In Episode 447, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to the Federal Hill section of Providence, Rhode Island, to witness the Macaroni Riots. Back in 1914 a series of riots took place when the price of macaroni and other foods skyrocketed due to an economic downturn and the outbreak of World War I. Though the name of the riots is funny, the violent riots were not. This story feels like it could be ripped out of today’s headlines.
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Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Theme Music by: John Judd
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[RESTAURANT NOISE]
RAY: Yes, we’ll start with a bottle of chianti. Thanks!
JEFF: This is a nice place.
RAY: It is. We’re dining at an Italian restaurant in the Federal Hill section of Providence.
JEFF: There’s a lot of Italian Americans in this part of Providence. A lot of great restaurants too.
RAY: Ahhh the wine.
[GLASSES CLINK]
JEFF/RAY: Cheers!
JEFF: I’m glad we’re here. I’m starving.
RAY: Me too! Oh good, here comes the waiter. Yes, I’ll have the chicken parm. Uh huh. Creamy Italian dressing sounds good. Annnd for my pasta… I’ll have the macaroni.
JEFF: That all sounds great!
RAY: Doesn’t it? What do you mean there’s no macaroni!? (GETTING VERY ANGRY) NO MACARONI?!
JEFF: Ray, calm down. You’re causing a scene!
RAY: I WANT MACARONI!!
[BREAKING GLASS/FLIPPING DINING TABLE]
[CROWD SCREAMS]
RAY: I CAME HERE FOR MACARONI!! (BEAT) You can’t kick me out. We’re leaving.
JEFF/RAY: (STRUGGLING) Okay! Okay!
[DOOR OPENS/BELL RINGS]
[STREET SOUNDS]
JEFF: Ray! Have you lost your mind?!
RAY: I really wanted macaroni with my dinner.
JEFF: Well, you picked the right place to pick a fight. We’ve come to the Federal Hill section of Providence, Rhode Island, to witness… the Macaroni Riots.
[INTRO]
JEFF: I’m Jeff Belanger.
RAY: And I’m Ray Auger. Welcome to Episode 447 of the New England Legends podcast. Thanks for joining us on our mission to chronicle every strange legend in New England one story at a time. From weird history to ghosts, monsters, aliens, roadside oddities, and all of the other wicked strangeness that makes this place like nowhere else, we love it all. And we love when you share your story ideas with us through our website. Our website is also the place where you can check out dates to see Jeff’s ongoing story tour, dates to see my band the Pub Kings, and a link to buy Jeff’s latest book: Wicked Strange New England.
JEFF: Speaking of Wicked Strange New England. I’m thrilled to announce that the book just took gold for the category of Travel at the Independent Book Publisher’s Association annual awards. Formerly the Benjamin Franklin awards, it’s very cool honor for the book I did with photographer Frank Grace. If you love our podcast, you’ll love this book too! Ask for it wherever you buy your books.
RAY: We’ll explore the Macaroni Riots right after this word from our sponsor.
SPONSOR
RAY: Okay, I’ve been hungry before.
JEFF: Of course.
RAY: I’ve even been hangry.
JEFF: Right. We’ve all been there.
RAY: But I’ve never gotten hungry to the point of violence.
JEFF: I guess that gives you some perspective then, doesn’t it? You haven’t been hungry enough to riot.
RAY: I guess that’s true. I should count my blessings. (BEAT) Okay, here’s a little more background on the Federal Hill section of Providence, Rhode Island. Federal Hill sits just west of downtown Providence. Since the latter half of the 1800s, it’s been home to many Italian Americans, thus all of the Italian restaurants, markets, clubs, and cultural buildings.
JEFF: That makes sense. Many cities have neighborhoods where different immigrant groups settled to support each other.
RAY: And there’s a lot of great things to eat in Federal Hill today. From pastries, breads, bakeries, restaurants, cafes, and more. It’s carb heaven!
