Mattei Biscuits Around the World, Alongside Prato’s Yarns and Fabrics

Starting in 1950s, many textile companies from Prato sent their clients traditional Prato Biscuits by "Mattonella" as a gift. This meant that, in various shipments to the most diverse destinations

(Biella, Cagliari, Brescia, Modena, Biella, Cremona, Rome, Bari, Genoa, Messina, Asti, Ancona, Vercelli, Salerno, Padua, Domodossola, Gallarate, Como, Catania, Perugia, Trieste, Turin, Bologna, Nuoro, Venice, Pavia, etc.), among bales of fabric and spools of colourful yarn, the signature blue of the “Mattonella” biscuit bags would appear more frequently over time. *

For special occasions, especially at Christmas, our grandfather began offering gift boxes in hatbox-style packaging: inside were Mattei products accompanied by Antinori wines and Vinsanto.

The hatboxes and Mattei products Each gift box sent was accompanied by a pre-printed postcard:
in the upper left corner there was the company name and below it there were a few lines where the recipient could express their opinion on the product and whether the package had arrived intact.
The last line was reserved for suggestions. We still keep them in our archive. Some are simply filled out and signed, like this one, signed by the employees of a knitwear factory in Borgomanero (who knows if it still exists?).

Others contain handwritten comments and lovely suggestions, which we’ve copied below:

- Excellent! Our suggestion: always make sure they are available in Milan (Imex Lane).
- From Naples: Excellent, as always. Our suggestion: keep making them, for the joy of those who eat them.
- From Vicenza: Our suggestion: keep up the good work. Never change the recipe and the quality of the ingredients.
- Again from Milan: Our suggestion: keep it up!!! P.S. Please send us the set of samples. Thank you...
- Nothing to suggest, but must confess your products are among the best.
- From the Textile Gallery in Martina Franca: Our suggestion: always send us some.
- Our suggestion: send us the same order again.
- Our suggestion: they’re too few and finish too quickly.

Some got a bit carried away and used the entire blank space of the postcard, like Mr. Ceccherini, who after the word “Excellent”, added: “…and just as good as the old-style ‘Mattonella’ family biscuits. Please send me, cash on delivery, a ‘mantovana’, one of your company’s traditional specialties (…)” And continued by suggesting to: “…always take greater care to protect from the inevitable humidity of shipping, using suitable cellophane wrapping.” 

Another postcard, however, carries only a signature. No comments or suggestions because we know that the sender knew us well. She was of Prato origin, just like our biscuits. Our grandfather knew her just as well, and ever since she moved to Rome, he sent her our products as a gift every year. Unless she was on tour. She too travelled a lot and helped spread the fame of our city, both in Italy – at La Scala in Milan with Toscanini in 1922 (and for ten more seasons), at the San Carlo in Naples, the Regio in Turin, and the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome – and abroad: New York, London, major cities in South America, Chicago, Monte Carlo, Cannes, Berlin.

We say goodbye with this final postcard and, if you don’t know her, we invite you to look up her name and maybe even listen to her voice: the magnificent soprano voice of IVA PACETTI, who loved our biscuits. 

Our summer closing dates: from August 10 to August 31 (inclusive).
You can still shop in our online store all through August — all products are 15% off!
Orders will be shipped starting in early September.

Happy holidays from the Pandolfini siblings and all the staff at Biscottificio Antonio Mattei!

Letizia Pandolfini