Courtesy of Fontanini: The history of Fontanini dates way back with roots that lie in the tradition of Bagni di Lucca, Italy, where the founding Italian figurine-makers are found. The town, which was a favorite of wealthy Englishmen who frequently visited the famous spas, now also lives on due to the figurine industry. Emanuele Fontanini, the family's progenitor, who was strong in this tradition, exported the art of the figurine to some European capitals in 1893. In 1908 thanks to the overseas experience, he opened a small craft workshop in Bagni di Lucca. His sons Mario and Aldo worked on the expansion of the small workshop, which had already become a real little figurine factory in 1936. The Fontanini family soon started to export the Italian nativity scenes from Italy into the USA. In the 1960s Mario headed up the company's first large-scale technological revolution: the arrival of plastic and the production by injection into moulds. Having overcome the market's initial distrust, in 1963 Ugo, Piero and Mariano, Mario's sons, opened Fonplast in Chifenti, a company of articles for favours and religious objects, developing the commercial business of the Fontanini company. With the increase in export to the USA, Ugo, Piere and Mariano managed the production through the second revolution of the Fontanini companies: a nativity with figures that were 125 centimeters high. The fourth generation is now made up of Emanuele, Stefano, Marco, Luca and Alessandro who are advancing the Fontanini family's standard by tackling the competition of the Asian market.
