Bartolomeo Pio, Inc. Winery, 1938
10 East Moreland Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19118
© Jane Mork Gibson, Workshop
of the World (Oliver Evans Press,
1990).
At the time the Glen Willow
Ice Manufacturing Company began operations in this
building in 1923, iceboxes were in common domestic use
and refrigerators had not yet become a part of the
average kitchen. It had been customary to supply blocks
of ice by cutting ice on ponds during winter months and
storing it for later use, as was done in Chestnut Hill
and at icehouses throughout Philadelphia, with ice
sometimes imported from northern New England and Canada.
To meet the large demand, a process for making ice near
the distribution points was developed. To manufacture
ice, large metal receptacles, or cans, 18" x 36" x 48"
were filled with water and immersed in a solution of
brine that was subjected to freezing temperatures.
Subsequently the cans were lifted out, and the "tubes" of
ice were stored in a refrigerated area.
1
At the Glen Willow plant, the ice-making machines were on
the left side of the building. After the ice was cut into
blocks, it was stored in the right rear section in a
refrigerator room. There was a covered loading dock for
trucks on the right front in the space now occupied by
the yellow brick addition to the building. People who
grew up in the neighborhood remember as children being
given chunks of ice by the icemen. 2
The Philadelphia Winery of Bartolomeo Pio, Inc. occupied
the building from 1938 to 1964, when the firm was sold to
Gallo Brothers. 3
The Pio family
has been manufacturing wine for four generations and
continues at the present time with a Sales Office in Fort
Washington Industrial Park. The Pio vineyards are in
Cucamonga, San Bernardino County, California.
During Prohibition, the Pios sold grapes to Italian
and German immigrants who would make their own wine. With
repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1933, the Pio name
was well established for a quality product and there was
a ready market for Pio wines. The Pio Philadelphia Winery
moved from 11th Street and Washington Avenue in South
Philadelphia to Chestnut Hill in 1938.
To make the wine, the Pio family had facilities on both
the east and west coast. In Cucamonga, California, the
grapes were grown and harvested, then crushed and
the fermentation process begun. The capacity of the Pio
Cucamonga Winery was two million gallons. The wine was
shipped by rail in glass-lined tank cars to Philadelphia
for final aging and bottling. The tank cars were shunted
onto a siding of the Reading Railroad just northwest of
Willow Grove Avenue, near Wyndmoor Station, and the wine
was transported to the winery on Moreland Avenue in a
stainless steel tank truck. The Pio Philadelphia Winery
had storage capacity for one million gallons for aging in
redwood and oak tanks (upright) and casks (on sides).
Skilled craftsmen from Europe were brought in to
construct the storage facilities. When properly aged, the
wine was filtered and bottled at the Philadelphia Winery
which could bottle five thousand cases a day.
Bartolomeo Pio, Inc. specialized in dry wines. In the
1960s Gallo Brothers decided to enter the Pennsylvania
market and sought to buy out an established firm
operating in the state. Bartolomeo Pio, Inc. sold the
wineries to Gallo in 1964, but remained in the business
with a sales office and continues to market Pio wines.
When Gallo took over the operations, the Philadelphia
Winery was closed down because by that time there was
sufficient glass capacity in California to handle the
entire process.
The building was sold to the Willet Stained Glass
Studios, and subsequently c.1980 to the Kurtz
Construction Company, the present owners, who occupy the
eastern end of the building, with Willet renting the
western section. There is little indication of the former
uses of the building except for a set of tiles depicting
the wine-making process, located in the yellow brick 1960
addition to the building. The architect in 1923 was Frank
V. Nickels, and Farrel-Roth Construction Co. was the
contractor. The original building is a one-story, red
brick manufacturing building with corbelled brick
cornice, parapet and stone corners appearing at every
opening. The openings are recessed. In 1960 Thomas
Reilley, architect, designed a one-story, yellow brick
addition to the west. 4
1 Telephone interview
with Albert Pio, October 17, 1989.
2 Interview with John
Romano, September 8, 1989. He grew up a few blocks
from the site and his family was acquainted with the Pios
and with the operations both of the ice facility and the
winery.
3 Data in this section
are from a telephone interview with Albert Pio on October
17, 1989 and a telephone interview with Helene Weis,
Librarian of the Willet Stained Glass Studio.
4 J.M. Moak.
Update May
2007 (by
Jane Mork Gibson):
Most of the eastern section of the building is occupied
by the Kurtz Construction Company, which specializes in
copper and slate roofing. A small portion at the far
eastern end of the building is used for art classes and
exhibits. It is leased to Delores Bauerle Campbell, who
paints, teaches, and exhibits. Art classes are held all
year, with exhibits at various times. The building is
owned by Stephen Kurtz.
The Willett Stained Glass Studio and Willett Hauser
Architectural Glass occupy the western end of the
building, which is leased from Stephen Kurtz. Willett
Hauser specializes in designing and manufacturing stained
glass windows. The company has an international clientele
and is one of the few companies that provide this
service. The building houses both the offices and the
studios that create stained glass components for the
trade. The entrance to the building contains a memorial
plaque erected in 1960 with the following text: “In
memory of pioneering artists William Willett 1867-1921
and Anne Lee Willett 1867-1943 who founded the Willett
Studio in 1898 and of George Gugert 1878-1958 who
contributed to its ongoing program."