In the aftermath of the Second World War, Italians faced many hardships. Italian industry like steel and iron were severely damaged and their agriculture greatly suffered. A majority of their infrastructure was destroyed by bombs and the unemployment rate soared. The broken economy caused the cost of goods to double and the cost of living was 20 times higher than pre-world war II. The way of migration in the 1950s was driven by famine, unemployment and with the hope of pursuing the “American Dream’. An estimated 600,000 Italians sailed from Italy to the United States, with a majority ending up in New York.

During the war, women took over the roles of men in the workforce and many were pushed back into the role of housewife when the war ended. Gender roles were prominent in the 1950s and the term ‘nuclear family’ emerged. In this view, women remained in the home taking care of her husband and children and were not expected to have a career. Part of this role was to ensure there was a homecooked meal when her husband returned home from work. Men were looked upon to be the sole provider for the family giving them a significant amount of power in the home and contributed to the feelings of male superiority. Immigrants worked primarily as unskilled labourers working in steel mills and coal mines being the muscle-power to the booming industrial economy.

Americans did not welcome Italian immigrants with open arms instead they greeted them with prejudice and hostility. Americans saw them as a dangerous group, and many were targets of mass lynching and racial slurs, all under the guise of national security. American blamed male immigrants for stealing their jobs and women were commonly victims of rape. The majority of immigrants landed in New York, transforming the Lower East Side into “Little Italy”. Little Italy was a haven of Italian culture, ranging from language to cuisine. The massive flow of Italian immigration brought more than cheap labourers, it also brought a new culture. Food is a great example of this, as Italian food was becoming a regular part of the American diet, through the ‘melting pot’ model of American multiculturalism. Immigrants held on to their culture and shared it with Americans orally and through cookbooks. The popularity of The Home Book of Italian Cooking and many other Italian cookbooks shows the huge mark left by immigrants on the American diet. Today, Italian food is one of the most popular ethnic foods in America.