Monthly Archives: November 2010

Umm yummy ice cream!

One third of the ice cream consumed today is licked off an ice cream cone. It’s one of America’s favorite treats during the hot summer days. But have you ever wondered who came up with this brilliant, yummy idea? The year is 1904 on a very hot day in the Saint Louis World’s Fair. Ernest Hamwi, an immigrant from Syria was having a real hard time selling hot Persian Waffles. Who would want a hot waffle on stifling summer day? But he noticed that another vendor was selling ice cream like….hotcakes. The vendor ran out of plates. What was he to do? Plenty of ice cream, but nothing to put it on. Ernest got an “aha” moment and rolled a cone out of a waffle and offered it as a substitute to the panicked vendor. The rest is, well history. The ice cream cone was born.

This is the story that is backed by the International Ice Cream Association. But as life has it, many wanted to get in on a good thing. Half a dozen vendors at the fair claimed they came up with the idea. To this day the descendants of these dozen argue, passionately, about it.

One thing all agreed on, it was born at that fair on a hot summer day. And I for one, am glad the idea was born. It was such a good idea that many took the idea back home after the fair and the cone became an instant success from coast to coast. So the next time you have an ice cream cone, think of Ernest who couldn’t sell his hot waffles, but became an instant sensation when he introduced waffle to ice cream. This is truly an American story!