The Cantoni Cotton Mill, or Cotonificio Cantoni (Cantunificiu in the dialect of Legnano) was a textile company active between 1828 and 2004. It was for a long time the largest cotton company in Italy.
History
The original nucleus of the Cantoni Cotton Mill was a spinning mill opened in 1828 in Legnano. On October 2, 1830, the plants that had sprung up along the Olona River, which used the motive power of the river to move, were tested. This was a pre-industrial activity that arose along the banks of the waterway that was owned by Camillo Borgomanero. A document from 1835 shows that was a partner in the enterprise. In the middle of the 19th century, during the Second Industrial Revolution, the craft business was transformed into a company.
In 1855 Cantoni was the only company from Lombardy to take part in the World's Fair in Paris, while in 1872 the firm changed its name to “Società Anonima Cotonificio Cantoni”, thus becoming the first Italian cotton company to transform itself into a joint-stock company and to be listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, where it remained until 1998. Andrea Ponti was its first president. Even after the listing on the Stock Exchange, control of the cotton mills remained under the control of the . The family continued to have absolute control over the company.
The Cantoni family still held the majority shareholding, however, as Costanzo Cantoni had shares worth 1 million liras and his son Eugenio had shares worth 2 million 750,000 lire against a total capital of 7 million lire. was the head of the company, having been elected general manager. In 1877 Eugenio Cantoni resigned from that position following an internal and external corporate crisis. From 1880 the company returned to growth after a period of crisis. In 1887 customs tariffs were instituted in Italy, and these protectionist measures, designed primarily for small companies, also benefited Cantoni. Cotton mill development continued even during the years of crisis in the Italian cotton industry, which occurred between 1891 and 1893. This growth was mainly due to the fact that the company had also turned its attention to export.
Between 1905 and 1906, the Cantoni Cotton Mill built in Legnano, a typical example of an early 20th-century manor house; in 1976 this building complex, which was originally the home of the Cantoni Cotton Mill executive family of the same name, became the headquarters of the local association .
The cotton mill's greatest expansion occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. In the period between 1906 and 1907, Cantoni Cotton Mill was one of the Italian companies to have the largest capital increase. By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, Cantoni Cotton Mill had reached 1,500 workers and 1,350 looms. In 1908 the building of the first workers' houses began. The buildings were constructed on Pontida Street in Legnano. Elementary schools recognized by the Italian state were also built, which were intended for the workers' offspring. The Cantoni family left the board of directors of the cotton mill in 1910 with the resignation of Costanzo Cantoni, son of Eugenio and thus grandson of the company's namesake co-founder. In 1912 the company reached a production peak, recording a difference, compared to the previous year, of one and a half million kilos of fabrics.
During World War I the cotton mill was in trouble due to the blockage of raw materials, which came mainly from Germany. During the conflict the company converted its facilities to the production of war supplies.
After the end of the war more housing was built. Until 1925 the cotton mill manufactured 114 dwellings in Legnano between Via Pontida, Via Volta, Galvani, and Via Monte Grappa. A gymnasium and a kindergarten were built on Galvani Street in 1928. Near the latter was built the dopolavoro. From 1920 to 1927 the , a medical facility aimed at the treatment of tuberculosis, was built in Legnano: the funds for its construction were provided for a quarter by the Cantoni Cotton Mill and for the remainder by popular subscriptions and a number of institutions.
At the outbreak of World War II (1940), the company was forced to allocate the facilities to war production. As with the First World War, Cantoni was in difficulty with the supply of raw materials. Despite the wartime events, however, the cotton mill continued to grow during this decade.
Expansion continued until 1951, when there was a downturn that prompted the company to invest. The trend was then still positive from 1954 onward. In the 1960s, decline began due to the gradual industrialization of developing countries. In order to succeed in overcoming a crisis that occurred in 1963, the Cantoni Cotton Mill decided to change the type of production from plain fabrics to printed fabrics: in this way, the manufactured goods were no longer common and widely consumed, but rather valuable products with a higher technological content. With this change in strategy, Cantoni was able to overcome the crisis and expand its facilities with the purchase, in 1968, of several factories from De Angeli Frua, which brought, to the company's workforce, another 1,000 employees; this figure brought the total workforce to 5,000 employees.
The crisis continued and deepened in the 1970s. The irreversible crisis, for the Cantoni Cotton Mill, began in the second part of the 1970s, complicit in the rise in the price of raw materials and energy sources, both caused by some events that occurred at the beginning of the decade, such as the inconvertibility of the dollar (1971), the oil crisis and the Yom Kippur War (both in 1973), which were added to the difficulties caused by the rise in labor costs and competition from foreign industrial systems. This was compounded by Cantoni's accumulated debts, which were attributable to excessive inventories in warehouses of printed fabrics: it was at this time that fashion changed, favoring plain fabrics.
