Brick Farm - First Ice Cream Cone

2004 marked the 100th anniversary of two very special inventions in the history of ice cream: the banana split and the ice cream cone.

The First Ice Cream Cone

At the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair (also called the Louisiana Purchase Exposition), Charles Menches, an ice cream vendor ran out of dishes on a hot, busy day. Ernest Hamwi, was nearby selling a Syrian treat called zalabia - a crisp, wafer-like pastry. Hamwi, an immigrant who had been a sailor, wrapped a warm pastry around a conical-shaped sailor's tool used for mending rope, and offered it as a dish substitute. It became known as the World's Fair Cornucopia. Later, Hamwi helped develop the Cornucopia Waffle Company, and then started the Missouri Cone Company in 1910.

Note: even this tale is not without controversy. Some historians name the ice cream vendor as Arnold Fornachou and/or Abe Doumar, a souvenir vendor, as the one who suggested the technique to Hamwi. And then there is the 1903 patent granted to Italo Marchiony for his mold to bake an edible ice cream dish - similar to those dishes known as "penny licks" used by ice cream street vendors.

Ice Cream Trivia: The United States produces more ice cream than any other country; about 13 quarts a year per capita.