Ice-Cream Cone

One of the most popular American snacks, it is generally believed the ice-cream cone was initially popularized at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition. At that time, Ernest Hamwi, a Syrian waffle vendor, created the "World's Fair Cornucopia" by taking portions of ice cream being dispensed by a fellow vendor who had run out of dishes and serving them up inside waffles that were folded into a cone-like shape. However, other sources, including the Library of Congress, claim that the ice-cream cone was invented on July 23, 1904, by Charles E. Menches of St. Louis and that it did not make its debut as a "walk-away" treat until later that year, at the St. Louis Exposition. A year earlier, a patent for a cone maker had been granted to Italo Marchiony (1868–1954), a New York pushcart vendor, who claimed to have been serving ice-cream cones (paper and later pastry) since 1896. But it was Hamwi who apparently popularized the concept through his Cornucopia Waffle Company and, later, his Missouri Cone Company.

Since the early 1900s, billions of this confectionery treat have been enjoyed all over the world. (They are known as "cornets" in the United Kingdom.) During the 1920s and 1930s, consumers enjoyed cones in a variety of shapes, including skyscrapers (see entry under 1930s—The Way We Lived in volume 2) and battleships. Since the 1940s, two kinds of cones have emerged as standards: "sugar" cones, which can be flat-bottomed or pointy, and "waffle" cones made from a large folded wafer. In recent years, hand-baked and hand-rolled waffle cones, often in a variety of flavors like chocolate, oat bran, or honey, have become popular. Environmentalists like the concept because the package and the product are consumed together, leaving no waste or litter behind.

—Edward Moran

For More Information

Damerov, Gail. Ice Cream! The Whole Scoop. Lakewood, CO: Glenbridge Publishing, Ltd., 1995.

Dickson, Paul. The Great American Ice Cream Book. New York: Atheneum, 1972.

Funderburg, Anne. Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry: A History of American Ice Cream. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1995.

Gustaitis, John. "Who Invented the Ice Cream Cone?" American History Illustrated (Vol. 23, 1988): pp. 42-44.

"Ice Cream Cone." http://www.fspronet.com/archive/iccone.html (accessed January 4, 2002).

Library of Congress. "The Invention of the Ice Cream Cone." America's Story from America's Library.http://www.americaslibrary.gov/pages/jb_0723_icecream_1.html (accessed January 4, 2002).