Of the 28 models currently on display in HMM’s newest exhibit, “A Matter of Scale,” seven are believed to have been built by long-time HMCo. employee, Rocco Migliori. By the end of his career at Herreshoff, Migliori was included on a list of “old timers” working at HMCo., having first been employed in 1917 and remaining with the Company until its closure in the winter of 1944-1945. He was listed as a department foreman in a 1944 broadside celebrating the wartime accomplishments of HMCo. in the Bristol Phoenix. In 1955, he joined together with a number of other former HMCo. employees under Harry Town to begin a boatbuilding business anew on the former HMCo. site, though this business was short-lived. Miglori was a talented and versatile carpenter, building everything from casting patterns to furniture and presentation models for the Company over almost three decades of employment. 

Migliori began building display models for HMCo. as a part of his job as early as 1928. It is likely that this was a service first offered during the Haffenreffer period of HMCo. ownership, which began in 1924. The period under the Haffenreffers (1924-1944) was characterized by a broadening of both marketing and product lines in an attempt to drum up business in the post WWI economic slump for the Company, and offering display models may well have been one of these strategies.

The oldest model built by Migliori in this collection is the charming THISTLE (HMCo. #1078) model in the middle of the gallery. There are a series of photos in the HMM collection of Migliori posing with the THISTLE model around the time of its completion (and the boat’s launch) in 1928. Similarities in construction techniques and presentation suggest that the COMET (HMCo. #737) model at the front of the gallery and the BARBARA (HMCo. #717) model along the south wall are also Migliori models: like THISTLE, they have solid carved hulls, similar use of hardware, and the simple but distinctive deck house styling and construction in particular seem to indicate a common maker. Finally, we know that Migliori built WWII era presentation models for HMCo., and it is likely that all four on display in the center of the gallery are also his work. 

Migliori was also very engaged in the social aspects of being an HMCo. employee: through the 1930s and 1940s he was band leader and played tuba in the Herreshoff Marine Band, and was part of the “Carpenters” team for the Herreshoff bowling league. Bowling was so popular among the employees that multiple departments furnished their own teams: others included “Painters” “Machine Shop” and “Yard”, and their results were frequently reported in the Bristol Phoenix. When not bowling or playing music, Migliori, like many other HMCo. employees, competed in a bocce league through a local social club called the “Cup Defenders Association”, whose teams were all named for Bristol-built America’s Cup boats, and ran for local office.

Though the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company archive is extensive and exceptionally intact for a shipyard or naval architecture collection from this period, one of the few major gaps in the paper archive are employment records, and stories about HMCo. employees, particularly below management or department head levels. We hope to use external sources such as newspaper archives and census records to continue to research and illuminate these stories in the future. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you had a family member who worked at Herreshoff, and would like to help us add to the historical record!

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A few details of Rocco Migliori's models currently on display in the Aria Gallery in "A Matter of Scale" : THISTLE, BARBARA, COMET and one of the 63' Aircraft Rescue Boats built at HMCo. during WWII