Following his personal inclination, Giovannino Guareschi purchased a farm near Parma, in his hometown, some time ago. He was so pleased with it that he later bought more, and now, in an effort to improve the equipment on his newly established farm, he has purchased several Allgaier tractors
On the following pages, you’ll find an adaptation of a publication that the German manufacturer Allgaier, through its dealership in Parma, dedicated to one of its most famous clients — Giovannino Guareschi, the writer who created the unforgettable characters Peppone and Don Camillo.
Guareschi was also a talented journalist, a skilled caricaturist, an architect, a technician, and — toward the end of his adventurous life — a forward-thinking farmer. The largely original stories were collected thanks to the Registro Italiano Porsche 356, which devoted extensive features to Porsche-Allgaier tractors in issues 53 and 54 of its house magazine 356Notizie. Both publications are freely available at the website.
How Guareschi Bought an Allgaier
The tractors produced daily in the Allgaier factories of Uhingen — an ancient and imposing red-brick building curiously reminiscent of many in Bologna — have now spread across farms all over the world. Each year, thousands of people purchase Allgaier tractors: smallholders cultivating a few hard-earned hectares, wealthy landowners with villas and estates, cooperatives of workers, or professional plowing contractors.
Among them is one particularly famous customer: Giovannino Guareschi. He is the author of Don Camillo, the humorous book that became the most extraordinary publishing success of the postwar era, translated into numerous languages and issued in countless editions. In France alone, last year more copies of Don Camillo were sold than all the works of living French and Italian authors combined.
Guareschi was also the director of the Milanese weekly Candido, the man who, through the at times friendly, at times fierce dialogues of two vividly human yet fictional characters from the Po Valley, managed to capture the struggles and aspirations of two opposing worlds vying for supremacy — resorting, in their rivalry, to diplomacy, sharp rhetoric, and industrial power.
Don Camillo and Peppone — champions and caricatures of a vast human contest — are as famous as their creator, the Allgaier customer himself.
Following a personal inclination, Guareschi some time ago bought a small farm near Parma, his birthplace. Delighted with the experience, he later acquired additional land, and now, in his effort to improve his farm’s equipment, he has purchased several Allgaier tractors.
He chose the machines from Uhingen after hearing glowing praise from a young engineer — a passionate farmer and astute dealer from the province of Parma. At first, his wife wanted nothing to do with tractors, but eventually she relented, allowing her husband to fulfill his wish.
Guareschi, who had long admired Porsche for its automotive masterpieces, wanted to see the tractor in action before making his decision. He took his time, consulting other owners who already had one on their farms.
Such a cautious approach — perfectly normal for anyone seeking the full value of their investment — nonetheless caused quite a stir in commercial circles. Representatives of several other brands stepped forward, offering large discounts or even free tractors. But Giovannino Guareschi, a man of principle, stood firm and bought his Allgaier — at full market price.
When asked what had led to his decision, he replied calmly:
“Because I liked the Allgaier tractor and its enthusiastic young representative.”
That’s what he said when visited shortly after purchasing an Allgaier A133, the tractor he used for his own needs — perhaps even for a quick spin during his afternoon rest.
It was late morning, around half past eleven. Giovannino and his wife Margherita had gone to a small inn in Zibello called La Buca — a modest tavern just a few hundred meters from the Po River, famous for its home cooking and lively Lambrusco.
With Guareschi, La Buca was easy to find: it was his favorite spot, where he could enjoy the tastiest culatello, a fine smoked ham, and the brightest, most sparkling Lambrusco.
That day, after “eating magnificently,” as he said, he suddenly turned to the Allgaier representative while calling for another bottle:
“If you’ve come to sell me another tractor, you’re wasting your time. I’m not buying another one!”
Caught mid-toast, the salesman managed to explain that he was there only for a courtesy visit. The three of them resumed their cheerful, easygoing conversation, drinking and talking about everything under the sun, until evening arrived almost unnoticed.
As they got up to leave, Guareschi, after a moment’s thought, blurted out:
“Tell me the truth — how much does an A111 cost?”
When the representative answered, Guareschi was already writing the amount on his checkbook. They left La Buca — both proud and happy. The salesman because he had the check in his pocket; Guareschi because he was already dreaming of his new Allgaier and the article he would write for Il Corrierino di Famiglia.
From “Il Corrierino di Famiglia”
(Candido, no. 40, October 4, 1953)
… I went back upstairs to finish shaving, but my peace lasted only a few minutes. More shouting, more commotion from the gang. I ran down: the courtyard was full of people, and in the middle stood — a marvelous sight — a majestic tractor.
“Not that!” shouted Margherita, grabbing my sleeve. But who could stop me?
I was already on the tractor, with the whole gang perched on the fenders. The mechanic who had brought it tried to explain how to start it, but by the time he said his second word, I was already off at full speed.
We came back at lunchtime and sat down to eat. Margherita kept her eyes on her plate; I respected her silent indignation.
After ten minutes, someone knocked. Giacometta went to open. “Madam,” she said, “there’s a young man who brought… an electric drill.”
“Send it back!” barked Margherita.
“Margherita,” I explained, “I built a country house so I could buy a tractor. Now that I have the tractor, the drill is necessary. Maybe the tractor came with a few holes missing?”
