At the age of 12 Bruno Rossati began working eleven hour days.
"Now, approaching 91, I find myself reminiscing about my youth, still riding my motorcycle every day.
Letter re Ladetto
Milan Show
The Veloce Club, founded in 1870, organized the first International Cycling Exhibition in Italy in 1895. The first exhibition to feature bicycles, motorcycles and automobile was held in 1897. Then followed the International Cycle and Motorcycle Exhibition in 1914.
Following the First World War the event resumed in 1920.
The first Milan Fair (Fiera Campionaria Internazionale di Milano) was held at Porta Venezia, April 12th-27th, 1920. It featured an automotive section.
The 1921 show had one hundred exhibitors, including both manufacturers and accessory firms.
From 1924 to 1939 the event took place at the Palazzo dell'Esposizione Permanente.
In 1926 manufacturers from seven different nations exhibited.
The 1928 fair was organized by the A.N.F.I.A. (the Fascist National Organization of Automobile Makers), together with the Italian Group of Automobile Factories and Coachbuilders (GIFAC). In Trumpian fashion, it was billed as the "1st International Motor Show", which was somewhat true in that it was first to be included by the Bureau International Permanent des Constructeurs d'Automobiles in its international calendar of events.
The 1935 show opened on November 9th, 1935, just one day before the League of Nations adopted sanctions against Italy for its invasion of Ethiopia.
The tenth show, in 1937, attracted just 37,000 visitors and exhibitors from just two foreign nations (Germany and the United States), marking the last Fiera Milano before the outbreak of the war.
After WWII EICMA (The International Motorcycle and Accessories Show) continued to be refered to as Fiera Milano.
Between 1957 and 1998 the event was held every two years, primarily featuring the cycling and motorcycling sectors in alternate years.
Sources: speed.motorquality.it, et al.
