On this day in 1904, the humble ice cream cone may have been born—or at least gained its popularity—at the St. Louis World’s Fair, officially known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. One of the most well-known names tied to this tasty invention is Charles Menches, a concessionaire who, like many others, was selling sweet treats at the fair that summer.
While Menches is among several people who claim to have invented the cone, what they all have in common is that they were creating or serving confections during that landmark event. The fair is widely credited with launching the cone into the mainstream of American culture.
But the idea of an edible container for food goes back much further. Rolled wafers and hard-baked cones can be traced all the way to Ancient Greece and Rome. French cookbooks from as early as 1825 mention cone-shaped pastries served with desserts—suggesting that France might be the true birthplace of the ice cream cone.
In America, ice cream itself had long been a popular indulgence—even during the colonial era. Founding Fathers like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson all enjoyed and served ice cream. In fact, records show that Washington spent nearly $200 on it during the summer of 1790!
By the early 1900s, the concept of edible containers for ice cream was gaining traction. Two Italian inventors had patented molds for edible ice cream cups by 1902 and 1903. The signature cone shape may have arrived thanks to a fateful moment at the St. Louis Fair, where, according to one popular story, a Syrian vendor stepped in to help an ice cream seller who had run out of serving cups. He rolled a waffle cookie into a cone and handed it over. In 2008, the state of Missouri officially declared the ice cream cone its official state dessert—cementing its origin story in the heartland of America.
Today, Joy Cone Company is the largest producer in the U.S., churning out over 2 billion cones a year—including cake, sugar, waffle cones, and waffle bowls.
And the cone’s legacy continues to grow in unexpected ways. In 2015, Norway broke the Guinness World Record for the tallest ice cream cone—a towering 10 feet of sweet, frozen delight. Just this past week, Istanbul set a new record with 132 scoops of ice cream balanced in a single cone.