When Lorraine O'Connor approached us to work on her great-grandfather’s story, all our team knew was that the Salvatoris had run, once upon a time, a large department store in Trinidad’s capital, Port of Spain.
But with each oral history interview, and with each piece of research unearthed at archives nestled in London (the British Library and the national archives), Paris, Corsica, the United States and Trinidad, we consistently discovered astounding nuggets, each one more dumbfounding than the next.
This book chronicles Joseph Salvatori's crossing from Corsica to the Americas in the late 1800s with no more than 35 francs to his name, the building of a vast business empire, and a life of such consequence that Charles de Gaulle goes on to personally acknowledge him in his memoirs.
A story of such stature and flair needed to be complemented with some specific stylistic devices when it came to the book’s design:
1. A colour palette informed by the impression Corsica left on us: yawning yellows (Pantone 143), moody reds (Pantone 7427), and blues (Pantone 285).
2. Fonts we felt best represent the Salvatoris: the good-natured Optima combined with Caslon Pro.
It was a pleasure working on such a multifaceted and awe-inspiring life story and corporate history book, and we thank Lorraine and the entire Salvatori family for allowing us to document their legacy.
The book was printed on Hot Toffee Verona fine linen, a natural textured linen surface, and a Copper foil was used. The interior made use of the luxurious Bright White Uncoated Vellum paper (120 GSM).
REGIONS COVERED: Corsica, France, Venezuela, Trinidad, the U.S., the U.K.
“It was amazing working with Plantain…” - Lorraine O’Connor
“Wonderful job, love the Book and so do all my friends who have seen it…” - Claude Salvatori
“Your journey from the arid hills of Corsica to the lush greenery of Trinidad and Tobago, leaves us, your family, a legacy in resilience, determination, and will to succeed. May the future generations be inspired by your amazing example.
Ton arrière petite fille,
Your great granddaughter,
Lorraine”
“At nightfall, Joseph would have turned in, with the communal fire providing the only light for the household. He would have gone to sleep – and woken up – to the scent of the maquis, an evergreen shrub that covered all the land that was not cultivated fields or forests. Its aroma included myrtle and rosemary and lavender and thyme and all the other flowers that produced a fragrance so generous that it floated across the entire island. It was the scent of Corsica.”
“Joseph had been courting Cecilia for some time already while bullets whizzed over his head. The two bridged their time apart with impassioned letters handwritten in Spanish and Italian, languages they each spoke with their families and the language they continued speaking to each other. Cecilia was much taller than Joseph, and when their granddaughter asked her why she had married such a short man she replied, ‘If only you could read the poetry he wrote me.’”
“Back downstairs, and incoming guests held handwritten invitations that doubled as menus while Cecilia’s excellent hand and team of servants (six of them live-in staff) whipped up five-course meals. These were to be served on a twenty-four-piece set of Limoges porcelain, all embossed in gold. Ingredients were imported from overseas and the Salvatori residence would have been one of the only places in the West Indies where you would have been able to find ‘Canapés-au- Caviar,’ ‘Paupiettes de Sole Foyot,’ ‘Aspic de Foie Gras Jeannette,’ and certainly the ‘Salade Trinidad.’”
"To Joseph Salvatori,
As a testimony for his action during the great years of trial,
Best regards,
09/08/58
C. de Gaulle."
🎵
“Trinidad comin like New York soon,
They building buildings to touch the moon,
First of all is Salvatori,
Take up all the space in the city,
Now all the other buildings around,
Looking just like old shacks in Shanty Town.”
🎵
“When he turned twenty-two and had to leave for France to do his military service, he wrote her every single day for three years...”