Dare to Dream: From Italy to America, a Legacy of Innovation

Creative Minds: Italian American Inventors and Innovators, the latest exhibition at the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (IAMLA), examines the achievements and personal stories of Italian American creators. From the Vespa and the telephone to the nuclear reactor and the Big Mac, Italian American inventors and innovators have impacted our lives in ways great and small.

The creative influence of Italy has always been extraordinary. From Renaissance visionaries like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo to modern scientists and entrepreneurs. The piano, cologne, jeans, opera, the typewriter, Vespa, the telephone, the barometer, and the battery are among the everyday items for which we can credit Italians.

Between 1870 and 1920, some 14 million Italians left their homeland, the majority fleeing poverty and political instability. Around four million Italians settled in the United States, where they and their descendants went on to shape the nation in immeasurable ways. To what can we attribute their creativity and innovation?

Could these Italian Americans be considered “children of the Renaissance” — the descendants of renowned inventors, artists, and scholars? Perhaps — yet most had received little formal education and very little contact with high culture prior to their arrival in the United States. Let that sink in, against the backdrop of Italian American Heritage Month, as we celebrate the depth of our shared legacy. Was their creativity somehow inherited, or can we attribute their ingenuity to their determination, grit, or, something else?

From overlooked inventors such as Antonio Meucci, whose patents for the telephone predated those of Alexander Graham Bell, to today’s cutting-edge scientists, Italian and Italian American inventors have long been at the forefront of innovation.

The Radio Flyer wagon, a beloved symbol of American childhood, was created by Antonio Pasin, an Italian immigrant in Chicago. A. P. Giannini founded the Bank of Italy, which provided loans to immigrants, women, the working class, and customers whom other banks refused. Giannini also funded the Golden Gate Bridge, Walt Disney, and Hewlett-Packard, opening doors for new investment and prosperity, and making the American Dream possible for millions through his pioneering system of branch banking.

Mr. Peanut has an Italian American heart: in 1906, Amedeo Obici, founder of the Planters Nut & Chocolate Company, rose from humble beginnings to become a renowned businessman. Planters ran a contest for a logo that would best represent the spirit of the brand. Thirteen-year-old Antonio Gentile was selected as the winner for his mascot “Mr. P. Nut Planter,” a humanlike peanut holding a cane.

Today, the institution he founded has become the Bank of America. Entrepreneur Amedeo Obici began as a nut peddler before creating Planters Peanuts, whose cheerly mascot, Mr. Peanut (a design also developed by an Italian American teenager), is a snack-time favorite. Bernard Castro, a Sicilian who immigrated to New York, created the convertible sofa, much coveted for its space-saving design and multifunctional use.

The Radio Flyer wagon, a beloved symbol of American childhood, was created by Antonio Pasin, an Italian immigrant in Chicago.

From farms and canneries to the nation’s kitchens and the tables of its finest restaurants, Italian Americans are well represented in the food industry. Progresso, Del Monte, and Tropicana are also among the companies created by Italian Americans. During the Super Bowl, Americans feast on nearly five tons (10,000 pounds) of chicken wings, and it was an Italian American woman, Theresa Bellissimo, who invented the Buffalo Chicken Wing in 1964.

Creative Minds explores the legacy of Italian Americans and Italians and how their ingenuity and bold spirit of risk-taking have shaped technology, business, cuisine, and the American landscape in ways we often overlook.

The Big Mac, McDonald’s best seller, was created by Jim DelliGatti, one of the fast-food giant’s early franchisees. Ettore Boiardi, better known as Chef Boyardee, brought what were then relatively unknown Italian flavors into millions of American homes, and his factories remained open around-the-clock to make rations for U.S. troops during World War II.

Conair was founded in 1959 by Leandro Rizzuto, an Italian American entrepreneur from Brooklyn. He and his family built Conair into a powerhouse, with the breakthrough Yellow Bird hair dryer becoming one of their signature products.

The list goes on: the Philly Cheesesteak, the modern-day filling of the Oreo cookie, the Blow Pop, the ice cream cone — all have Italian American creators.

Also consider the trailblazers in science, technology, medicine, arts, and culture. Dr. Robert C. Gallo co-discovered that HIV was the cause of AIDS, and he developed the blood test that paved the way for life-saving therapies. Federico Faggin, inventor of the microprocessor, went on to co-invent the touchpad and touchscreen, technologies now inseparable from our modern life.

Lorenzo DelRiccio developed the photo-finish camera, which revolutionized sports, including sports betting.

Enrico Fermi built the first nuclear reactor, and scientist Carolyn Porco was instrumental in leading the Cassini Missions, which uncovered the mysteries of Saturn’s moons, rings, and the planet itself. The next time you are at the races watching horses finish neck-in-neck, say the name Lorenzo DelRiccio, who developed the photo-finish camera, which revolutionized sports, including sports betting.

“It’s been a pleasure watching visitors’ reactions to this exhibition,” says IAMLA Executive Director Marianna Gatto. “They chuckle, they express wonderment when they discover that Woody Woodpecker, one of their favorite childhood cartoon characters, was conceived by an Italian American, Walter Lantz, whose surname was originally Lanza. Behind countless American icons lies Italian American ingenuity.”

The original Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y., still in business today, was the birthplace of the Buffalo chicken wing. Owner Teressa Bellissimo, instead of using wings for soup, fried them, tossed them in hot sauce and served them up to late-night guests in 1964 — creating an overnight culinary sensation.

Creative Minds, on view through Spring 2026 at IAMLA, is a celebration of resilience, creativity, and cultural exchange. It reminds all of us that American innovation has always thrived on diversity, and that Italic people, from the time of the Renaissance to the present, have long dared to think differently.

Federico Faggin (middle-right), inventor of the microprocessor and architect of Silicon Valley, went on to co-invent the touchpad and touchscreen, technologies.

Learn more at www.iamla.org.