The idea of selling a product or a service, in the small reality of Rivalto, borns mainly in the form of premises hosted at private homes or as a home delivery service or as a passage of street vendors for the village. Only later, some activities have opened commercial shops.
The food shops, in representing the unique selling point of food, provided cheeses, cold cuts and fruit, often supplied by local shepherds and farmers, as well as various objects of household. When the country was not yet reached by the service of external suppliers, on Friday, shopkeepers from Rivalto went to the market in Pontedera to make weekly supplies and, in returning full of packs, first with the barroccio (wheeled cart pulled by cattle), then with the postal bus (bus of public transport), were helped by the guys of the village in exchange of some mint or candy.
The main food shops, since ever, were located in Piazza Beato Giordano, central square of the village.
The workshop of "La Mugnaia" (The Miller's wife), active since before the Second World War, was right on the side of the underpass of the Via dell'Arco (Arch Street), where her husband Albizzo Ciompi had a public shelter for livestock.
Subsequently, the shop was taken over by Mirella Benedetti that extended it with oven and resale of Salt and Tobaccos and, later, by Ombretta Matteoli (1948-2000), before being permanently closed.
As reported in the dedicated section to Otello Benedetti's activity, during the past, he had a shop with a small bar-room for serving wines and spirits in Piazza della Compagnia, an owen in Via Garibaldi and later opened a bar and restaurant, still operative with her daughter Mirella.
Always in Piazza Beato Giordano, the famous butchery of Osea Del Lucchese (1922-1999), where Osea sold the products he skillfully slaughtered and worked. The sausage of Osea, created in 1948, remains in the history of the hamlet. Today the butchery shop is still operating thanks to the work of his daughter Doriana.
Just before the square, on Via Garibaldi, Evelina Del Lucchese (1893-1965) had a resale of Salt and Tobacco for buying of salt, loose cigarettes and bulk pasta contained in jars.
In those days it was typical to sale of bulk products, there were not many economic opportunities and, certainly, there were no packaged products as today.
Further at those times in which the circulating money and payment instruments were less accessible than today, it was customary the "payment based on trust" and on a careful maintenance of accounts: the shopkeepers wrote down on a small book the expenses of customers that were welded at the weekend or every fortnight.
For the tissue, in slang "la pannina" (the little cloth), people could refer to the workshop of Alceste Gotti (1871-1956) in Via Garibaldi or to the haberdashery of Virgilio and Rosina Turchi on the descent of Via della Compagnia (commonly called "the cave" because a street unpaved, steep and dark). Here people could find cigarettes of wires, buttons, needles and fancy goods of various kinds.
These workshops were useful to the many tailors in the village which, at the time, manifactured clothes or embroidering and mending (Tullio Del Lucchese, Virgilio Turchi, Secondina Falugi Caminarecci, Lidia Caminarecci Franconi). The new dress was for a lucky few and in very rare occasions (ceremonies, school), it was custom, rather, trying to last with the old clothes over time by means of mending, reinforcements and patches. The tailors of the time worked by appointment, often at home and, not infrequently, were leaving "by riding the donkey with the Singer sewing machine" (donkey in italian is asino but in Tuscany it is usually said ciuco) to reach the neighboring farms where they stayed a few days to meet the demands.
For the tissue, in slang "la pannina" (the little cloth), people could refer to the workshop of Alceste Gotti (1871-1956) in Via Garibaldi or to the haberdashery of Virgilio and Rosina Turchi on the descent of Via della Compagnia (commonly called "the cave" because a street unpaved, steep and dark). Here people could find cigarettes of wires, buttons, needles and fancy goods of various kinds.These workshops were useful to the many tailors in the village which, at the time, manifactured clothes or embroidering and mending (Tullio Del Lucchese, Virgilio Turchi, Secondina Falugi Caminarecci, Lidia Caminarecci Franconi). The new dress was for a lucky few and in very rare occasions (ceremonies, school), it was custom, rather, trying to last with the old clothes over time by means of mending, reinforcements and patches. The tailors of the time worked by appointment, often at home and, not infrequently, were leaving "by riding the donkey with the Singer sewing machine" (donkey in italian is asino but in Tuscany it is usually said ciuco) to reach the neighboring farms where they stayed a few days to meet the demands.
In the country there were also the barbers, activities often carried out at the rooms of private homes. Raddo Raddi, in Piazza della Compagnia, conjugated to perfection the business of barber with that of cobbler, another valuable activity and of high demand at that time to limit the purchase of new shoes. The soles were strengthened with nails, so as to limit the wear, although at the expense of comfort and stability. The shoes, especially for children, were purchased with the foresight of the growth, so rather abundant and therefore, when they finally became "right" for the feet of the child, it was time to "pass" them to the younger siblings, with the result that no one had never the shoes of the right measure.
