Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Polly GhirardellF Lawrence TffE GHIRARDELLI FAMTLY AND CHOCOLATE COMPANY OF SAN FRANCISCO Including Interviews with Margery Menefee Tingley and Ben W. Reed With an Introduction by Lawrence V. Metcalf An Interview Conducted by Ruth Teiser 1984-1985 Copyright @ 1985 by The Regents of the University of California This manuscript is made available for research purposes. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of . the Director of the Bancroft Library of the University of California at Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Polly Ghirardelli Lawrence, "The Ghirardelli Family and Chocolate Company of San Francisco," an oral history conducted 1984-1985 by Ruth Teiser, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, 1985. Copy No. DEDICATION To my mother, WsseLohse GhirardeZZi, for her Bountiful spirit and hunorous toleme of what she termed namestor worship. To my father, Atfled GhideZZi, whose cmm-sense advice and sage guidunce never faiZed me and for his meticuluus teachings of the whys and wherefores of footbatl. To my husband, Sidney Smith Lawrence, Jr., for his late of Zife and me and aZZ that is implied in the lyrics of OGo Home and TeZZ Your Mother." To my daughter, CZarisse CfiirardeZZi -pence Watson, for her quick horand ever ckeerfuZ hetpfulness. To my son, Sidney Sdth Lawrence, 111, for his tremendous artistic taZent and his sensitivity in aZZ his endeavors. To my grQndchiZciren, John Lawrence Watson and Victoria GhimrdeZZi Watson, may they reuch the reaZization of aZZ the good things on their journey through the celebration caZZsd Zife. To my beZotled son-in-Zuw, WiZZiam S. Watson, for his generous advice and friendship toward his wife 's fdZy and his unsezfish sMng of his time and affection with us. ~nd to my cousin, Jerome Magee, for his efforts in making this history possib Ze . August 30, 2985 @+ DONORS TO THE GHIRARDELLI FAMILY PROJECT Ghirardellf Chocolate Company and Jeanne Smith-Willd Arnold Mrs. James Beaver Mrs. William A. Bentley Mrs. Eugenia R. Callan Mr. and Mrs. Joseph V. Costello, Jr. The East Bay Community Foundation Robert Ghirardelli Ghirardelli Square Associates Mr. and Mrs. George D. Hart Mr. and Mrs. C. Russell Johnson John Lowell Jones and Charlotte J. Jones Helen Weber Kennedy Charitable Trust The William Kent 111 Family Mrs. Scott Lapham Sidney Lawrence I11 Mr. and Mrs. John S. Logan Jerome and Barbara H. Magee, representing various donors Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence V. Metcalf Mrs. Joseph Gregory Moore Mary Louise Mullins Elizabeth Lyman Potter Ben W. Reed The Society of California Pioneers Mrs. Crawford Thomas Margery Tingley Clarisse Ghirardelli Lawrence Watson John Lawrence Watson Victoria Ghirardelli Watson William Smith Watson Mr. and Mrs. Peter Wells TABLE OF CONTENTS -- The Ghirardelli Family and Chocolate Company of San Francisco INTRODUCTION by Lawrence V. Metcalf INTERVIEW HISTORY iii IN!l'ERVIEW WITH POLLY GHIRARDELLI LAWRENCE I DOMING0 GHIRARDELLI AM) HIS FAMILY Italy and South America, 1817-1849 Early Years in California Paterfamilias Family Home In Oakland An Italian in the Melting Pot I1 TIZE SECOND GENERATION IN THE UNITED STATES Virginia Wardelli Mangini and Her Family Domingo Ghirardelli Junior and His Family Elvira Ghirardelli. Sutton and Her Family Joseph Ghirardelli dnd His Family Louis Ghdrardelli and His Family Angela Ghirardelli Jorgensen and Her Family Eugene Ghirardelli and His Wife The Family Break with the Catholic Church The Chocolate Company under Domingo Junior 111 THE THIRD GENERATION The Children of Domingo Junior Alida Ghirardelli D. Lyle Ghirardelli and His Family Corona Ghirardelli Hyde Edwin Ghirardelli Esperance Ghirardelli Alvord Ruth Ghirardelli Menefee The Children of Joseph Ghirardelli, Carmen Ghirardelli Baker Joseph Ghirardelli Junior The Daughter of Elvira Ghirardelli Sutton Carmen Sutton Reed The Children of Louis Ghirardelli, "The Tribe of Johanna" Alfred Ghirardelli Family and Household Daughter Polly Ghirardelli Childhood and Youth University of California Working for the Anay and Red Cross Marriage Louis Legler Ghirardelli Harvey Theodore Ghirardelli The Decline of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company The Alfred Ghirardelli Family, Continued Death of Clarisse Lohse Ghirardelli Family Trips Elva Ghizardelli Dinsmore Juanita Ghirardelli Magee The Jorgensen Family IV THE SIDNEY LAWRENCE JUNIOR FAMILY Sidney Lamence Junfor Polly GFsirardelli Lawrence Volunteer Work Junior League and Little Jim Club Service Organization Boards Children's Theater Ideas