ep. 19 Ghirardelli - The Candy Man
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Who can take some cocoa beans, and turn them into gold
Create a chocolate legacy that never will get old
Domingo Ghirardelli, the man with the chocolatier's touch
Making treats so delectable, we love so very much
Domingo Ghirardelli, the chocolate mastermind
From sweet and creamy milk to dark and rich divine
Every bite is heaven-sent, a taste we can't ignore
Domingo Ghirardelli, we'll always want some more
He started in his small shop, with passion in his heart
Creating chocolates one by one, they were a work of art
In this episode of Ricky's Historical Tidbits, I will tell you all about the famous chocolatier, Domingo Ghirardelli.
We start this story back in Italy. In a city known as Genoa. This is where Domenico Ghirardelli was brought up. His dad was a middle-class spice merchant who wanted his son to have a trade as he did. So Young Domenico began his apprenticeship at a fancy schmancy chocolate company called Romanego, that is where Domenico learned all the ins and outs of running a confectionary business and how to make those chocolates and other candies.
As often is the case, Politics enters in at this point. Now, I am not an expert in Italian history but essentially after the Roman Empire fell, Italy was ruled by a kingdom or two and all was well and good but this is Europe so there's always some kind of war going on. Eventually, After a few hundred years Italy was kind of divided in two. Before Napoleon, The North was controlled by The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, and the South was run by The kingdom of Naples, The Kingdom of Sicily, and the Papal States. Then Napoleon Ruled Italy until his fall in 1815, after this the majority of Italy was ruled by The Austrian Empire. Our buddy Domenico was born 2 years after Napoleon's fall. So He grew up in a time of rioting throughout Italy by Italians that wanted their country back Italian Nationalists were very popular but seen as enemies of the state and would be sentenced to death. Domenico was politically aligned with them, especially Giuseppe Garibaldi who was kind of the head of the Italian Unification movement, the goal was to make Italy a Federal Republic. Well, Garibaldi failed at a revolution attempt and was forced to flee the country or be put to death.
Picture is of Garibaldi
Not long after Garibaldi fled, Domenico fled as well. Was Domenico also sentenced to death? I could not find the answer. However, I did find that Genoa, Where Domenico lived, was like Portland, Oregon. Nice place with lots of jobs and stuff but known for its riots. So maybe He fled to get out of that kind of environment. We don't know.
So where did he go? The U.S.? Nope. Back in this time period. The Americas were divided religiously so immigrants would go to where they would feel more comfortable. Catholics largely went to South American countries while Protestants largely went to North America.
So, in 1838 Domenico at 20 years old and his new wife moved to Montevideo, Uruguay where he got a job at a coffee and chocolate store. He didn't stay long, Uruguay had its border problems so They moved on to Lima Peru the next year. Here is where he opened his first store and it happened to be next to a popular American Businessman James Lick who Domenico became good friends with. At this point, Domenico changed his name to be more Spanish, Domingo.
Domingo's wife died and he went on to marry a Spanish widow and went on to have 8 kids with her. In 1848 James Lick went back to San Francisco and took with him 600 pounds of Domingo's Chocolate. Soon a letter came telling Domingo to come to California for 2 reasons. Number 1, Gold had just been discovered and there will be a huge economic boom coming and Number 2. Everyone loved the chocolate so the business would do good. Had Lick not sent that letter, Domingo likely would have stayed in Peru. So he went on leaving his family to stay back for a while, while he figured out whether the U.S. was as good as Lick said it was.
Instead of getting right to selling chocolate, he went to the Sonora and Jamestown areas which were known for their Italian population, and mined for gold but to no avail. He started selling supplies and confections like he was used to doing and that helped him out. He relocated down in Stockton where he ran a store out of a tent until he got enough money to set up a real store in Hornitos. The store was doing so well that just a few months later he opened a second location in San Francisco. But then in 1851 within 3 days of each other, both stores caught fire and burned to the ground.
He bounced back pretty quickly though, opening up the Cairo Coffee House within a few months. But that business failed. So once again he focused on Chocolate, starting the Ghirardelli and Girard Company which did really well so he brought his family and extended family to San Francisco. He moved the store around a little bit and at one time the whole family lived in an apartment above the shop but soon he was one of the richest men in town and made a little Italy of his own which was about a city block in size and had marble statues and fountains. He was livin' the rich life
By the way, though far from Italy he still believed in the unification cause and helped fund the redshirts which are not the same as the American red shirts FYI. The Italian Redshirts were the guerilla volunteer revolutionaries under Giuseppe Garibaldi who after 14 years in exile returned to fight for the cause and lead Italy to victory establishing the Kingdom of Italy and making Rome it’s capital.
The main reason that Ghiridelli rose in popularity so fast was Broma. Basically, one worker accidentally discovered a new way of making chocolate when he hung some bags of cocoa beans in a fairly warm room, the cocoa butter melted right off the beans then would be nice and dry to make the powder and the butter would be used to make chocolate bars richer.
but as with anything, Domingo had yet another boom-to-bust moment. The 1870 recession caused him to go bankrupt, and his son-in-law who was his business partner at this point disappeared along with a bunch of money, Domingo had to sell his fancy house, sell all his stocks and stores, and pretty much everything he owned. He was 56 years old at this time.
He and his sons started up once again though working harder than ever before and soon they were selling all over the world.
Domingo retired in 1892 and then went to visit his homeland where he got the flu and died in 1894.
The Ghirardelli company continued on and did very well, eventually putting up the famous sign in 1923.
The company was bought up by Rice a Roni in 1963 then by Quaker Oats who then sold it to a private investor who sold it to its current owner Lindt.
Before we end here’s a last-minute story that I wanted to keep for the end.
The Ghiridelli's were Catholics, in 1878 Domingos's granddaughter got sick and was on her way out, so he called a priest to come and give her the last rites which is basically a final prayer. But the priest didn't come because the family hadn't given enough money to the church. And she died. From then on, though still Catholics, the family never stepped foot in a Catholic Church ever again and Domingo even built a new mausoleum at the Non-Catholic cemetery in the middle of the night he and his sons came in with a horse and wagon tot he Catholic cemetery and moved their dead to the other cemetery.
So that's the story of Domingo Ghirardelli.
From San Francisco to the world, his name is known so well
A symbol of quality and taste, we can always tell
Domingo Ghirardelli, the man behind the brand
His chocolate creations, the best we'll ever have
Domingo Ghirardelli, the chocolate mastermind
From sweet and creamy milk to dark and rich divine
So if you're feeling down, just reach for a Ghirardelli treat
It's like a ray of sunshine, a burst of joy so sweet
Domingo Ghirardelli, your legacy will never end
Thanks for all the chocolate, our hearts you did befriend.
