Ice-cream cones, the ingenious invention of American immigrants
- Ice cream was once rare and expensive, but it became more widely available in the 1800s as refrigeration improved.
- Early street vendors used “penny licks,” but the reusable glasses raised concerns about broken glass and disease.
- In 1902, Antonio Valvona received a U.S. patent for a metal mold that formed edible waffle-like cups, and Italo Marchiony received a similar patent the next year.
- The 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair helped make the ice-cream cone popular, and one account credits Syrian immigrant Ernest Hamwi with rolling pastries into cone shapes when a vendor ran out of cups.
- By 1910, the term “cornucopia” had been shortened to “cone,” and cone-making later became mechanized.
- The article notes that U.S. ice cream consumption has fallen over time, from 17.8 pounds per person in 1984 to 12 pounds in 2024.
Ice cream was once an expensive luxury because storing ice was difficult. As refrigeration improved in the 1800s, it became more common, but vendors still needed a convenient way to serve it to customers.
One early solution was the “penny lick,” a scoop served in a small glass that customers licked clean and returned. The practice created sanitation concerns, and some cities, including London, later banned it.
The article says several immigrants helped shape the modern ice-cream cone. Antonio Valvona and Italo Marchiony each received patents for devices related to edible cups, while the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair helped popularize the familiar cone shape. One account credits Ernest Hamwi, a Syrian immigrant, with rolling pastries into cones when an ice cream vendor ran out of cups.
By the early 1900s, “cone” had become the common name, and production eventually shifted from hand-rolling to machines. The piece closes by noting that Americans now eat less ice cream than they once did, even though it remains a familiar summer treat.
冰淇淋蛋筒：由美国移民带来的巧妙发明
由于储冰困难，冰淇淋曾长期属于昂贵的奢侈品。19世纪冷藏技术进步后，冰淇淋变得更普及，但摊贩仍需要一种方便的售卖方式。
早期一种办法是“penny licks”，即把冰淇淋盛在小玻璃杯里，顾客舔完后再把杯子还回去。这种做法引发了卫生担忧，后来包括伦敦在内的一些城市予以禁止。
报道指出，多位移民推动了现代蛋筒的形成。Antonio Valvona和Italo Marchiony分别获得了与可食用杯相关的专利，而1904年圣路易斯世博会则帮助这种熟悉的蛋筒外形流行起来。文中还提到一种说法：叙利亚移民Ernest Hamwi在一名冰淇淋摊贩用完纸杯后，把糕点卷成了锥形。
到20世纪初，“cone”已成为通用叫法，之后生产也从手工卷制转向机械化。文章最后提到，尽管冰淇淋仍是常见的夏日食品，但美国人的冰淇淋消费量已经比过去下降了。