ConfeitariaCarceller

Rua Direita (now 1º de Março) was Rio's most important thoroughfare until the 19th century. It was at the port of Largo do Paço that novelties from Europe were unloaded, and as a result, a bustling trade grew up there. Amid French fashion shops, bookstores, and imported goods, cafés and confectioneries multiplied between Rua Direita and Rua do Ouvidor, such as Carceller, one of the empire's first ice cream parlors.

Image description: This is a historic black-and-white photograph of an urban square. On the left side, we see a row of low buildings with balconies and open windows. Moving to the right, we find a large church with domes and towers, standing out in the center of the image. Behind it, there are more buildings and a hill in the background. On the right side, there are houses with sloped roofs and barred windows. In the foreground, we see some trees and vintage cars parked.

This confectionery is said to have been founded in 1824 by José Tomás Carceller, and it reached the peak of its operation in the 1860s. Emperor D. Pedro II "had the habit, after visiting the churches on Holy Thursday, of going to Carceller to have ice creams, which were famous there. These were served in the shape of a pyramid, in small glasses, and each one cost 320 réis"1. At that time, the ice used to make the ice creams was imported from the United States, which made the delicacy quite expensive.

Besides the emperor, Carceller was a meeting point for many young people who gathered at the confectionery to enjoy the pastries, cakes, and famous ice creams, amid lively conversations at the tables and chairs placed outside the store - a custom from the Parisian boulevards, possibly introduced in Rio by Carceller.

Image description: The image is a black-and-white engraving. On the left side, we see a man wearing a classic suit with a vest and a top hat. He is seated and holding a pipe. On the right side, there is a woman standing, wearing a long dress and a hat adorned with flowers. She is looking at the man. In the background, we see a building with columns and a tree. Below the image, there is text in Portuguese written in black on a white background.

The work of Machado de Assis is full of mentions of the confectionery, from the political conversations in Valério, the short story of the same name (1874), to the diary of the protagonist of Memorial de Aires (1908). Influential politicians of the period also met at Carceller to discuss matters such as the diplomatic crisis between the Empire of Brazil and the United Kingdom (the Christie Affair, 1862-65) and, according to Heitor Lyra, sometimes, in front of the confectionery, "the Emperor [...] had spoken to the people, who had acclaimed him, from the window of the carriage that carried him to or brought him from the Palace."

The confectionery was located on Rua Direita, near Rua do Ouvidor, making the area known as Boulevard Carceller. It was from there that mule-drawn trams departed for São Cristóvão.

Image description: This image is a colored postcard depicting Boulevard Carceller in Rio de Janeiro. The scene shows a street with historic buildings on the left, including structures with classic architecture and ornamental details. On the right, there is a square with a red-tiled roofed structure and a green tree. In the center of the image, a two-horse carriage pulls a red wagon. People are walking along the street and standing in front of the buildings. The sky is blue with a few white clouds. At the bottom of the image, it reads "Boulevard Carceller" and "Rio de Janeiro."

Cf. LYRA, 1939.

Bibliographic references:

HEMEROTECA Digital da BN. Semana Ilustrada (RJ) - 1865. Ed. 223, p. 2 LYRA, Heitor. História de Dom Pedro II - 1825-1891. Vol. 2 - Fastígio. Companhia Editora Nacional. São Paulo - Rio - Recife - Porto Alegre: 1939. REVISTA do IPHAN, nº 10, 1946, pp. 193 and 295. Available at: http://docvirt.com/docreader.net/DocReader.aspx?bib=reviphan&pagfis=3448

Machado de Assis