Historical olives mill

Those who visit the Oil Museum are admired by the technology of the early twentieth century and how the precious oil was extracted. The hard work of man had been replaced by machines which, in part, alleviated the toughest effort.

In an almost hidden corner of the museum there is the original electric motor, which gave movement to all plants. It is a small gem of industrial archaeology, but even more interesting are the electrical equipment to operate it.

The manual lever switch, the starter rheostat, the bare copper wire, all unprotected, testify to a world where work safety was not considered. No one was concerned about protecting operators from any maneuver or other inconvenience. Just inadvertently touching one of the wires or metal parts under tension to remain deadly.

Even the movement transmission system with leather belts and pulleys had no protective structure and was manoeuvred with manual levers. Frequent was the breaks that caused sound and dangerous ‘frustate’ of the strap. It was fixed with a metal tooth joint, always the weak element for breaks.

Today, all this would be unthinkable. Safety at work is one of the areas where technology has been growing. The creation of “silly” plants has become not only an ethical rule but a criminal law. Working in this way, today, would be regarded as an attempted murder.

Yet then the mill was almost regarded as a living room where you could be hot, talk and taste a bruschetta with new oil; someone then pulled out the bottle of wine. Even today is forbidden in workplaces.

From “Seggiano Curiosa”

by Fondazione Le Radici di Seggiano (website)