Over a century ago Antonio Marcantonio, later to be known as Mark Toney, came to Newcastle from Picinisco, a small mountain village near Rome with his young wife Angela and their firstborn infant child.
At that time many young Italians were embarking on this brave step into the unknown, leaving family and friends behind to travel to far away places in an effort to improve their poor existence.
Many travelled to America, and many came to England, in fact some who came to England believed they were going to America, but were mislead and taken to English shores instead!
Because the news that good business opportunities were to be had in the British Isles was spread only by word of mouth, most of the Italians who came over at that time originated from the same small part of Italy, an area between Rome and Naples, around the Monte Cassino area.
These immigrants fanned out, and spread to all corners of the British Isles. The Marcantonio family settled in Newcastle because, as the story goes, they travelled from the South up country, and Newcastle was as far as their train fare would take them!
Antonio Marcantonio and his family, shortly after moving to England.
Antonio and Angela began making ice cream, and this delicious, creamy confection was soon bringing a taste of Italian sunshine to the streets and markets of Newcastle.
They set up their first shop in the Grainger Arcade, and the business that came to be known as Mark Toney's has traded continuously there for 100 years.
They had 7 children all of whom followed them into the business in some capacity and as their family grew, so did the popularity and fame of their ice cream, and the Marcantonio family were soon able to open other ice cream parlours in Newcastle, all serving the original ice cream for which Mark Toney's had become famous.
These ice cream parlours and cafes have now become part of the history of Newcastle, with almost everyone having a fond memory of being taken there as a child, perhaps for their first ever Knickerbocker Glory, or, later, meeting special friends there!
Antonio's eldest son, George, serving ice cream from one of our pre-war ice cream trailers at the Newcastle Quayside.
The Mark Toney Ice Cream Company is still owned and run by the Marcantonio family, in the shape of grandson Anthony, together with his wife Anne, sister Angela and latterly, son Andrew.
Of the many Italian ice cream and catering businesses founded at the time, only a small percentage now survive.
We are happy to say that Mark Toney's is one of those that are still thriving.
Now in our fourth generation, we continue to make wholesome, homemade style ice creams.
We have built upon our early successes so that we are now the leading manufacturer of ice cream in the North East of England, and we are looking forward to the next hundred years!
Antonio's daughters, Maria, Anita and Angela, pictured with his son Albert, inspecting some of our earliest ice cream vans.
We possess the manufacturing capability to make complex blends of ice creams full of interesting sauces, ripples, fruit, nuts and other additions in large quantities and to a consistently excellent quality. We are constantly working on developing new products, and we are also able to make individual products specific to customers' requirements. In other words, we are small enough to respond to individual requests, but large enough to provide a professional service.
We deliver free of charge weekly from the Borders to North Yorkshire, but for customers in the Newcastle area, we can provide same day delivery, also free of charge. This, combined with a regular call from our friendly staff, means that together we can ensure that you never run out of fresh ice cream.
Our customers include all major Asda and Tesco stores in the North-East and Fenwicks for our retail ranges, and many top north-east restaurants and hotels for our catering-size ice creams, sorbets and luxury desserts, all of which can be viewed in the Ranges section
In summary, Mark Toney has a lot to offer - premium quality, efficient service and reliability. If you have any queries, or would like further information, please contact Anne or Lynn on (0191) 266 1879.
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