

At that time, Morino was in charge of managing the factory [the Italpresepio - see part 19]. With Christmas quickly approaching, the company had plenty of work. Unfortunately, our clients complained that orders were not arriving on time. Pietrino thought this was happening because Morino took his work too lightly and he often criticized him for this.

Morino became ill and had to stay home for a few weeks. Pietrino suddenly decided to put me in Morino's position. I did not want this obligation or responsibility but, given that it was temporary, I accepted it. I fully committed myself to the task and, even though I'd had no experience in management, in 15 days all the Christmas orders were shipped. Pietrino was very pleased. Morino came back to work after recovering from his illness. I was extremely relieved that he would again be the manager because I didn't want his job. I had no background in being the head of factory operations and the work duties carried too many responsibilities and worries. I preferred my relatively carefree position as a caster. I also knew that Pietrino and I didn't really get along. The ideas he had were completely contrary to mine and any advice I tried to offer was immediately disregarded. He didn't think my ideas were of much value. Consequently, I did not want to complicate things for myself. In addition to this, I realized the employees would not be pleased that I was in charge and, undoubtedly, they would do everything they could to promote confrontations between Pietrino and me.

As I said, Morino returned but since I had been given no orders I went to ask Pietrino what to do. I thought that, without a doubt, I'd be placed back into my former position as a caster. Unfortunately, Pietrino insisted I remain the head of factory operations and he gave Morino the job of manufacturing molds. We discussed this at length. I absolutely did not want to take the new position. However, after a great deal of negotiating, Pietrino convinced me and I accepted. This was the biggest mistake that I made in my life.

(left to right) Marino Mattei; Pietro Mattei with his daughters, Rossana and Luana,
and his wife, Libia Mattei; and Libia's mother (my grandmother), Ida Mattei.
Little girl in front - Daniella (a family friend from Coreglia).
Photographed at our home in Gromignana, circa 1959.

I felt bad for Morino because he took a lot of pride in managing the factory but, at this point, I had no other choice. I devoted myself to do all I possibly could to ensure things would run smoothly but despite all my work I was unable to overcome the obstacles that interfered with my job. I tried to explain to Pietro what was going right and what was wrong with the business. I wanted him to change his system of doing things but, as I already knew, my suggestions were not taken seriously. He did whatever was most convenient for him even if the factory suffered the consequences. I can not describe my 12 years of employment at the Italpresepio. I could relate a day-by-day account of what occurred in the factory but the story would become too long. I will only recount a few particulars that even when I think of them today - after 27 years - I am unable to understand how I dealt with the situation for as long as I did.

To start with, although Pietro gave the orders, I was in charge of and responsible for the entire factory. I had 28 employees to watch and to see that they had enough work. I made sure orders were shipped on time and, because each client wanted the figures painted in a different manner, I had to verify that they were painted as stipulated. It was also necessary to keep a constant supply of figures that were white [that is, yet to be painted] on hand. Boxes were to be purchased for shipment of finished product with each arriving order. Almost every Saint required its own custom box. Buying the boxes of various sizes, constantly restocking the paints as well as the brushes, and everything else that was required was all my responsibility. I also had 50 shepherds of the 12 and 50 shepherds of the 9 [unknown reference] that were cast, more or less, on the basis of their orders; all of which needed to be in stock at all times.

I had one and sometimes two casters who could cast approximately 800 shepherds a day. These figures were dried and then they were cleaned by Marietta. After being cleaned they were put into the oven to dry a second time and once a week they went through a bath. From the bath they were again dried and as soon as that was completed a paper covering was glued onto the base. The skin color was then applied before they were sent out to be painted. Lastly, the eyes were painted on the figurines when they returned. In a word, I was occupied on these shepherds for most of the day. This was a lot of work but it would have been nothing if they had returned a profit. However, all the gains we made with the Saint figures were lost on the famous Crèche ["famous" here is used in a sarcastic or pejorative sense; the shepherds were part of the Crèche].

Every day I pleaded with Pietrino to abandon the Crèche work because it was ruining operations in the factory but he never listened. He wanted to keep the job and he claimed to have his reasons for this. Since he could manipulate me as he wished, the Crèche work remained in the shop throughout all the years of my employment. However, the new manager that took my job after I quit immediately eliminated the order.

We had requests for Saints coming in that we couldn't deliver. Our clients were complaining because their product was not arriving and I had to keep three women working full-time on the famous shepherds. Also, nearly every night - again due to these famous shepherds - Pietrino made Nella [see part 19] work overtime. All the lights and the compressor were kept on for one person. This added up to a lot of money. In the morning I reviewed the work that was done the previous night and many times nothing had been completed. Pietrino arrived every evening at around 5:00 and he stayed in the painting room until 7:00. When all the employees had left he'd call me into the office to give me the new orders. We had the same discussion each night. I was consistently reproached without cause. I'd have to sit through a thousand stupid arguments without a beginning or an end. I was supposedly the head of the factory but, in reality, it was Nella, Ezzia and all the other employees who were in command. Day after day at noon, in the two hours of rest [lunch], they met with Pietrino and inflated his ego in such a way that he was coaxed into believing their stories. As it turned out, it was always my credibility that was in question.

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© 2009 by Maurice Mattei
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