Italian-American Herald - December 2023

THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE New column on local wine scene makes its debut
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DECEMBER 2023 $3.00
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A MONTHLY NEWSPAPER SERVING THE ITALIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY WWW.ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM
New data finds Italian Americans prospering today
By Joe Quartullo
Did you know that the median household income of Italian-American households exceeds that of the average U.S. household income by nearly $16,000 annually? Were you aware that the percentage of Italian Americans who have attained a college
or professional degree is greater than the percentage of those in the U.S. population who have attained those same degrees?
Have you realized that the percentage of Italian-American households living below
the poverty level is significantly less than the percentage of all U.S. households living below the poverty level?
We can make these determinations thanks to a large survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Community Survey, which collects information on about 40 social, economic, demographic and housing characteristics for each household and the people that reside in them. During the 2017-2021 collection phase, actual
See SURVEY - page 7
Il presepio
Traditional Christmas manger scene both a sacred and cultural treasure
The art of a Neapolitan nativity on display in the San Gregorio Armeno market place in Naples. | ADOBESTOCK
By Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo
Il presepio, the nativity manger scene, is one of the most enduring symbols
of Christmas for Italian families. The Italian word comes from the Latin word praesepium for crib. Displaying mangers in homes, churches, piazze, public areas and throughout the streets of the country is a treasured and time-honored tradition. The origin of a nativity display dates to 1223 in
the town of Greccio near Assisi. Biographers of St. Francis recorded that he brought
a live ox, a straw crib, and live actors to portray the birth of Christ. This took place in a wooded area where he performed a mass honoring the event. Around this time, he also commissioned an artist named Giovanni Vellito to craft one of the first documented presepi.
Presepi were originally designed to display nativity figures which portrayed
the birth of Jesus. The baby is in a crib surrounded by Mary and Joseph. The scene often included the three wise men. The most traditional of presepi includes the holy family and depicts Roman ruins which symbolize the end of pagan times. They also include the arrival of the three wise men, and two musician shepherds, known as zampognari, carrying their zampogna.
See PRESEPI - page 4
Jackie O. biographer Taraborrelli delves into private life of a public figure
By Barbara Ormsby
The private life of Jackie Kennedy Onassis isn’t private anymore with the publication of “Jackie: Public, Private, Secret,” by Ridley Township native J. Randy Taraborrelli.
With the publication of his 25th
biography, Taraborrelli has uncovered what many of Jackie’s admirers may find surprising or even shocking. Taraborrelli writes about the intimate relationship Jackie had with Jack Warnecke, an old flame before she married John F. Kennedy, a romance that began within a year of JFK’s assassination and ended when Warnecke
told her he was $1million in debt. Actor Warren Beatty didn’t fare too
well either during their brief fling. Jackie dismissed him as being self-absorbed and when someone close to her asked how Beatty was in the bedroom, Jackie said, “Oh,
See TARABORRELLI - page 8
Vol. 10 / No. 12