Ice-cream Charlie, the Muslim ice cream vendor

From a cart right here outside the Bank of New Zealand in the south-east corner of Cathedral Square, Sali Mahomet, known as “Ice-cream Charlie,” sold his ice cream to people passing by on foot and on bikes. He operated in the first half of the 20th century, a time when central Christchurch had many one-person businesses that created local characters. Sali stood out because he was a dark-skinned Muslim from Asia in a mostly European and Christian city.

Little is known about Sali’s origins, but family tradition says he was born Mohammed Khan around 1866. There are stories of him living in Ashkhabad, a Russian city, and his clan being harassed by Cossacks, with female family members dying of exposure. However, on his marriage certificate, Sali listed his birthplace as Ceylon, and at other times, he said he was Punjabi. He might have claimed to be born within the British Empire because New Zealand was proud to be part of it. His mother might have been named Addul or Adil, and his father, Sultan, was a hawker, as was his grandfather, Razzak.

Sali and his father traveled through Australia after leaving Asia, arriving in New Zealand around 1894. Here, "Saleh" became "Sally," "Solly," and eventually "Sali." They used Dunedin as their base and traveled on horseback, hawking household goods across rural Otago, Canterbury, and Westland. A riding accident left Sali with a limp, which he minimized by having one shoe built up. This experience might have led him to seek a less demanding job.

Around 1903, Sali decided to become an ice cream seller in Christchurch and had a cart built, painted white and bright red with decorative gold patterns. He bought a recipe and sold his ice cream from this spot. Later in his career, he moved around the corner to Hereford Street. Sali initially rented a home in Brightlings Lane in the Avon Loop.

On December 15, 1905, his father, Sultan, died of a stroke while staying at the Brightlings Lane property, possibly for Sali’s wedding. On January 5, 1906, Sali Mahomet married 19-year-old domestic servant Florence Henrietta Johnstone at the Registrar’s Office in Christchurch. Sali gave his age as 27, though he was about 40, to make it seem like there was less of an age difference.

The ice cream business was so successful that in 1907, Sali bought land at 69 Caledonian Road and built a kauri house with a bay window, decorative woodwork, and ornate rose patterns on the ceiling. He even had electricity extended to a large wooden outhouse, his "dairy," where he made ice cream with great cleanliness. He sold ice cream from August to April, saying that during the other months, "you can keep cool without an ice-cream." People considered his appearance and his ice cream as the official start of summer.

Wholesale druggist H. F. Stevens made Sali’s pineapple, strawberry, raspberry, and orange flavored syrups, as well as his vanilla essence. Sali imported the vanilla beans and roasted them at home in his coal range oven. Other ingredients included eggs, cornflour, milk, and cream.