The story is often told that, during the sweltering days of the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, an ice cream vendor ran out of bowls for his customers. His problem was solved by Earnest Hamwi, a Syrian vendor of waffle-like cookies who rolled one of his confections into a cone, forming the perfect, edible holder for a scoop of ice cream. But while Hamwi’s name is remembered as the ice cream cone’s inventor, plenty of other vendors at the Fair also claimed the idea was theirs. The treat was such an instant sensation that it spread like an avalanche from booth to booth, making it impossible to be sure who came first. Unless, of course, you discredit them all by acknowledging that waffle cone recipes could already be found in French cookbooks for at least 80 before that.”
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