Time marches onwards : 
Now, in 2021, Forte's are Celebrating 85 years!

An extract from Saturday Mornings in the Fifties by Carol Powell M.A. 

Grafton Maggs: 'A week or so before the opening on Friday 29th May 1936, Mumbles was rife with the rumour and a breathless John Clements with an equally excited sister, Poppy informed me, ‘they're giving away free ice cream on the opening day!!’' 

    A new dimension appeared in Mumbles in 1935. Private enterprise reared its head on the corner of the Dunns opposite to Lowther's Pharmacy and Taylor's the Grocers. The old angular edifice at the apex of the Dunns and Station Square was dismantled and something like a futuristic palace from H.G, Wells' ‘Shape of Things to Come’ began to emerge. A flat roof with a veranda capped a sweeping curved wall extending from opposite Ace the Butcher's right around to face Oystermouth Station. This wall was glazed from ceiling to within a foot of the floor and was only broken by the entrance foyer facing the Pharmacy. In that foyer was a glass pillar containing a menu (‘North Pole 6d, Knickerbocker Glory 2s 3d etc.’) and a reproduction of the latter item - something never seen in Mumbles before and about as attainable as a cruise on the Queen Mary. The inside was indeed a palace with a hint of the twenties in the Lloyd Loom furniture, set in a colour scheme of blues and white. The overall effect created a delightful airy atmosphere enhanced by the all-round glazing. Forte's had arrived in Mumbles! This was our first encounter with the American Ice Cream Parlour!

Grafton Maggs continued: 

A week or so before the opening on Friday 29th May 1936, Mumbles was rife with the rumour and a breathless John Clements with an equally excited sister, Poppy informed me, ‘they're giving away free ice cream on the opening day!!’ This seemed to be too good to be true, knowing the capacity of the average Mumbles child for ice cream (especially FREE ice cream), I doubted if there was enough of this precious emulsion in the whole of Wales to satisfy demand. However, one beautiful Saturday afternoon, Forte's opened and a queue, extending from the entrance to the back of Strawford's and beyond, quickly assembled. Spirits were high, reflected in the playful jostling and buzz of excited conversation. At last we reached the inside of the parlour where six people, clad in spotless white, were serving cones furiously to the youth of Mumbles who reached up to the counter like starving gannets. Back outside, blinking in the sunlight, we all returned to the back of the queue. This routine continued for most of the afternoon until we had to admit defeat. I gathered from Elio Macari, years later, that to achieve this conquest over 160 gallons of ice cream was given away that afternoon! And what was the decision of the experts on this ice cream? Unanimously - superb! The new owners of this parlour were Giuseppe Macari and family, at that time consisting of his wife and two sons, Elio and Olimpio.

Mr. Macari, at first, seemed to be an unsmiling, abrasive character but as time passed this was seen to be quite a wrong impression and was partly due to a language problem and, I think, shyness. Over the years, I got to know him well and found him to be a kind hearted soul. Elio and Olimpio attended the local school and became life-long friends, soon to be involved and totally committed to the family business. This business with such an excellent product and backed by Italian finesse in this field, flourished and soon expanded to kiosks around the popular bays.

Very soon, ‘See you down in Forte's!’ became a set piece in our conversation comparable with ‘See you outside the Tiv!’ or ‘I'm slipping down to Johnnie's for some chips!’ and as we grew older and our funds increased, so we patronised the place all the more. I shall never forget that marvellous aroma, that greeted me as I walked in to the parlour, a blend of coffee, made as only Italians know how and that subtle sweetness of the ice cream. In life, I found that there were few things that lived up to my expectancy, but here were two items that did. I am sure that there are many ex-servicemen from WW2 who, like myself, when in strange hot lands, thought of ice-cream soda with the condensation on the outside of the glass and wished themselves back in Forte's in the heart of the village!

I am indebted to the Macaris for bringing it here. It brought me happiness as a child, as a youth, as a soldier and as an adult and although the family business continues to flourish in Limeslade, it is to the original Forte's in Station Square, Oystermouth, that my warmest thoughts return - the days when the sun always shone and I was going to live forever.

An extract from They are giving away free ice-cream at Forte's by Grafton Maggs