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History of the Ice Cream Cone
While the United States Government, Missouri Government, and National Geographic all recognize Missouri, specifically, the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, as the birthplace of the ice cream cone, the exact history and origin of the ice cream cone are still sometimes the subject of debate. But we do know that the ice cream cone made its world debut and was popularized at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair in Forest Park. The ice cream cone unquestionably has a long history that spans several continents. We also know that it probably wasn’t an overnight invention. Rather it was most likely the result of multiple inventions and improvements. As early as the mid-to-late 1800’s ice cream was being served in metal and paper cones as well as the popular penny lick glasses. At the turn of the century it was even being served in edible bowl shaped biscuits in England.
In December of 1903, nine months before the opening of the 1904 World’s Fair, a New Yorker named Italo Marchioni received U.S. patent No. 746971 for a mold used for making edible pastry cups to hold shaved lemon ice. However, most do not recognize this as the official invention of the ice cream cone as we know it today. Marchioni’s invention was not a waffle type cone, nor was it even cone shaped. It was bowl shaped, after the penny lick glasses commonly used in the sale of ice cream by street vendors in New York City. Click here to see a picture of an antique penny lick glasses.
The International Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers (IAICM), credits pastry maker, Ernest Hamwi along with Arnold Fornachon or Charles Menches for the invention of the ice cream cone as we know it today. Hamwi, a Syrian pastry maker, was selling zalabia, a crisp pastry cooked in a hot waffle-patterned press came to the aid of a neighboring ice cream vendor, most likely Arnold Fornachon, who had run out of dishes. The warm zalabia was rolled into a cone that could hold ice cream. Hamwi supported his claim by the fact that he had been a sailor, and his early ice cream cones were supposedly shaped around a cone shaped sailor's tool, which he claimed to have had with him at the fair.
There were, however, over 50 ice cream vendors and a dozen waffle stands at the fair. Other vendors, such as Nick Kabbaz, Abe Doumar, and David Avayou claimed to have been the true inventors of the ice cream cone as well. So it is very likely that there were several vendors selling similar versions of the ice cream cone. However, they made their claims some years after the publication of Hamwi’s letter written to the Ice Cream Trade Journal in 1928 in which gave his account of the world's fair events. Years later Marchioni even challenged Hamwi and the other cone manufacturers in federal court for patent infringements, but he lost the lawsuits because the courts felt that his pastry cups were not similar enough to uphold his claim. Regardless of who the actual inventor may have been, most historians will agree that the modern day edible waffle cone made its world debut and was popularized at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.
Even after the fair, Missouri continued to play a significant role in the history of the ice cream cone. Stephen Sullivan of Sullivan, Missouri, was actually one of the first known independent operators in the ice cream cone business. In 1906, Sullivan served ice cream cones (or cornucopias, as they were called until 1909) at the Modern Woodmen of America Frisco Log Rolling in Sullivan, Missouri. At the same time, Hamwi was busy with the Cornucopia Waffle Company. In 1910, he founded the Missouri Cone Company, later known as the Western Cone Company.
Missouri continues, even today, to play a leading role in ice cream research and development. The University of Missouri Columbia's Agricultural School is one of just a few universities in North America offering coursework and research in ice cream production, and among them, they are considered one of the best. Robert Marshall, scientist, author, professor and Missouri resident has led the way in the technological development of modern ice cream production. For more information on the ice cream research and development facilities at the University of Missouri Columbia's Agricultural School, click here.
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