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From: Daphne Dashfield <>
Subject: [Anglo-Italian] Re: Ice Cream
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 12:23:53 +1200
References: <200204121900.g3CJ03u17067@lists2.rootsweb.com>


Colpi, 1991, "The Italian Factor : The Italian community in Great Britain" describes the development of the Italian
catering industry in Britain. (Highly recommended reading) It seems to start with the declining popularity of street
musicians (by 1880s) and introduction of importing and selling roast chestnuts from the Garfagnana, Lunigiana, Val Taro
(Pr) and Val Magra areas. (Not Naples)

Gatti (an ice importer) introduced ice cream in the 1850s and in 1864 Domenico Santorelli from Longarone (Bl) brought
an handpainted ice cream cart shaped like a gondala with him. Ice cream making was carried out at home and became very
popular as a mainly summer activity, with chestnuts in winter. Fleets of barrows were owned by Padrone (ie bosses that
employed other Italians) with about 900 ice cream barrows in Clerkenwell, London at the turn of the twentieth century.
(It took place in other areas too and I don't see why it couldn't involve someone from Naples - although the term
'Neapolitan' was used more generally for Italians)

My gg grandfather from northern Italy, probably Parma province, previously a musician, was an ice cream maker in 1876
then an ice cream seller (1881) and back as a street musician by 1891 (in Clerkenwell). Seem to be typical occupations
for this community.

It's probably important to grasp the padrone system whereby the "bosses" brought in friends and family from their home
areas and employed them in their businesses. Perhaps a padrone had labouring businesses as well as ice cream? Certainly
later on some of my family (sons of the musician/ice cream maker) ran an asphalting business employing others as
labourers. Dirty work that Italians would take on where British were reluctant.

Daphne Dashfield (Geradine)
GHIRARDANI etc.


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