Couple shares history of heirloom

Marsha Marr, owner of the Sisters shop "Miss Sew-It-All," literally cut into a five-foot square piece of Italian history a few weeks ago. The red and black plaid woolen fabric dates back to 1906 Italy.

Carmen and Laurie SantaMaria returned to Sisters from Pennsylvania with the historic piece of fabric in March. The fabric originally belonged to Carmen SantaMaria's grandmother, Erina Bucci Marcantonio, and was kept in a cedar chest and handed down in the family.

Laurie SantaMaria stopped by Marr's shop last week with the piece of vintage fabric and asked Marr if she could turn it into six winter scarves so she could keep it in the family.

"I looked at the beautiful fabric and was afraid to cut; what a history it has," said Marr.

The history of the fabric began in the province of Abruzzi, Italy.

Erina Bucci was brought up in Roccaraso, a small mountain village in near central Italy. In 1906, when she was 16 years old, Bucci's family decided it was time for her to start a dowry.

A dowry consists of money, property, or goods such as linen or clothing that a woman brings to her husband upon marriage. It is a custom that has been around for centuries.

Bucci probably used wool from the local sheep in her village to weave fiber into a five-foot square piece of black and red fabric that she put into her cedar chest. She filled it with family photos and her piece of woven fabric.

She then met and married Ermenegilda Marcantonio in 1908. He was a shepherd and tended sheep on horseback.

In 1909 Marcantonio emigrated to America. Erina stayed behind in Italy with her family while Marcantonio pursued a livelihood in America.

In 1914 Erina Macantonio joined her husband, who was working in the coal mines in Pennsylvania. They eventually settled in Vandergrift Pennsylvania, where he opened a shoe shop. They had five daughters and one son. Erina's cedar chest was handed down to her daughters.

In 1977, Carmen SantaMaria married Laurie Baker in Pennsylvania.

SantaMaria's grandmother Erina Marcantonio attended their wedding. Baker's mother, Janette, also attended.

"My grandmother bragged to Laurie's mom about the fabric in the cedar chest," recalled SantaMaria. "It was our wedding and we didn't pay any attention back then."

Erina Marcantonio passed on in 1995 at the age of 106.

Erma, her last living daughter recently passed on in January.

SantaMaria and his wife Laurie took a trip to Pennsylvania to go through his Aunt Erma's household items.

"When I told my 91-year-old mother about going to Pennsylvania, she reminded me about the fabric," said SantaMaria. "She warned me not to throw it away."

Of course, they didn't.

The SantaMarias brought their treasured heirloom back to where they live in Black Butte Ranch.

SantaMaria entrusted the vintage wool to Marr at her "Miss Sew-It-All" shop in Sisters, and the winter scarves turned out beautifully.

SantaMaria is sharing the six little pieces of history with her two granddaughters, two great-granddaughters, and her mother, who remembered the story. The last scarf will be held for some future great-great-grandbaby.