Ice cream: the quintessential summer treat. The season isn’t quite the same without a scoop of it. However, the creation of this cool delight was not as seamless as one might assume. Who should really be accredited with the invention of the classic ice cream cone? Where did it come from? The historical truth behind ice cream might shock you.
How old is Ice Cream?!
The origin of ice cream itself dates as far back as the second century B.C. It might be surprising to know that some pretty famous dudes you haven’t heard of since your high school world history course were said to have enjoyed variations of the refreshing frozen dessert. Alexander the Great, Nero, and even Marco Polo ate ice cream. It wasn’t quite like the stuff we know and love today, but ice cream has come a long way.
THE Ice Cream Cone
The invention of the ice cream cone was a game changer. But of course, with the advent of something so monumental comes a fair dose of controversy.
Who Was The Guy?
If you do a quick Internet search for the inventor of the ice cream cone, a fellow by the name of Ernest Hamwi is accredited. That’s a pretty hefty title to live up to. However, the story is not as easy breezy as a single Google search makes it seem.
Hamwi was a vendor at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, informally known as the St. Louis World’s Fair. He sold a type of thin Syrian waffle. But where does the ice cream come into play?
Enter Italo Marchiony: the owner of a lemon ice cart on Wall Street. Marchiony filed for a patent for a cone-making machine only 2 years prior in 1902. This was his solution to the inconvenience of serving customers in glass bowls, and thus, the waffle cone was born.
But What Happened?
So why is Marchiony often snubbed of the title of inventor of the ice cream cone when it was truly him all along? Ladies and gentlemen, the plot thickens.
The St. Louis Exposition is where both Hamwi and Marchiony meet, gifting the people with the first ice cream cone. Marchiony was also a vendor at the fair, but unfortunately ran out of edible waffle cones due to the laborious task of crafting them. He then turned to Hamwi and suggested he roll his waffles while they’re still hot into the shape of a cone in order to keep up with the ice cream demand. Hamwi might have helped a fellow salesman in a time of need, but the idea was his own.
There’s a lot more history behind the ice cream cone than you might think. While suspicion behind its true inventor still lingers over 100 years later, at least we have a delicious dessert to show for it.