In 1981 Cantoni Cotton Mill's indebtedness touched 160 billion lire. In the early 1980s the company's owner was Montedison. Later, in 1984, the majority shareholding in the cotton mill was acquired by . Cantoni then launched a reorganization project, but the operations did not achieve the desired results. This led to an unsustainable financial situation that caused the gradual closure of all factories. The last factory to end operations was the Legnano factory in the Olmina district, which closed its doors in 2004.
Plants and production
In addition to the historic one established in Legnano along the Olona River, the Cantoni family founded other cotton mills. They opened factories in Castellanza (1845), Cordenons (1865), Bellano (1870), and Legnano in the Olmina district (1960). Minor factories were opened in Canegrate and Gallarate (Cantoni-Introini weaving mill). Many other factories were incorporated by Cantoni Cotton Mill thanks to some purchasing operations that the Legnano company made against some competing companies. For example, in 1968, Cantoni Cotton Mill acquired De Angeli-Frua. Cantoni then took possession of the factories in Fagnano Olona (formerly Stamperia e tintoria F.lli Tronconi, 1967), Ponte Nossa (formerly De Angeli-Frua, 1968), Arluno (formerly Cotonificio Carlo Dell'Acqua, 1969), and Saronno (formerly De Angeli-Frua, 1968). In addition to the production sites, Cantoni also owned real estate.
As far as production is concerned, in 1972 the spinning plants were within the Cordenons, Arluno, Bellano, Castellanza and Ponte Nossa factories, and the weaving plants were within those of Legnano Olmina, Castellanza, Ponte Nossa as well as in the historic Legnanese factory built along the Olona River. Also in the same year examined, the printing plants were within the Saronno and Fagnano Olona factories, while the dyeing plants were contained in the two Legnano factories. The historic Legnano factory also contained the velvet finishing plants. Thanks to the presence of a full range of machinery, the company was able to arrive at the finished product from raw materials. In total, in 1972, Cantoni Cotton Mill's facilities contained 2,724 looms, 235,002 spindles and 15 printing plants. The company also had a thermoelectric power plant that was located within the historic Legnano plant and 8 hydroelectric plants. Together these systems produced about half of the electricity needed to run the plants.
Legnano plant
Origins
In the early history of the Legnano plant, the motive power that powered the machinery was derived from the Olona River. At that time, in order to open a new business that took advantage of the stream's currents or to install a new water wheel, prior permission had to be sought from the “Olona River Administration”. If permission was granted, a sum of money had to be paid to the aforementioned body. The spinning activity of the future Cantoni Cotton Mill took advantage of the existing water mills on the river. In fact, thanks to them, Cantoni and the other businesses that arose along the river derived the energy needed to move the machinery. To make them fit for purpose, Cantoni suitably modified these milling facilities, which were originally intended for grinding agricultural products.
Borgomenero and Cantoni, in the early days of the cotton mill's history, purchased several mills. As a prelude to the founding of Cantoni, Camillo Borgomanero purchased the Isacco mill (formerly owned by the ) in 1819 and the Melzi mill in 1828. Testing of the first facilities of the future cotton mill took place on October 2, 1830. Costanzo Cantoni instead acquired the Cornaggia-Medici mill in 1841, which was followed by others. In a document dated March 27, 1847, one can read, "[...] Mr. Cantoni Owner of two united mills placed on the Olona, the first said to be Pomponio's on the map at No. 1632. It was sold by the noble Mr. Marquis Cornaggia sold in the year 1831 to the firm Bazzoni & Sperati, and then in 1841 purchased by Mr. Cantoni [...]". These milling facilities were very old. For example, the mill purchased in 1828 by Camillo Borgomanero belonged to the Melzi family since 1162. In terms of production, from 500 spindles in 1836 the cotton mill grew to 1,760 in 1838. Thanks to a subsequent improvement of the facilities, in 1845 there was a further increase in the number of spindles for spinning, which in fact reached 3,546. Between 1820 and 1830 the first modifications were made to the Olona riverbed.
Late 19th century A carpenters' and mechanics' workshop was built in 1860. In 1862 the cotton mill took possession of 30 pertica of vacant land and two other mills belonging to the Mensa Arcivescovile of Milan that stood along current Via Pontida. In order to increase the motive power drawn from the river, in 1860 some work began on the Olona in the stretch that crossed the northern part of the cotton mill. The course of the river was rectified with the excavation of a new riverbed - almost straight - which led to the elimination of the natural bends of the watercourse. In 1890 similar work was carried out on the southern stretch.
An artificial canal (the Cantoni Canal, completed in 1868) was also built for use by the factory. The demolition of the old mills that stood on the banks of the Olona dates from this period. These were in fact replaced by more modern plants that used more efficient water wheels.