He was conceived on the Mississippi, he was born on the Naviglio Grande. He could have registered at the St. Louis registry office, but he did so at the Cuggiono registry office. He was the son of “el Luis the American”, he became “Mr. Fuchs”.
Giovanni Tappella conquered his “American Dream” in the Alto Milanese area. He was part of that migratory flow that sought fortune in America from Italy. He lost his mother the moment he gained lifehe was a student and immediately a worker, first in artisan workshops then in large industries, engineer (or fixer) and worker (by trade), he learned the art of mechanics and transformed it into bicycles. He was 28 years old when, in 1919, he moved from Cuggiono to Milan, in Corso di Porta Genova 13, opened a shop with workshop and warehouse, and later a factory in Via Giambellino, launched the Fuchs brand, fox in German, a fox in the brand, e in destiny the most foxy, therefore astute runner in history, Fiorenzo Magni.
A little book tells the story of “Mr. Fuchs”. Written by Sergio Giuntini and Sergio Meda, printed in 2023, distributed by the Municipality of Cuggiono and the Cuggionese Civic Historical Museum, 98 pages with the history of Tappella and his inventions, not only Fuchs, but also Leonia and Cicles Forth, Argentera and Cicli Giovia, not only bikes but also mopeds , scooters, light motorbikes and karts, not only racers but also teams, not only races but also victories, and a thousand intertwining stories, from that of Ernesto Colnago, who made his debut at the Giro d’Italia in 1954 as a mechanic of the newly formed Nivea- Fuchs, to that of Ugo Colombo, wingman-director of San Giorgio su Legnano complete with pink jersey.
Tappella was a practical visionary, a concrete dreamer. He modified, elaborated, perfected. It opened branches in Albania, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Exported to Bulgaria, Romania and Switzerland. He found time for chairing the Olona Rowing Club and then the Italian Swimming Federation, including the victory of Settebello in water polo at the London Olympics in 1948, he was even vice-president of AC Cuggiono which reached the C football series. Meanwhile he even made a ten-seater bike, the Decupletta Argentea, with the aim of replacing motorized public transport. And in this case Tappella demonstrated that he lived a century ahead of the group, and that he had not yet been caught up.
It was the Second World War, the house in Milan bombed, that brought Tappella back to Cuggiono. And it is also this little book, documented and affectionate, that restores “Mr. Fuchs” to the history of our country.