Incorporated Volunteer Work, Continued Children's Hospital Sidney Lawrence Junfor , Continued Volunteer Work with. the Guardsmen Sidney Lawrence I11 Clarisse Lawrence Watson V GHIRARDELLI SQUARE YESTERDAY AND TODAY INTERVIEW WITH MARGERY MENEFEE TXNGZEY I DOMING0 GHIRARDELLI JUNIOR AND HIS DESCENDANTS Domingo Cl'hirardelli Junior D. Lyle Ghirardelli Alida Ghirardelli Esperance Ghirardelli Alvord Corona Ghirardelli Hyde Ruth Ghirardelli Menefee Addfe Cook GEdrardelli Domingo Ghirardelli Junfor , Continued Golden Gate Park Shelter The Following Generations IIVTERVIEW WITH BEN W. REED I THE GHIRARDELLI CHOCOLATE COMPANY Cocoa Beans: Delivery, Sources, and Treatment Manufacturing Chocolate Company Structure, 1939-1962 Decline of the Company, 1950s Mustard Manufacturing Ben Reed's Career Sale of the Property to the Roths, 1962 ILLUSTRATIONS Polly Ghirardelli Lawrence, 1980. (following Dedication page) Portraits of Domingo G'hirardelli and Carmen Alvarado Ghirardelli by Chris Jorgensen, California, 1880s Advertisement from Argonaut for Ghirardelli's Vanilla Chocolate Carmen Alvarado Ghirardelli and Domingo Ghirardelli and their children, California, 1862 Picture of the Panama-Pacific Exposition, California, 1915 The Louis Ghirardelli house, Poplar Street, Oakland, California, 1890s "As Sweet as the music of Children's Laughter / As Pure as the heart of a little Child," Advertisement from before 1920, for Ghirardelli's Ground Chocolate Four Ghirardelli Men, 1932: D. Lyle, Alfred, Louis L., Harvey T. Map of San Francisco Bay and Vicinity The "Ghirardelli Enclave" and Surroundings, PiedmontS.l920s At the country house of Mrs. Louis Ghirardelli (Johanna Legler), Castlewood Country Club, Pleasanton, California, 1920s/1930s Booth for D. Ghirardelli Company at national confectioners convention, Palace Hotel, March 1956 Lawrence Family Portrait by Sidney Lawrence 111, 1983 I1Shop; Dine; Enjoy ...Ghirardelli Square," a brochure supplied by Ghirardelli Square Associates Ghirardelli Company Packing Room, California, 1915, and chocolate bars packed into boxes by one of the "factory girls1' Hanging advertisement: D. Ghirardelli's Chocolates and Cocoas / San Francisco, California (following B.W. Reed interview title page' D. Ghirardelli building, originally old woolen mill when land purchased, 1895, and gas-heated revolving cocoa bean roasters, California 1910 Sale of the Business to Golden Grain, 1963 The United States Chocolate Industry The DeIkmenico Family FlZcks and Chocolate Cups APPENDIX I - Ghirardelli Family Genealogy APPENDIX I1 - Lead Article on the Ghirardelli Company in Bancroftiana, August 1982 D. Ghirardelli Company, California, 1910: the first stage of refining-dangerur to grind and mix cocoa powder, and Tin shop--manufacturing tin cans for cocoa powder INTRODUCTTON To read these recollections of the Ddngo Ghirardelli family is to recapture in a very personal way a significant portion of San Francisco history through the remembrance of fourth generation members of one of its earliest and most influential families. The name Ghirardelli (who in the Bay Area will not remember the colorful parrot logo?) is better known than that of a host of other San Francisco luminaries: The Big Four-the moguls of the Comstock--the Bankers--the Publishers. What service man, returning from the Pacific War, will forget the giant illuminated "Ghirardelli" sign over the old chocolate factory at North Point, a brighter welcome indeed than the "Well Done" banner over the Ferry Building. What tourist today has not visited Ghirardelli Square. Too little has been recorded of this family whose influence in San Francisco spans five generations. Polly Lawrence shines a many-faceted light on her large and individual- istic family, portrays them with humor and sympathy, and in the process provides an illuminating insight into their life styles and personalities-- a kind of Forsyte Saga in miniature. There is a continuing thread in this account of commitment to the community, stemming from Domingo's arrival from Italy via Peru as a member of the Gold Rush generation. Hardly is there a community board, from the Vigilante Committees of the 1850s to the hospital boards and United Way of today that some family member has not served with some distinction. The independent spirit that brought Domingo here, epitomized by his renunciation of the Italian Catholic Church, is a recurring theme in the diverse, if occasionally eccentric activities of the family. Typical of this spirit, his granddaughter, Esperance Ghirardelli Alvord, early-day president of the San Francisco Junior League and a founder of