Carlo Gatti (1817–1878) was a Swiss

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. He came to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1847, where he established restaurants and an ice importing business. He is credited with first making

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

available to the general public and he then moved into the music hall business. He returned to Switzerland in 1871, leaving his businesses in the hands of members of his family and he died a millionaire. Gatti originated in

Canton Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

, the main Italian-speaking area of Switzerland. He was probably born in Marogno, a village within the then commune of Dongio, where he also ended his days. He was the youngest of a family of six, and his parents were Stefano and Apollonia.

Success in London

Carlo had moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

by 1847 at the latest, and lived in the Italian community in

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its root ...

. At first, he ran a stall selling

waffle A waffle is a dish made from leavened batter or dough that is cooked between two plates that are patterned to give a characteristic size, shape, and surface impression. There are many variations based on the type of waffle iron and recipe use ...

s and chestnuts. In 1849, he began to run a

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non ...

and restaurant with partners. They specialised in selling

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

and ice cream. They put a chocolate-making machine in the window to attract business, and took ice for the ice cream from

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in e ...

under a contract with the Regent's Canal Company. Their shop was the first to sell ice cream to the public; previously, ice cream was an expensive treat confined to rich people with access to an ice house. Gatti exhibited his chocolate-making machine, imported from France, at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Also in 1851, Gatti opened a stand in Hungerford Market, near Charing Cross, to sell confectionery and cakes, hot coffee, cold soft drinks and ice cream. , A portion of ice cream was sold for one penny served in a shell, perhaps the origin of the penny lick. Gatti built a large ice warehouse, capable of storing tons of ice in two large ice wells, in the

Battlebridge Basin Battlebridge Basin is a canal basin in King's Cross, in the London Borough of Islington. It is located off the Regent's Canal. Current use The basin contains a number of residential moorings. It is the site of the London Canal Museum, opened ...

off the Regent's Canal, near King's Cross. He began importing ice from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

from around 1860, shipping the ice from Norway, up the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, then transferring it to canal barges at the Regent's Canal Dock (today the

Limehouse Basin Limehouse Basin is a body of water 2 miles east of London Bridge that is also a navigable link between the River Thames and two of London's canals. First dug in 1820 as the eastern terminus of the new Regent's Canal, its wet area was less than ...

) and via the canal to his ice warehouse. Starting with a single ice well in 1857, he built a second ice well around 1862, and became the largest ice importer in London. Today the ice warehouse houses the London Canal Museum. He began to run a fleet of delivery carts, supplying ice for domestic

icebox An icebox (also called a cold closet) is a compact non-mechanical refrigerator which was a common early-twentieth-century kitchen appliance before the development of safely powered refrigeration devices. Before the development of electric refrige ...

es. Hungerford Market was damaged when the adjoining Hungerford Hall burned down in 1854, but Gatti was insured, and used the proceeds to build a music hall, known as Gatti's, which opened in 1857. He sold the music hall to South Eastern Railway in 1862, and the site became

Charing Cross railway station Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashfo ...

With the proceeds from selling his first music hall, Gatti acquired a restaurant in

Westminster Bridge Road Westminster Bridge Road is a road in London, England. It runs on an east–west axis and passes through the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. Between 1740 and 1746, the Commissioners of Westminster Bridge bought land from the Archbishop of C ...

, opposite the

Canterbury Music Hall The Canterbury Music Hall was established in 1852 by Charles Morton on the site of a former skittle alley adjacent to the Canterbury Tavern at 143 Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth. It was one of the first purpose-built music halls in London, and ...

. He converted the restaurant into a second Gatti's music hall, known as "Gatti's-in-the-Road", in 1865. It later became a cinema. The building was badly damaged in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and was demolished in 1950. In 1867, he acquired a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

Villiers Street Villiers Street is a street in London connecting the Strand with the Embankment. It is partly pedestrianised; traffic runs northbound only up to John Adam Street, where vehicles must turn right. It was built by Nicholas Barbon in the 1670s on th ...

named "The Arches", under the arches of the elevated railway line leading to Charing Cross station. He opened it as another music hall, known as " Gatti's-in-The-Arches". Members of his family were involved in his businesses, and he spent most of his time in Switzerland after 1871.

Family

In 1839 Carlo was married to Maria Marioni, by his eldest brother Giacomo, the priest at Castro. In 1871 he married a second wife (Marietta Andreazzi, allegedly aged 23).

Death

He died on the 8th September 1878.He is buried in Bellinzona (Switzerland), not far from his home valley. According to food writer

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and bo ...

, 'the ice business that he had set up endured and continued to expand for almost a century'. His family continued to operate the music hall, known for a period after Gatti's death as the Hungerford or Gatti's Hungerford Palace of Varieties. It became a cinema in 1910, and the Players' Theatre in 1946.

References

External links

Gatti's music halls

London Canal Museum

Photos of Gatti's Tomb on Pinterest

Bill posters
from Gatti's Music Hall, from the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatti, Carlo Ice cream People from Ticino Swiss expatriates in England 1817 births 1878 deaths Swiss emigrants to the United Kingdom 19th-century British businesspeople

Success in London

Family

Death

See also

References

External links