JEFF: Amen to that. There was a time when getting those carbs wasn’t easy or cheap. And it led to a riot. To find out what happened, let’s head back to the year 1914.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: It’s August of 1914 here in Providence, Rhode Island. Two months ago Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated. What followed was a quick chain of events that led most of Europe into a Great War. The New York Stock Exchange shut down earlier this month to avoid a financial panic. We don’t know when the stock market will open again. It’s a time of big uncertainty here. It’s been tough financially since the economic downturn of 1913 sent food and other prices soaring. The war isn’t helping price of goods.
JEFF: When the world is unstable, it affects prices and the general mood everywhere, even if your country isn’t directly involved. It’s August 22nd, and the price of staples like macaroni and other pasta have leaped in price due to shortages that are no longer making it over from Italy, plus some are hoarding what they have.
RAY: People are angry, of course when they can’t afford their favorite foods.
JEFF: A lot of that anger is being directed at Frank P. Ventrone. He’s a local food wholesaler. He’s got a warehouse full of pasta and macaroni. It didn’t just arrive off the boat, and now he’s raising his prices big time. Some locals think he’s profiteering and price gouging and blaming it on the war.
[LIGHT CROWD NOISE / SPEECH IN THE BACKGROUND]
RAY: A group of socialists are holding a peaceful rally to protest the food price increase. They’re trying to organize and send a message.
JEFF: Here’s the thing about supply and demand. Ventrone has some supply, but he knows it’s going to get scarce because more supplies may not come in anytime soon. So he raises his prices. Demand hasn’t gone down at all, nor will it in this neighborhood. But the supply is going to dwindle. Locals don’t like having their hands tied and paying such high prices for the foods they eat almost daily.
[CROWD NOISE FADES]
RAY: It’s now August 29th and Ventrone has raised the price of macaroni twice in the past several days. Locals are furious. Meanwhile, both the mayor of Providence and the governor of Rhode Island claim they’ve investigated the allegations of profiteering and found no proof. The socialists think it’s just a government whitewash to protect a business, so they hold another rally.
[LARGE/ANGRY CROWD NOISE]
RAY: This time, locals have reached their breaking point. Though many understand the problem is complex. That the economy isn’t doing well, and the war is disrupting supplies from all over Europe, it’s much easier to focus their anger locally. Flyers are being circulated around town.
JEFF: There’s about a thousand people gathered at this rally, and tensions are hitting the roof. These folks want blood…
RAY: Blood AND pasta!
JEFF: Right! Pretty soon, Ventrone becomes the sole focus.
[ANGRY MOB]
RAY: The crowd is marching down Atwells Avenue. As they march, more take to the streets. They’re heading for Ventrone’s warehouse!
JEFF: These folks are seething!
[GLASS BREAKING]
RAY: Oh! They just smashed in the windows on Ventrone’s building!
JEFF: Now they’re inside looting. They’re throwing groceries, pastas, and anything else they can get their hands on into the street. Others are running off with their stolen goods.
RAY: Look! The violence is spreading to the two buildings next door as well.
[HORSES GALLUPING]
RAY: The police are arriving! Some are on horses, many others are on foot.
JEFF: This crowd just isn’t dispersing. Police take out their night-sticks and start beating some of the protestors. In the end, only seven arrests are made.
[MOB NOISE SLOW FADE]
JEFF: It’s now August 30th. The morning has been peaceful in Federal Hill. City officials hope the riot last night got the rage out of neighborhoods here.
RAY: It’s about 3PM when police arrive to arrest a Federal Hill resident. The warrant is for nonsupport, but neighbors believe he’s being targeted for being involved in the riots the night before. The lone arrest triggers something big.
[BUILDING CROWD NOISE]
RAY: A group of boys start chanting along Acorn Street. Pretty soon, some men join them. When the police take notice, the men begin to throw bottles and rocks at the cops.
[GUNSHOT]
RAY: The police just shot at the group and hit a 15-year-old boy in the chest!
JEFF: Swarms of people are taking to the streets! They’re chasing down the police officer who shot the kid and beating him.
RAY: Thousands of people are filling the streets now.
