Arcari - home of the 99

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 15 Jan 2006, 17:58

Remember the story in the last issue of the Reporter?

Further elucidation is promised on 'Balderdash & Piffle' on BBC2 at 9pm tomorrow night when Daniela Nardini will be trying to discover the origin of the '99'. Will Arcari's be credited with its invention? Will it even get a mention? Tune in to find out.

Jamesie · Post by **Jamesie** » 15 Jan 2006, 22:33

Unfortunately missed this - did Rudolph and family get a mention?

Jamesie · Post by **Jamesie** » 15 Jan 2006, 22:57

I am a muppet - this is on tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

teddygirl · Post by **teddygirl** » 15 Jan 2006, 23:04

Wikipedia has an entry on the subject and if the dates are to be believed then Acari predates Cadbury by eight years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Flake

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 16 Jan 2006, 22:17

What a swizz! So, who is going to take responsibility for telling the BBC and the Oxford Dictionary that they have both got it wrong?

Pal of Porty · Post by **Pal of Porty** » 16 Jan 2006, 22:18

Bob Jefferson wrote:What a swizz! So, who is going to take responsibility for telling the BBC and the Oxford Dictionary that they have both got it wrong?

Send them the evidence Bob - they do seem to listen!

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 16 Jan 2006, 22:45

OK, I've sent the 'Balderdash and Piffle' production team the link to the story in the Portobello Reporter. Watch this space!

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 16 Jan 2006, 22:49

By co-incidence, there was a mention of 99s in 'Life on Mars' while B&P' was, I understand from the last posts, talking about them. Spooky or what?

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 16 Jan 2006, 23:03

I was really disappointed when Porty wasn't featured

foxy · Post by **foxy** » 16 Jan 2006, 23:33

Marya wrote:I was really disappointed when Porty wasn't featured

..does he eat a lot of 99's?

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 16 Jan 2006, 23:36

I couldn't possibly comment Foxy. After all, you know the saying about 'people in glasshouses etc'?

Brenda · Post by **Brenda** » 17 Jan 2006, 12:46

Thanks for contacting the BBC Bob - You've saved me the bother. It was interesting that Cadbury's preferred explanation - named after the 99 bodyguard of the King of Italy - was discounted. I sent Cadbury's a copy of the paper and they said they would include our 'interesting theory' in their archive, but that would have been after the programme was made, so too late for a mention.
We will do a follow-up in the March 'Reporter' asking for any kind of supporting documentation or photos - no reponse to our first appeal for photos.
It's amazing that something that has been known, but unappreciated, by some local people for a long time should have been publicised now on more than one front!
Poppy says it was mentioned on 'Life on Mars' - It was also mentioned in the last version of 'Creature Comforts' on TV before Xmas - when baby penguin asked for an icecream, his mother said "I suppose you want a 99". Having just written the article, I nearly fell off my perch!

Dadaist · Post by **Dadaist** » 17 Jan 2006, 18:57

*stop press*

Portobello and the 99 were on Wogan (BBC Radio 2) this morning!!!

Has this been posted elsewhere? Or have I got the scoop? (geddit)

It was Beach Babe that heard it.

Someone needs to record the "listen again" Wogan show from this morning - our piece was featured at around 8.45 am.

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 17 Jan 2006, 19:13

I'm on it!

Dadaist · Post by **Dadaist** » 17 Jan 2006, 19:22

Bob Jefferson wrote:I'm on it!

1 hr 9 minutes into the show

wogan introduces the next song as "when i think of you, i get one of my headaches"

but i really hate his "scottish" accent. almost as bad as my irish one really ...

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 17 Jan 2006, 19:51

Got it!

Arcari's 99 on Wogan

Angus · Post by **Angus** » 17 Jan 2006, 19:59

All reference to '99's seem to have been removed from the BBC website. It can only be a high-level cover-up.

http://www.oed.com/bbcwordhunt/list.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/wordhunt/

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 18 Jan 2006, 15:50

The battle goes on!! Today's EN

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 18 Jan 2006, 18:59

I'm beginning to think that Ms Bradley ought to be paying us a commission for the number of stories she has nicked from this forum.

Just remember folks - you read it here first! Well ok, second after the Portobello Reporter.

Brenda · Post by **Brenda** » 18 Jan 2006, 19:32

[quote="Dadaist"]*stop press*

Portobello and the 99 were on Wogan (BBC Radio 2) this morning!!!
Has this been posted elsewhere? Or have I got the scoop? (geddit)

Sorry, Dadaist - The Portobello Reporter scooped everyone else, including the Evening News, with our story on this in the last issue.

Dadaist · Post by **Dadaist** » 18 Jan 2006, 19:56

Brenda wrote:
Dadaist wrote:*stop press*

Portobello and the 99 were on Wogan (BBC Radio 2) this morning!!!
Has this been posted elsewhere? Or have I got the scoop? (geddit)
Sorry, Dadaist - The Portobello Reporter scooped everyone else, including the Evening News, with our story on this in the last issue.

