Invention Convention: A Sweet Treat for the end of Summer!

        As the summer days get hotter and hotter, it is important to find ways to stay cool, whether that is by cranking up the air conditioning, spending the day in the pool, or just having a nice cold popsicle.

        What you may not realize, however, is that people have been doing the same thing for a century! Not only was the first modern air conditioner developed and patented by Willis Haviland Carrier in 1901, but the popsicle was also (accidentally) invented in 1905 by a boy named Frank Epperson when he was only 11 years old!

        One cold night in 1905, Epperson accidentally left a soft drink concoction made of flavored soda water powder and water out on his porch with the stirring stick still in it.  By the morning, the stick was frozen fast into the substance.  At this point, however, Epperson did little with this accidental invention other than have a good laugh with his friends, but 18 years later, he began to turn this accident into a fortune.  He applied for a patent for his “frozen ice on a stick” in 1923, deciding to name the invention the “Eppsicle” ice pop.

        Epperson began producing the frozen novelty in a variety of flavors and they quickly became very popular, especially with his young children!  It was his children that helped change this treat into what we know it as today, for they were the ones who first called the Eppsicle the “Popsicle.”  Epperson liked this name, so he officially changed it in 1925 before he sold his rights to the Popsicle to the Joe Lowe Company in New York.  The Popsicle was a great success then and is still the perfect summer treat over a hundred years later. Too bad they no longer cost the original selling price of just a nickel each!

Next time you find yourself enjoying a Popsicle, now you know you have the mistake of an 11-year-old boy to thank!