Carlo Gatti (1817 – 1878) was a
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
entrepreneurAn entrepreneur is a person who has possession of an enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. It is an ambitious leader who combines land, labor, and capital to often create and market new goods or services. ... The term is a loanword...
in the
Victorian eraThe Victorian era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements...
. He came to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1847, where he established restaurants and an ice importing business. He is credited with first making
ice creamIce cream or ice-cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners. In some cases, artificial flavourings and colorings are used in...
available to the general public. He moved into
music hallMusic hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
s. He returned to Switzerland in 1871, leaving his businesses in the hands of members of his family. He died a millionaire.
Gatti originated in the Italian-speaking area of
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
.
Carlo Gatti (1817 – 1878) was a
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
entrepreneurAn entrepreneur is a person who has possession of an enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. It is an ambitious leader who combines land, labor, and capital to often create and market new goods or services. ... The term is a loanword...
in the
Victorian eraThe Victorian era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements...
. He came to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1847, where he established restaurants and an ice importing business. He is credited with first making
ice creamIce cream or ice-cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners. In some cases, artificial flavourings and colorings are used in...
available to the general public. He moved into
music hallMusic hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
s. He returned to Switzerland in 1871, leaving his businesses in the hands of members of his family. He died a millionaire.
Gatti originated in the Italian-speaking area of
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
. He moved to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
in 1847, and lived in the Italian community in
HolbornHolborn is an area of Central London, England. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running from St Giles's High Street as High Holborn to Gray's Inn Road to Holborn Viaduct, crossing the borders of the City of Westminster, London Borough of Camden and the City of...
. At first, he ran a stall selling
waffleA waffle is a batter or dough based cake cooked in a waffle iron patterned to give a distinctive and characteristic shape. There are many variations based on the type and shape of the iron and the recipe used.-Etymology:...
s and
chestnutChestnut is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The Chestnut belongs to the same Fagaceae family as the Oak and Beech...
s. In 1849, he began to run a
caféA café , also spelled cafe, is an informal restaurant offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches. This differs from a coffee house, which is a limited-menu establishment which focuses on coffee sales. Depending on the jurisdiction, a café may be licensed to serve alcohol. The term...
and
restaurantA restaurant prepares and serves food and drink to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
with partners. They specialised in selling
chocolateChocolate comprises a number of raw and processed foods produced from the seed of the tropical cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC...
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 CanalThe Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just to the north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin, in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London.- History :First proposed by...
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 MarketHungerford Market was a market in London, near Charing Cross on the Strand, housed in two different buildings on the same site from around 1680 to 1862. The first market was held from about 1680 in a London house of the Hungerford family. This building became dilapidated, and was replaced by a...
, near
Charing CrossCharing Cross denotes the junction of the Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in Westminster within Central London, England. It is named after the site of a long demolished Eleanor cross located at the former hamlet of Charing, at this point...
, to sell pastries and ice cream. A portion of ice cream was sold for one penny served in a shell, perhaps the origin of the
penny lickA penny lick was a small glass for serving ice cream from the mid nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Street vendors would sell the contents of the glass for one penny. The glass was usually made with a thick glass base, and a shallow depression on top. When the ice cream was...
.
Gatti built a large "ice well" capable of storing tons of ice in 1857. His ice house, near
King's CrossKings Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
, is now the
London Canal MuseumLondon Canal Museum in the King's Cross area of London is a regional museum that displays information about the history of London's canals.- History :...
. He began importing ice from
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
from around 1860, shipping the ice from Norway, up the
ThamesThe River Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading and Windsor....
and by canal to his ice house. He built a second ice well in around 1862, and became the largest ice importer in London. He began to run a fleet of delivery carts, supplying ice for domestic
iceboxAn Icebox was the common appliance for providing refrigeration in the home before safe refrigerants made compact mechanical refrigerators feasible....
es.
Hungerford Market was damaged when the adjoining
Hungerford HallHungerford Hall was a lecture theatre built beside Hungerford Market near Charing Cross in London in 1851. It was used for public entertainments, including demonstrations of magic, mesmerism and optical illusions. It burned down in 1854, badly damaging the adjoining Hungerford...
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 RailwaySouth Eastern Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom, which linked London with Kent.The company was formed from the London and Greenwich Railway and the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway...
in 1862, and the site became
Charing Cross railway stationCharing Cross station, also known as London Charing Cross, is a central London railway terminus. It is unusual among London's railway termini in that its services connect it to two of the others, Waterloo and London Bridge. It is one of 17 stations managed by Network Rail, and trains serving it...
.
With the proceeds from selling his first music hall, Gatti acquired a restaurant in
Westminster Bridge RoadWestminster Bridge Road is a short, but busy, road in London, SE1. It runs on an east-west axis and passes through the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.-The route:...
, opposite The Canterbury music hall. 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 WarWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and was demolished in 1950.
In 1867, he acquired a
public houseA public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises in countries and regions of British influence. Although the terms often have different connotations, there is little definitive difference between pubs, bars,...
in
Villiers StreetVilliers Street is a street in London connecting The Strand with The Embankment. It was built by Nicholas Bourbon in the 1670s on the site of York House, the property of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham whose name the street commemorates...
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-ArchesThe Charing Cross Music Hall was a music hall established beneath the Arches of Charing Cross railway station in 1866 by brothers, Giovanni and Carlo Gatti to replace the former Hungerford Hall...
".
Members of his family were involved in his businesses, and he spent most of his time in Switzerland after 1871. He married a second wife, aged only 23. He is buried in Switzerland.
His family continued to operate the music hall, known for a period after Gatti's death the Hungerford or Gatti's Hungerford Palace of Varieties. It became a cinema in 1910, and the
Players' TheatreThe Players' Theatre was a theatre in London as well as a theatre club for music hall in the style of the BBC programme "The Good Old Days".-Origins:...
in 1946.
External links
- London Canal Museum
- Bill posters from Gatti's Music Hall, from the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is located in London and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, patents,...