#milk bars

[newyorkthegoldenage]

They're not called milk bars any more, but you can see a scene just like this today along 7th, 8th, or 9th Avenues from the Thirties to the Sixties. The only thing that gives away the photo's age (1947) is the woman's hairstyle.

Photo: Eric Schwab via the AFP

[scotianostra]

November 26th 1908 saw the birth of Charles Carmine Forte in Casalattico, Italy

This has a wee connection with my home town, Loanhead, it was Baron Forte, as he was to become, worked in his relative,  Alfonso Forte, Italian cafe, from a young age after emigrating from Italy.

His father’s distant cousin Pacifico Forte had moved to Scotland and according to family legend, this cousin met a Scotsman who was believed to be a grocer. However, he did not own just one grocer’s shop but many.

The family always believed that this was Sir Thomas Lipton. He said to Pacifico ‘if you ever come to Scotland come to see me and I will help you.’ but truth be told we will never know if it was Lipton.

He opened up what was known as a hole in the wall shop in Kincardine in Fife. There he sold chocolate, lemonade and cigarettes.

He went on to open an ice cream shop in Dundee and with the business expanding, he persuaded some of the family to move to Scotland. In 1911 Rocco Forte arrived in the country.

During that year Mr Forte found a job in a small shop in Loanhead near Edinburgh. Three years later he wrote home and asked his wife and their family to join him, and they arrived at Waverley Station in 1913.

They then left Edinburgh bound for Alloa. Here Forte established the Savoy Cafe.

It sold lemonade and coffee and soon became popular with locals. It was situated on Mill Street and could seat between 50 and 60 people.

As time went on, they employed two or three assistants to serve ice cream, cakes and sandwiches.

Charles was beginning to speak English but with a Scottish accent. He attended Alloa Academy but was teased by the other boys, which is what happens in schools.  At the time, the nickname for an Italian was tally wally and they used to taunt him with this.

Soon though he was accepted because he was friendly and good at sport.

While there he wrote an essay for his teacher Miss Hunter. She showed it to the headmaster as she was so taken with his grasp of English.

ONE of the things Charles Forte remembered about The Great War was the arrival of the Black Watch in Alloa.

He also recalled seeing Lloyd George standing on a box in a doorway, speaking to the crowd of around 100 people.

When Forte was 12, he attended Saint Joseph's College in Dumfries. While there he got into fights nearly every day, and he loathed the place.

After a week he wrote to his father saying: ‘unless you come and fetch me, I am going to run away’. A few days later he arrived at the school and took him home.

He was then enrolled in one of Italy's most prestigious schools in Rome and during his time there, he only returned to Alloa for the summer holidays.

When he was 17, Forte decided to follow in his father's footsteps. Rocco arranged for him to work in a cafe in Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset.

It had been formed in partnership with two cousins and was one of the first of a string of cafes and ice cream parlours which members of the family opened all along the English coastline.

The caveat was that he was to remain in Scotland for six months to study book-keeping and accountancy.

When he was 26, he opened his first milk bar in Regent Street London. From there his business went from strength to strength, opening many more cafes.

During World War II, he was interred on the Isle of Man, but was released three months later. In 1943, he married Irene Chierico and the couple went on to have five girls and a boy.

By the late 1940s he was head of Forte Holdings Limited and in the 1950s had branched out into catering at Heathrow Airport.

He also opened the first motorway service station at Newport Pagnell in 1959. By 1970, following mergers, he was at the helm of Trusthouse Forte which owned the likes of Little Chef and Travelodge. It was now a multi-billion pound empire.

In 1970, Forte was knighted by the Queen Mother and in 1982 became Baron Forte of Ripley in Surrey. He was also appointed Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

In 1992, he retired and handed over the reins of the business to his son Rocco. A hostile takeover bid by Granada was successful and the business fell out of family hands.

Charles Forte died in his sleep in his London home on February 28th, 2007. His wife died in 2010 and was buried beside her husband in West Hampstead Cemetery.

Charles’ son Rocco has built his own hotel “empire”  Rocco Forte Hotels might be modest compared to what his father owned, but the 14 hotels “ From London to Rome, Sicily to Florence, Berlin to Edinburgh each Rocco Forte Hotel is as Unique and Special as the Place it Calls Home.”  The Fortes own The beautiful Balmoral Hotel at number 1 Princes Street Edinburgh.

The first four pics are of Charles, the rest are some of the businesses across Scotland, in order they are Charles at Horsemarket in Kelso., Loanhead,  Friars Street in Stirling, Girvan, Biggar, and Galashiels

[laurastudarus]

Okay, so maybe Warsaw isn’t at the top of your vacation bucket list. But there are plenty of reasons to break free from the crowded Paris–London–Rome tourism circuit that many Americans traverse when visiting Europe. With its ever-growing slate of cafes, bars, and underground nightlife, it’s been compared to Prague and Berlin, but like most things in life, Warsaw’s got an identity of its own. Go because you love design, or because your grandmother used to stuff you silly with pierogi, or even just because you’d like to see Poland’s capital city before its reputation starts proceeding it. No matter what, you’re bound to find something to enjoy. (Read More) 

[realindevelopment-returns]

a milk bar in mount waverley, circa 2012. "punter calls stumps" = ricky ponting has retired from international cricket

[afrotumble]

Milk bars in Kigali, Rwanda.

[city-of-melbourne]

Fave 5 Milk Bars in Melbourne | Urban List Melbourne

At The Urban List we love supporting the little guy, so we’re letting you in our Fave 5 milk bars in Melbourne. Bring us back some Fads, wou

[elladastinkardiamou]

Milk bar memories surface in Kythera

Photographer Effy Alexakis and historian Leonard Janiszewski took a significant piece of Greek Australian history back to where it all began for many families and individuals who left for Australia seeking a prosperous life, when the couple presented a ‘Cafes and Milk Bars of Australia’ lecture on the island of Kythera recently.

The popular ‘walk down memory lane’ events for Greek Australians who ran the much loved establishments and the customers who flocked to the counters in their heyday, have been successfully touring Australia for many years.

“We have spoken to audiences on the mainland in Athens and Salonica when our exhibitions have been there but this was the first time in Kythera,” Janiszewski said.

The small island with a population of around four thousand was a major contributor to the Greek diaspora in Australia between the late 1800s and 1940s, along with Kastellorizo and Ithaka.

“Kytherians were conspicuous in Australia’s food-catering industry, particularly from the 1890s through to the 1960s – numerically dominating Greek involvement with food catering in New South Wales and Queensland,” Janiszewski explains.

[chido-fajny]

Bar Mleczny | Cheap Fast & Delicious Polish Food

Bar Mleczny or milk Bars are places in Poland where you can eat the best food! Plus they are really cheap! #milkbars #barmleczny #poland #polska

When I was a student in Mexico, I was not rich or anything like that, so I was always looking for cheap places to eat. Of course there were famous restaurant chain like McDonalds, KFC or Burger King. Even though I’m a big fan of those places, those places don’t give you the feeling as if you were eating homemade food. You know, like when you try a soup prepared by your mom, you remember the smell…

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