The "Catelli Kids" of 1950

Text © 2023, Christian Cassidy
Images © Listmayer Family Archives

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the history of the Turner Walker Block at 425 Henry Avenue. It served as a warehouse for various companies from 1912 to 1979 and then took on new life as a residential block in the early 1980s.

From 1929 to 1961, it was home to Catelli Macaroni Products of Montreal. Catelli was created in 1928 when eight companies, led by C. H. Catelli Ltd. of Montreal, merged in a bid to create a national pasta manufacturing company. One of the eight companies in the merger was Excelsior Macaroni Products Co. of 254 Dumoulin in St. Boniface. 

Excelsior's plant was unsuited for Catelli's needs as it wanted to make Winnipeg its Manitoba / Saskatchewan manufacturing and warehouse centre. The much larger Turner Walker Block with its direct access to a railway spur line fit the bill and the company purchased it in 1929.

Not a lot has been recorded in local papers about what happened on the floor of the Catelli plant. Some companies were happy to show off their facility to newspaper reporters or even took out ads with photos to show off their manufacturing process. Catelli, it seems, preferred to quietly go about its business.

Image source: Listmayer Family Archives (Mary marked by circle)

A rare glimpse at the workforce of Catelli can be found in the photo archives of one of its employees, Mary Listmayer (1926 - 2019).

Listmayer was born and raised in Clarkleigh, Manitoba, one of eleven children of Elizabeth and John Listmayer. Around 1948, at the age of 22, she moved to Winnipeg and a boarding house at 35 Lenore Street in Wolseley and found work at the Catelli plant.

Images source: Listmayer Family Archives

Listmayer owned a camera and the family has many photos documenting her life, including her brief time at Catelli. It is unclear what year these photos of the "Catelli Kids", as she called them, were taken, but it was most likely 1949 or 1950.

Street directory entries indicate that if these were taken in 1949, some of the others in the photo could be: Olga Mrygold of 535 Bowman; Mary Rekdal of 54 Schultz; and Joseph Paul of 151 Masson. If they were taken in 1950, the others might be: Ruth Knight of 292 Sherman; Doreen Knight of 552 Henry; Steven Finster of 312 Ellen; Norma Carlson of 59 Guay; and Joyce Borkowsky 496 Logan.

Images source: Listmayer Family Archives

One series of photos shows the Catelli employees off on a picnic.

This is likely from the fifth annual Catelli employees picnic at the Lido Plage resort near Headingley, Manitoba on August 23, 1950. The plant closed for the day so that staff could board a chartered Grey Goose bus for a good time at the beach.

Mary Listmayer obituary photo

Mary Listmayer left Catelli and Lenore Street in 1951. She moved in with her sister Eva at 294 Beverley Street and began working at Blue Ribbon, which produced and packaged teas, coffee, spices, baking powder etc. It was located at 334 McDermot Avenue at Hargrave.

By 1953, she was renting a room at 167 Furby Street and worked for National Drugs Ltd. at 576 McDermot Avenue. The company, now called McKesson Ltd., was a Montreal-based drug wholesaler and packager that also operated a number of retail stores. She would remain there for at least the next 12 years.

After bouncing around to a number of addresses in the West Broadway neighbourhood, Mary moved to suite 8 of the Dalkeith Apartments at 6 Balmoral Street in 1960 and resided there for a number of years.

In 1975, Mary married Michael Stevens and the couple divided their time between Winnipeg and a winter home in Texas.

Mary Listmayer died on died October 27, 2019.

Thanks to Mary and her camera we have a wonderful candid glimpse of the "Catelli Kids" of 1950!

Also see:
Constant Macaroni of St. Boniface West End Dumplings
The Turner Walker Block on Henry Avenue Winnipeg Downtown Places
The Manitoba Food History Project University of Manitoba