Moranduzzo to the Soliti Ignoti on Rai1: the factory of Italian Christmas in prime time

Imagine being the man who has been creating the Italian Christmas since 1946—trees, nativity scenes, decorations—and ending up on prime-time TV on Rai1, in front of millions of people, only to be mistaken… for a nougat maker. It really happened, on Christmas Eve 2019.

On December 25, 2019, during the Christmas episode of *Soliti Ignoti*, two brothers from Florence took the stage on Amadeus’s show: Matteo Moranduzzo, the “mystery guest,” and his brother Dario, the “mystery relative.” They represent the third generation of Italy’s oldest Christmas decoration manufacturer. And they treated Italians—and the host—to one of the most beautiful and underappreciated brand stories of our Christmas tradition.

Does he sell nativity scene shepherds… or make nougat?

That’s the beauty of *Soliti Ignoti*: each face must be matched to a job, and the clues can lead you far afield. That evening, among the jobs featured were “wrap your gifts,” “print billboards,” and even “save hedgehogs.” And then there were the two related to our story:“sells nativity sceneshepherds” and“makes nougat.”

Matteo’s true identity was the first one— he sells nativity scene shepherds —but the choice fell on the second. And, come to think of it, how can you blame those who saw him as a nougat seller? Nougat and nativity scenes are sort of cousins: two faces of the same Italian Christmas. Behind that white sweater, it’s true, there wasn’t a dessert, but seven decades of Christmas trees, nativity scenes, and Santas born in Florence; yet the mix-up, rather than a mistake, seemed to us almost like a compliment. To be so “Christmassy” as to be mistaken for another holiday icon: honestly, it brought a smile to our faces.

A Real Nativity Scene, in Prime Time

The beautiful thing is that on the studio table, under the lights of Rai1, there were no sweets: there was a nativity scene. The Landi figurines arranged on a blue cloth—the Holy Family, the shepherds, the old man with his donkey along the Road to the East—truly the work of a lifetime, displayed prominently for all to see. But the game also involves red herrings, and that’s just the way it should be: his identity remained a small, charming mystery right up until the very end.

The Gift for Amadeus: A Nativity Scene Under the Tree

Before leaving the studio, the Moranduzzo brothers gave Amadeus a gift worth more than any clue: a 15-cm “Natività Prestige,” part of the Marmoresina line, entirely hand-painted, with each of the Three Wise Men individually depicted. Not just a TV prize giveaway: a Nativity scene sculpture—the kind you display in your home and pass down through the generations.

The best part? It’s exactly the same Nativity scene you can place under your tree.

It wasn’t the first time: half a century on the big screen

The truth is that Moranduzzo has always been on television. The first RAI campaigns date back to the 1970s; but it was in the 1980s that the company took the leap and went on to produce two made-for-television movies—one of which was titled, simply and perfectly, “Santa’s Factory.”

From there, a decades-long relay across all media: the 2018 RAI commercial “There’s No Christmas Without,” still online today; the most beautiful, unsolicited appearance on Netflix, where Landi figurines pop up in the family nativity scene in “I Hate Christmas” without any commercial agreement; and even the radio, as guests on “100% Made in Italy” on RDS. Fifty years of different screens, one craft.