“No,” I said, “but we might need some new holes for future attachments.”
Margherita glared. “Giovannino, out with it — what else is coming?”
“Everything that can be attached to or towed by a tractor!”
She sighed. “Do you plan to motorize the sharecropper too?”
“No, Margherita. The tractor stays here. It’s mine!”
“Ours,” corrected the gang.
Margherita threw up her arms. “Giacometta, let the drill through.” She paused, then asked, “Giovannino, why don’t you buy a steam tram — with its own tracks?”
We looked at each other — me, the Pasionaria, and Albertino — because, just twenty minutes earlier on our tractor ride, we had been talking about exactly that.
Margherita shook her head. “Giovannino,” she sighed, “there’s no point in my taking you to Milan next week to see the doctor.”
“I think so too, Margherita,” I replied.
“The courier from Milan has arrived with the new refrigerator,” Giacometta announced calmly.
“There’s also a salami slicer.”
“Housewares department,” commented the Pasionaria with open disdain.
Giovannino Guareschi
Now I’ll Tell You Everything About Myself
On May 10, 1908, in Fontanelle di Roccabianca — a cheerful village in the lower Parma plain — a baby girl was born in one of the houses facing the square. Her name was Ermelinda. That wasn’t me.
I was born in the same village, on May 1, 1908, but in a house on the other side of the square. That’s why they named me Giovannino.
In full, my name is Giovannino Guareschi, and I am exactly the right age for a young man born in 1908.
I have two children whom I find very agreeable. The first is named Alberto, the second Carlotta — which depends on the fact that the first is male, the second female, as is their mother, who was much more agreeable when she was still a young lady.
Together, my wife and children total seventy years of age. My daughter’s age plus her mother’s equals fifty-seven; my son’s age plus his mother’s equals sixty. That’s all I can tell you about my wife’s age. To help you, I can add that my daughter is ten.
I attended the Classical Lyceum, where I learned how a journalist should not write. Then I went to university, though I never found the time to graduate. I no longer remember whether I studied law or medicine — my former classmates disagree.
I write and draw, though I’m not sure whether I should be classified more as a writer or as an illustrator. Still, I manage quite well — helped by the fact that I have two remarkable moustaches that give me a certain notoriety.
I lead a very simple life. I don’t like to travel, I don’t play sports, and I don’t believe in vitamins. On the other hand, I believe in God.
I’m a hard worker, a consolation to my family, and my children always cite me as an example to their mother. I am deeply grateful to my parents for bringing me into the world — and to God for not making me either worse or better than I am. I wanted to be exactly as I am. Any different, and I’d feel too tight or too loose.
Guareschi the Farmer
For years, the fame of Giovannino Guareschi has crossed national borders. He is known everywhere for his writings, his books, and the films — directed by Duvivier — based on his two most emblematic characters, Don Camillo and Peppone.
And it is precisely there, in the land where the parish priest and the communist mayor were born — the land that inspired and nourished Guareschi’s humor — that Italy’s best-known contemporary writer lives and works.
In Roncole di Busseto, already famous as the birthplace of the great composer Giuseppe Verdi, Guareschi lives with his family in his country home — a large, spacious, and comfortable building, outwardly simple like many houses in the Po Valley, but inside, equipped with every comfort and decorated with the unpretentious good taste that characterizes all his creations.
His days are devoted entirely to the Milanese magazine, to writing new books, and to managing his farm. A true son of the Po Valley — a land that has always produced both the strongest hands and the sharpest agricultural minds — Guareschi invested everything he earned from writing and drawing in the purchase of several small farms and plots, now combined into a single estate which he hopes will one day become “the most beautiful and modern in the region.”
When the Allgaier representative from Parma visited him in Roncole, he remarked:
“In four or five years, you’ll be a true farmer.”
To which Guareschi replied seriously:
“Yes, but with a clear conscience. Because my goal isn’t just to exploit my land, but first to equip and improve it. I’m not a farmer in the capitalist sense!”
He expressed these ideas simply and clearly, punctuated with the humor that flowed naturally in his speech.
Everyone has their own image of Guareschi the writer and cartoonist — vivid and well-defined. But few know his views as a farmer.
His first concern, as a farmer, is for the people who work the land: the homes of his sharecroppers are either being rebuilt or newly constructed, following the latest principles of hygiene, comfort, and practicality. Next come the animals, to be housed in well-designed, dry, clean, and bright stables. Profit will come last.
“I’m still at work,” says Guareschi, “and I’m in no hurry for profits. When those two conditions are fully met, I’ll start thinking about income.”
Many people can’t imagine Guareschi as a farmer. They know him as a witty writer and lively illustrator, always attuned to the human and humorous sides of life. But in this, Giovannino Guareschi thinks exactly like his illustrious fellow townsman Giuseppe Verdi, who often said that there was nothing more noble than to be a farmer — to buy land, develop it, manage it, and care for its technical progress and productivity.
Like Verdi, Guareschi wants to improve his land, because in it “there is something that endures, and therefore it is worth the effort.”
This is what he does in his home in Roncole or his studio in Milan — equally devoted to both. And he continues to write not only because he has something to say, but also because he wants to buy more land and make his farm “the most beautiful in the region.”
Title: Giovannino Guareschi, the story of a life of success and passion for agriculture
Author: Massimo Misley