[PISTOL SHOTS FIRE]
JEFF: The police are firing their guns into the air. Some are firing into the crowd. Some in the crowd have guns and are firing back! Others are throwing rocks and bottles.
RAY: The mob is out of control! I’ve seen a few people drop to the ground. It’s tough to know what’s happening right now in this mass of people!
[CLUBBING SOUNDS]
[OW! HEY! OUCH!]
[MOB NOISE SLOW FADE]
[MORE GUNSHOTS FIRE]
JEFF: The police arrest many of the protestors involved in the riot. By the time it’s over, one firefighter and one police officer were shot, as were at least eleven rioters. Many are treated at Rhode Island Hospital, but some are afraid to get medical help for fear of being arrested. So we may never know the exact number of wounded and injured. Hundreds of rounds of bullets were fired. Federal Hill was a war zone today.
RAY: Hundreds of police officers patrol the Federal Hill neighborhoods in the coming days.
JEFF: The only problem is the socialist group is still distributing flyers. They’re organizing another march for Labor Day. It’s now September 7th when folks take to the streets again. At the gathering, the organizers denounce the use of violence. They’re calling for peaceful protests only. Use the power of commerce and unity. But talk only goes so far.
[GROUP MARCHING]
RAY: About a hundred young men are heading back to the Federal Hill neighborhoods when an older man encourages them to grab sticks and rocks. When tensions are this high, the mob doesn’t need much convincing.
[WINDOWS BREAKING]
RAY: The group begins indiscriminate violence in the community. They’re breaking store windows, looting stores, and destroying anything in their path.
[HORSES / CROWD NOISE]
JEFF: Over 200 police officers arrive and quickly settle this latest riot. By the time it’s over, there’s been a total of 50 arrests, 14 people suffered some kind of gunshot wound. Thankfully that 15 year old kid survived his injuries too. In the end, there were no deaths, which is a miracle. And that brings us back to today.
[TRANSITION]
JEFF: It’s tough to pinpoint the exact cause of any riot, but in this case it was a perfect storm. You had economic uncertainty, there was plenty of anti-Italian sentiment in the region at the time, so already there’s that factor. Some in local government accused agitators from Boston and New York City of coming to town to stir things up. Plus, you have a world at war, and prices of a food staple rising dramatically. At some point, people will break. When the gap between the haves and have-nots gets too big, there’s always violence. It’s been true for thousands of years across all countries and cultures.
RAY: If you’re desperate, you do desperate things.
JEFF: The newspapers dubbed these events as the Macaroni Riots. Though it sounds funny, this was considered the most violent mob act in Rhode Island since the Door Rebellion.
RAY: It was a big deal.
JEFF: It was a very big deal. There was an ethnic and racial component, you had profiteering and price gouging, and total uncertainty as to when things might get back to normal or at least something you can afford. Macaroni is as good a reason to riot as any other. (BEAT) You want to find some dinner, Ray?
RAY: You know what? I’m not very hungry anymore.
[OUTTRO]
JEFF: And that takes us to After the Legend where we take a bigger bite out of this week’s story, and sometimes we end up in another direction.
RAY: After the Legend is brought to you by our patreon patrons! We can’t do it without them. They help us financially with all of the costs it takes for us to bring you two stories each week. This is a huge endeavor, and we don’t have some big podcast network funding us. We work for you. We’d love it if you got involved. It’s just $3 bucks per month and for that you get early ad-free access to new episodes, access to our entire archive of shows, plus bonus episodes and content that no one else gets to hear. Just head over to patreon.com/newenglandlegends to sign up.
To see some pictures related to this week’s story, click on the link in our episode description, or go to our website and click on Episode 447.
Thanks for riding along with us again this week. Before you go, please make sure you subscribe to our podcast because it’s free! And if you share our show with your friends, more people will listen, and send in their own weird tales that make it into a future episode. It takes a community to do what we do, we’re glad you’re part of it with us.
We’d like to thank our sponsors, thank you to our patreon patrons, and our theme music is by John Judd.
Until next time remember… the bizarre is closer than you think.