Flashback Friday: Park Slope, Neighborhood Of Macaroni

Bet you didn’t know that Park Slope was once known for a pasta dryer and an automatic spaghetti spreader. Well, here’s what we learned.

Taken in 1932?, the caption for the above photo reads: “Automatic Short Paste Drying Unit From Press to Package without Handling, Consolidated Macaroni Machine Corp., 156-166 Sixth St., Brooklyn N.Y.”

Take a walk down to 6th Street near 2nd Avenue. That’s where the Consolidated Macaroni Machine Corporation used to perfect its machines. You can even see a video of one below:

Before their pasta perfection, the company built machinery for the military during World War II. Throughout the 20th century, pasta became more popular and its distribution grew. So the Slope was part of the growth of that industry.

The company is now called Demaco, and it’s based in West Melbourne, Florida.

The images are part of the Brooklyn Collection at the Brooklyn Public Library, and you can find more historic images like this one there or through Brooklyn Visual Heritage.The image was donated by Leonard DeFrancisci.

Do you have any interesting old photos of Park Slope? Share them with us at editor@bklyner.com!