100th Birthday of the Ice Cream Cone

Woodside Farm Creamery celebrated the 100th Birthday of the Ice Cream Cone with a celebration at Woodside Farm. The picnic tables were decorated and there were games and face painting under the tents.

History of the Ice Cream Cone

Ice cream cones are believed to have existed in the late 1800s but it wasn't until 1904 at the St. Louis World's Fair (also known as the St. Louis' Exposition or the Louisiana Purchase Exposition) that the ice cream cone had an immediate rise in popularity. The International Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers (IAICM) believes that the first widespread acceptance of the ice cream cone occurred at the Fair. Thus 1904 is generally considered the "official" birth year of the ice cream cone.

During the Fair a Syrian immigrant named Ernest A. Hamwi decided to try something different to help out a teenage ice cream vendor he was next to who was having problems selling his product. Ernest was a pastry vendor at the Fair and sold "Zalabia" (click on the name for a recipe) which was a crisp, sugar-coated, warm waffle which he made over an open fire using a waffle iron. Taking a Zalabia while it was still warm and soft, he rolled it into a cone shape and let it cool. Once cool the cone was handed to his next-door neighbor, Arnold Fomachou, at the Fair who was selling ice cream. The cone was scooped full of ice cream and given the name World's Fair Cornucopia. It was an immediate success. By the time the Fair had ended, ice cream vendors had started to seek out pastry suppliers to collaborate on making the ideal Ice Cream Cornucopia. The ice cream cone had caught on and the idea traveled home with Fair-goers to all parts of the globe. After the fair, Hamwi sold his waffle oven to J. P. Heckle and helped him develop and open the Cornucopia Waffle Company. Ernest traveled for Cornucopia introducing the new way of eating ice cream. In 1910, Hamwi opened the Missouri Cone Company.

The cones served at Woodside Farm Creamery are from Joy Cone Company of Hermitage, PA. Joy is a leading manufacturer of ice cream cones. The American Culinary Institute judging panel of professional Chefs has awarded Joy Cone Company its 2003-2004 Best Taste Award for best tasting ice cream cones. Joy Cones received the highest product rating of all national brands. For more information about Joy Cones please visit their web site at www.joycone.com. Similar to Woodside Farm Creamery, the Joy Cone Company is an independent family-owned and operated business and has practiced the art of cone baking for over 85 years.

You will note that the cones offered by Woodside Farm Creamery are known as "jacketed cones". Jacketed cones are wrapped at the Joy factory in food-grade paper. While more expensive, the jacketed cone's wrapping provides increased sanitation and cleanliness for the cone and farm fresh ice cream it contains.

No celebration would be complete without a cake!

In addition to a cone-tossing contest a "Pin the Cherry on the Sundae" contest was held.

Kids spun the wheel to select a category of question that they had to answer to win a prize.

A birthday card contest was held for various age groups. Superior Court of Delaware Judge Calvin Scott and Woodside Farm Artist Debbie Mitchell officiated.