![From a small Ticino village to the centre of London: the steep rise of ice cream king Carlo Gatti. Illustration by Marco Heer.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/glace-titel-300x225.jpg)
The Ticino glacé king
Born in a mountain valley in Ticino, Carlo Gatti moved on to Paris and later to London. He was the first street vendor of ice cream in London, eventually earning a reputation as the uncrowned “Ice Cream King” of Victorian England.
![The Blenio Valley in Ticino, photographed in the mid-20th century.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/bleniotal-300x200.jpg)
![The Ticino glacé king Carlo Gatti, ca. 1870.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/carlo-gatti-300x272.jpg)
![Loading blocks of ice in Norway, 19th century.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/eis-aus-norwegen-300x217.jpg)
![Carlo Gatti popularised the eating of ice cream: a street scene in London, 1877.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/glacestrasse-245x300.jpg)
![Later on, Carlo Gatti also entered the entertainment industry.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/poster-202x300.jpg)