No, I only meant the appearance on Wogan, not the whole ice cream war.

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 19 Jan 2006, 09:07

And there's story about it on page 3 of this morning's Metro!

Jamesie · Post by **Jamesie** » 19 Jan 2006, 14:30

And The Scotsman! Pity the shop isn't still there to reap the rewards of all this publicity - although still possible to buy ice cream from the factory!

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 19 Jan 2006, 21:29

Poppy wrote:And there's story about it on page 3 of this morning's Metro!

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 19 Jan 2006, 21:35

I believe the Herald (as opposed to the H&P) also ran a story, but I can't find it on the online version. It's in the H&P as well of course.

Question for Jane - when the Scotsman, Evening News and H&P run the same (slightly reworded) story, is it really 3 different people being credited or are they just pseudonyms of the original journo?

ecm · Post by **ecm** » 16 Apr 2006, 21:41

Bob Jefferson wrote:Remember the story in the last issue of the Reporter?

Further elucidation is promised on 'Balderdash & Piffle' on BBC2 at 9pm tomorrow night when Daniela Nardini will be trying to discover the origin of the '99'. Will Arcari's be credited with its invention? Will it even get a mention? Tune in to find out.

There's an update on right now - wee bit of film of the shop on the High Street and an interview with Mandy Arcari.

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 17 Apr 2006, 08:04

Anyone tape it? If someone could go back in time, Dr Who style, (I believe some of you now have this alien technology) and record the relevant part I will stick it up as a video clip. I know there's a copyright issue but I'm willing to risk it for a biscuit.

ecm · Post by **ecm** » 17 Apr 2006, 09:05

ecm wrote:
Bob Jefferson wrote:Remember the story in the last issue of the Reporter?

Further elucidation is promised on 'Balderdash & Piffle' on BBC2 at 9pm tomorrow night when Daniela Nardini will be trying to discover the origin of the '99'. Will Arcari's be credited with its invention? Will it even get a mention? Tune in to find out.
There's an update on right now - wee bit of film of the shop on the High Street and an interview with Mandy Arcari.

It seems that at least 3 or 4 other ice cream families laid claim to inventing the 99 but as none could provide OED with sufficient evidence no change to the current entry will be made.

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 17 Apr 2006, 09:07

The bounders! The impostors! Does this mean our 'Portobello - home of the 99' plans are scuppered then?

ecm · Post by **ecm** » 17 Apr 2006, 09:11

Bob Jefferson wrote:The bounders! The impostors! Does this mean our 'Portobello - home of the 99' plans are scuppered then?

Yes, unless you fancy doing something fraudulent as did one person who doctored a pamphlet to lay claim to his family's fish and chip restaurant inventing mushy peas.
Photo-shopped in some info and dated it to the 1950s apparently.

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 18 Apr 2006, 15:20

Bob Jefferson wrote:The bounders! The impostors! Does this mean our 'Portobello - home of the 99' plans are scuppered then?

Dictionary cool on Portobello's claim to be home of 99 cone

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 28 Jul 2006, 12:19

The debate continues:

Why are 99s called that?

Cleopas · Post by **Cleopas** » 28 Jul 2006, 13:11

My gran (aka Ivana the Terrible) tells me the 99 cone was first seen in Porty way back when she was a cossack and it was Arcari's was the only shop you could get it from.

My mother (aka Stalin in a skirt) says she remembers getting 99s from Arcari's van when it came round our area. She also remembers the song a guy who drove a Mr Whippy van (Arcari's competition) taught the kids. It went ...
Aricari sells fish
Tuppence haepenny a dish
Dinnae try it
Dinnae buy it
Cos it's made o' cat's p**h!!

Ice cream wars indeed!

Post by **wangi** » 24 Aug 2010, 12:55

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... -ice-cream

Post by **administrator** » 03 Nov 2011, 21:21

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Porty ... 05?sk=wall

In the 1920s a Portobello ice cream shop owner broke a large “Flake” in half and stuck it in an ice cream. The combination proved popular. Stephen Arcari had created the world’s first 99 Cone.

A visiting Cadbury's rep saw merit in the product and asked Stephen if he could take the idea to his bosses. Stephen had no problem with this because in those days copyright wasn’t something anyone ever considered. The rep asked Stephen what he called it and the name Stephen gave was simply the address of his shop. 99 Portobello High Street. “It’s a 99”.

Cadbury claim on their website that the origins of the 99 are lost to history but suggest that maybe the name came from a former King of Italy who surrounded himself with an elite cadre of 99 bodyguards.
Which story sounds most plausible?

The 99 came from Porty and we want our cones back. Or at least a little recognition for the Porty man with the Porty product that became a British institution.

FREE THE PORTY 99!

Maybe print out attached and send it to..
Consumer Relations Department
Cadbury
PO Box 12, Bournville
Birmingham
B30 2LU

Talk Porty ~ Portobello

Arcari - home of the 99

Arcari - home of the 99

Arcari's and The 99

the mystery deepens ...

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