Gio-batta
Garlatti was born in the village of Forgaria, province of Udine, Italy,
1935. As a qualified cabinet maker, at age 22 he set out to make a name
for himself. After travelling ten days by boat from Genoa, Joe landed in
New York, June 19, 1957. He then made his way directly to Canada, settling,
first, in Toronto, quickly gaining a reputation as a first-class cabinetmaker.
Within five months he had saved enough money to send for his wife, Angela.
Soon they relocated to Markham, Ontario. Known as “that Italian immigrant
who could make or fix any piece of furniture,” Joe became a charter member
of the Canadian Antique Dealers’ Association (C.A.D.A.). In 1976 he was
commissioned by the National Film Board of Canada to craft a wooden box
for Between Friends/Entre Amis, a special publication used as the official
gift from Canada to the United States to celebrate the American Bicentennial.
Joe was also commissioned to craft still another presentation box, this
time for LOYAL SHE REMAINS, the acclaimed publication produced by the United
Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada and officially presented to Her
Majesty The Queen, 1984, to commemorate Ontario’s Bicentennial Celebrations
of that same year. Joe Garlatti, whose antique tool collection is the envy
of cabinet makers, in this 1976 view, discusses with then Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau the commemorative box he has just crafted for him. [Photo,
courtesy Joe Garlatti]