The Godfathers of Ice Cream

Can I have One Mum?

How many of us I wonder, ran from our houses yelling "Can I have one Mum?" whenever we heard the distinctive chimes of the Mister Softee ice cream van? With its blue and white livery, the van was always a welcome sight on a hot day.

Although American by origin, Mister Softee ice cream came to have a strong connection to Bentley and one local catering firm that many of us know well, that of Massarella. An Italian family who settled in South Yorkshire and prospered in the catering and distribution business.

Here is a brief look at their story.

Contents

• The Story Of The Massarella Family
• Equestrian Interests
• The Story Of Mister Softee Ice Cream
• Old Photos

The Story Of The Massarella Family

The Massarella family originally came from the town of Settefrate in central Italy. Giovanni Massarella was a farm labourer working for a wealthy landowner in 1864 when he decided he wanted a better life for himself and his family. 

After initially settling in Nottingham, he soon moved north to Doncaster. His first business venture was from a barrel organ he had built himself, and performed with on the streets of Doncaster. There probably wasn't much of a living to be made from this alone, as before long, Giovanni started to sell ice cream from the back of the cart.

Giovanni and his first ice cream cart in Doncaster

He started making ice cream at his home in Cooper Street, Hyde Park, and selling it in town. The business grew and moved to new premises, with a depot in Cooke Street, and a factory in an old roller skating rink Hunt Lane, Bentley. At the height of success in the 1950's, Massarellas was producing 5,000 gallons of ice cream a day, becoming one of the biggest ice cream manufacturers in Europe.

Lewis Massarella and cart

Massarellas was sold to J Lyons in the 1950's, but in 1963 Giovanni's grandson, Ronnie Massarella bought back part of the retailing business, which would become one of the country's leading ice cream retailers.

The family branched out into catering by initially opening an ice cream parlour in Atkinson's department store in Sheffield. The Massarella Catering Group was developed, and over 115 coffee shops and restaurants around the country were operated by the company. They also had 50 outlets in House of Fraser stores, and employed around 2,000 people.

The firm is now based at Thurcroft Hall near Sheffield, and is completely family owned, with 47 outlets in House of Fraser stores*. Ronnie Massarella, now 91, and at one time head of the British Olympic Show-jumping team, will celebrate his family's 150 years in business in the summer of  2014.

*Correct at the time of writing.   

Equestrian Interests

A sideline business of the Massarella empire was in the world of show jumping. 

In the 1960's the acquisition of a horse from a Dublin Horse Show led to fame and fortune for the Massarella family. The horse, aptly named Mister Softee and ridden by David Broome had a glittering career, winning many national and international titles, including Olympic Bronze in Mexico in 1968.

David Broome rides Mister Softee at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games

The Story Of Mister Softee Ice Cream 

Cone Head Logo

Mister Softee ice cream was first launched in the United States by two Irish brothers, William and James Conway. In 1954 they took ice cream on to the streets for the first time, with their specially adapted Chevrolet panel truck. By 1956 their new ice cream brand Mister Softee was on sale in Philadelphia.

A year later, the managing director of a Gateshead based ice cream van supplier to Lyons, was on a trip to America and spotted an investment opportunity. A move that was to secure the rights to the Mister Softee brand in the UK, in a joint venture between Smiths Delivery Vehicles and Lyons.

Ice cream cart
Image courtesy of Michael John Massarella

The newly franchised operation saw Lyons put Mister Softee vans into their own depots. By the dawn of the 1960's, the first depot to receive the vans was Massarella Supplies Ltd of Bentley, whose  Belmont House depot on Cooke Street was a wholly owned subsidiary of Lyons.

Massarella's ice cream vans lined up on Cooke Street

Since then, Mister Softee ice cream has enjoyed worldwide success, but by the 1980's the popularity of home freezers, coupled with the availability of cheap supermarket ice cream, led to a decline in the mobile ice cream trade. The brand suffered when the smiling 'cone head' symbol was withdrawn, and Allied Lyons eventually sold the brand to Nestle in 1992. By the mid 1990's Mister Softee and Lyons Maid had been dropped from all Nestle vans and they finally sold their ice cream business to Richmond Foods Ltd in 2001.

Mister Softee ice cream is still available in America and celebrated its 50th birthday in 2006. 

Old Photos

Richard Massarella

A Massarella cart on The Avenue

Massarella's cart

Motorized ice cream vehicle

Massarellas factory workers at Hunt Lane, 1950.
Photo courtesy of Colin Hardisty

Massarella's staff in 1949.
Photo courtesy of Christine Shaw

Massarella's staff, 1949.
Photo courtesy of Christine Shaw

Old ice cream van.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Troughton

__________

For more on Massarella's champion show-jumper - Mr Softee go to The Ice Cream Horse on sister site Arksey Village, A History.




Alison Vainlo 

First written 2014, updated 2020