After six years in New Zealand, Antonio Muollo returned home to Sorrento, Italy, in 1931 and married Ida. He then came back to New Zealand, and she followed him in 1938. They settled in Island Bay, setting up a family fishing business. In this photograph the couple are shown preparing to celebrate 50 years of marriage.
Mr Muollo was not alone in his preference for a wife from the same culture. Sometimes very small New Zealand communities made finding a marriage partner difficult; in other cases immigration rules prevented single women from coming over. As a result, men from many migrant communities returned home to marry.
Using this item
Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)
Reference: EP/1981/2165
by Phil Reid
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.