Dorchester Illustration no. 2263 I-CAR-DE Mayonnaise
I-CAR-DE trucks sporting Lee Puncture Proof tires were pictured in a 1922 advertisement for the Lee Tire & Rubber Company. I-CAR-DE produced a number of cards using movie stars to promote their products.
Kathleen Aicardi wrote:
Aicardi mayonnaise (spelled phonetically, I CAR DE) was started in the early 1900’s by my great grandfather James A. Aicardi. He began making mayonnaise and selling it door to door. Then eventually the company grew, and they sold mayonnaise, picallili and one other item which I forget right now. Anyway….it was the top mayonnaise in Boston.
The Aicardi Food Products Co., located at 93 Stoughton Street, Dorchester, from at least the 1920s to the 1940s made products for grocery stores. The location was the corner of Stoughton Street and Windermere Road. Their brand was I-CAR-DE, and one of their popular products was mayonnaise. They used photos of movie stars on advertising cards. The founder was James A. Aicardi, who lived at 91 Stoughton Street (same building. His son James Jr., who lived at 15 Sumner Street, was also part of the company.
From building permit applications, the food production operation seems to have ended in 1944, and the family converted the building to a grocery store. The grocery store operation seems to have ended in 1968.
The 1925 Boston Directory has the following entries:
Aicardi Food Products Co grocer’s sundries 93 Stoughton Dor
Aicardi James A pres and treas Aicardi Food Products Co 93 Stoughton Dor h 91 do
Aicardi James A jr sec Aicardi Food Products Co 93 Stoughton Do h 15 Sumner do