Among the services of the past, was in place in Rivalto also a Post Office, initiated by Alceste Gotti, first in his old, then in his new home of Via Garibaldi. Here there were carried all postal services (delivery and correspondence, money orders, pensions, postal savings, deposits) except the telegraph. The availability of cash money, at that time, was not instantaneous, therefore, it was used the postal service of the bus to exchange currency with the central post office in Pisa through "special packages" with wax seals delivered to the conductor who accompanied the driver of the postal bus. The son, Dino Gotti (1906-1999), continued the activity until 1971 and then retired and make way for Attino Cecconi (from 1925 to 1999). The post office was then moved to a small room under Mirella's Bar and later it closed down. After that, the population of Rivalto was thus forced to reach Chianni for postal services.
Among the rivaltini artisans, prominently occupy the wood-carpenters. The tradition and the passion of processing and carving of wood, has always been alive in the hamlet, from Alceste Gotti who worked in a laboratory at his home in Via Garibaldi, to Enrico Cecchetti, a pupil of the first, originally a private carpenter of the Cortesi family's cellar to build barrels and vats, over time, he extended the production, continuing to work in his little workroom at home in Via del Giardino. Not rare in Rivalto still appreciate, exposed in the homes, furniture, dawers, cupboards, doors and shutters built by Gotti and by Cecchetti. Today, the tradition continues with some passionate followers of those past workers.
Even blacksmiths and farriers, at the time, were valuable. In some funds of the alleys of the village they could be seen intent, with hammer and anvil, forge incandescent iron pieces, producing cutting tools for lumberjacks or put the horseshoes to donkeys and horses. Among others we remember The Morino and Luigi Galoppini (more commonly called Gigi Nando).
Among others, the bricklayers and stonemasons, fundamental for walling, whitewashing and renovating homes, especially after the damage of the war. In recent years, Rivalto saw several houses, once abandoned, restructured in perfect rustic style through enhanced recovery operations by local staff.
In particular, women combined work laborer, nanny, housemaid, maidservant or seamstress, with the housewife activities, including laundry and kitchen, that for large families and rudimentary tools of the time were far from lightweight. The situation was even more complicated for pregnant women because, not being a midwife present at Rivalto, they had to reach in carriage Chianni with the risk of losing the baby, dramatic episodes unfortunately recorded then.
A small minority of women was teacher at schools of Rivalto or surroundings.
Even sellers and craftsmen itinerant in the region helped to supply goods and services to the village. They came from outside to sell fabrics, fish, repairing chairs, redo the mattresses, collecting rags and old objects. Among these, a special mention to "The Madonnaio" that came to Rivalto with a cart pulled by dogs to repair earthenware bowls, those characteristic white and green, much used in the past for the housework.
In the atmosphere of the community and of the economy of the country, there were some who, or for experience in some discipline or for art of getting by improvisation, were at the disposal of the population for minor repairs of home accessories -like the tinsmiths-, appliances, cars, cycles and tractors or even to care and primary care nursing, to load cargo or carry passengers with their wheeled cart.
Among these we would like to include some characters that everyone in Rivalto remember with sympathy.
"The Boschi", a good man who was blind and lame that, over time, had developed a sensitivity above the norm, being able to recognize people to the step or to the voice and coins to the touch. He went around with crutches, counting the steps across the streets of the village, always cheerful, friendly, he chatted with everyone willingly. With his banquet, he sold candy, mints, nuts and seeds and, ironically about his state of blindness, warned with a "Look, I see you!" children intent to touch the merchandise for sale. He cracked "the montini" (piles of gravel) and sifted the wheat.
Music lover, he played an organ with a swinghandle and sang in church with his baritonal and mighty voice, even if a bit out of tune, bringing the choir out of tune.
"To resume Nice and Savoia, they are needed the Boschi and Toja!" someone said sympathetically referring to the Boschi and Toja, another curious rivaltino, urging the recovery of the lands passed to France.
"The Tredici", an handyman worker of the Municipality, porter, street-sweeper, gravedigger, always accompanied by his broom. He loved the good wine and, thanks to his work, the hamlet's alleys were really clean.
"The Randagio" (The Stray), solitary person and out of the ordinary, who had a garage in the bottom of the house full of piled sundries in which he repaired TV, radio and motorcycles, according to need.
And also Piera, Nardo, Gastone, Dino, Vincenzo, Garibaldo and all the people who, over the years, have helped to develop entrepreneurship in Rivalto with their work in the breeding of chickens, preparing feed and taking care of the sheds in the chicken-farm of Canapaia, creating a "team" united and competitive for those times.