| During the 1920s, founder Fioravanti Figliolini moved to England from Cantu, just North of Rome. Having learned the trade from fellow Italians he opened a parlour in Weymouth, starting a long tradition of locally available quality ice cream. |
Pietro and Luisa Rossi moved from Consett, County Durham to Southend in 1932 to start a home-made Ice Cream business with a local family, also called Rossi. They started trading at 1 Marine Parade Southend, 37 High Street Southend and Western Esplanade.
The partnership was dissolved in 1937 and Pietro Rossi kept No. 1 Marine Parade and Rossi’s Western Esplanade and a small kiosk along Westcliff Seafront, known as the Arches. Their daughters, Gemma and Maria helped in the business whilst their youngest daughter Lolanda and only son Tony attended the Sacred Heart School, Southchurch. Lolanda then attended St. Bernards School in Westcliff until the outbreak of war, and Tony was sent to a boarding school in Italy.
|
|
The War Years
The family manufactured Ice Cream from No. 1 Marine Parade Southend until 1939 at which time they had to vacate their premises as the seafront area was closed for military purposes.
Luisa and her two youngest children spent the war years in Italy, whilst Pietro and Maria remained in England, Gemma having married in 1937 to an ice cream businessman in Portsmouth. Pietro Rossi was interned as an alien on the Isle of Wight and Maria worked as a waitress to support her father.
|
Post War
The end of the war saw the familiy re-united in 1946 after seven years apart and they resumed their business interests in Southend, selling ice cream from Marine Parade and their two sites along Western Esplanade.
|
| The 1950s and 1960s saw their business flourish. To cope with the demand, they built an Ice Cream Factory in Lucy Road, Southend in 1967.
From Rossi's in the High Street: "Huge ice cream cornets could be purchased before the war for 1d. or 2d., but for a ha’penny, smaller, but still adequate cones for toddlers. These were sold from the front of the shop. Behind, there was a parlour similar to those seen in the old American gangster movies of the prohibition era. There were open cubicles with tables and lift-up bench seats, with a tiled floor, and set in Art-deco surroundings. There, on special treats, huge ice-cream sundaes covered in fruits and nuts, and swimming in chocolate or strawberry sauce, were consumed in an atmosphere laden with odours of coffee and cigarette smoke. It was heaven!"
From 'Sarfend', contributor unknown. |
|
Luisa Rossi died in 1957 and Pietro Rossi died in 1968, their children having taken over the reins some years earlier. Rossi’s Ice Cream had now become a favourite with locals and visitors. Their Western Esplanade premises was a local landmark and attracted thousands of visitors every year. In 1969 they aquired a kiosk at the top end of Southend High Street, this proved to be a very busy site in the summer months and demand was alwasys high for their traditional vanilla ice cream served from stainless barrels using the ‘spoon’ to dish up the ice cream on the cone. Maria Rossi, by then Maria Fantanzzi was invited onto Bruce Forsyth's "The Generation Game" on BBC-1 in 1983 to demonstrate this method of serving ice cream. |
| Tradition Meets Modernity |
In 1989 Tony Rossi suffered a stroke leaving him partially paralysed and although their business continued to operate all expansion plans were shelved, and in 1996 Tony suffered a second stroke from which he died in 1997. Maria was diagnosed with memory loss problems problems shortly afterwards and in 2002 Lolende gave up their Western Esplanade premises to care for her sister. Maria died in August 2005 and Lolanda died shortly afterwards in January 2006. With no immediate family to carry on the business Lolanda’s widower Reg Dimascio sold the factory and kiosk and leased out the Marine Parade Shop. The business continues under new ownership manufacturing Ice Cream from Lucy Road to the same traditional recipe first introduced by Pietro Rossi in 1932.
|
Photo courtesy of Dave Bullock |
|
|
In 1987 Rossi’s won the top award in a national competition for Vanilla Ice Cream and in 1993 they received another rop award for their famous Rum and Raisin Ice Cream.
"We have been making and serving our homemade Italian ice-cream here at Rossis's since 1937. Our founder Fioravanti Figliolini moved to England from Cantu just North of Rome in the 1920's".
"Having learned the trade from fellow Italians he opened this parlour in Weymouth, starting a long tradition of locally available quality ice cream". |
Copyright 2007 The South East Echo. Layout and content by spitsortie™ |
|
