In 1868, a penniless Saul David Modiano arrived in Trieste from Thessaloniki. Saul is a young merchant with a strong business acumen and keen powers of observation. Seeing how many people smoked in the city –dockers, sailors, shipyards workers – he thought of starting a business in the manufacture and marketing of cigarette papers.
Playing cards and graphic arts
The company was also immediately successful outside Italy, and in 1884, Modiano decided to expand the business by acquiring a renowned lithography specializing in artistic reproductions and playing cards.
As a result, the Graphic Arts section was founded in 1889. It became renowned in the gaming world, even overseas, thanks to its widespread distribution, the quality of the cards used and fruitful collaboration with international artists to create promotional and advertising posters. Particularly decisive for Modiano was meeting with Giuseppe Sigon, who developed many sketches for maps, playing cards, and tarot cards. Sigon was also the creator of Professor Augusto Vierthaler, a sort of icon for promoting cigarette papers, portrayed reading a scientific journal stating that Modiano papers were the healthiest on the market.
New factories and important collaborations
Postcard production began in 1904 and lasted until the 1970s. The company’s commercial success brought the opening of new factories in the early twentieth century: one in Rijeka and one in Romans d’Isonzo. Later, in 1919, another factory was opened in Budapest. In 1922, Joseph’s son Pollione Sigon became the company’s leading graphic designer. He created seven thousand sketches for playing cards, some of which are still in use. In his career, he also signed famous advertising posters for Lloyd Adriatico and Generali.
The new ownership and … a return to the past
In 1987, Modiano was sold to the Grafad paper company, owned by the Crechici family, stipulating that no employees should be laid off and the business kept in Trieste. Initially, it retained only the production of playing cards, abandoning that of cigarette papers; however, recently, Modiano decided to return to the business that made it famous by marketing cigarette papers again under the Modiano Classe 34 brand.
Since 2021, the company has been registered in the register of historic brands of national interest, reserved for Italian companies with more than 50 years of history that have contributed significantly to the spread and strengthening of Made in Italy. Currently, Modiano has nine production lines that allow it to market twenty million decks of cards a year made with high-quality materials that can withstand use and time. It exports 60 per cent of its production to the U.S., China, Spain, Germany and Greece, where it is the absolute sales leader.
Congratulations to those who bring Made in Italy playing cards and creativity to the world!
Learn about other outstanding companies from Friuli-Venezia Giulia.