Junk Food News - ICE CREAM CONES - Burgers, Pizza, Hot Dogs, Tacos, Fries, Candy, Fast Food

Forget The Cake, The Star
of This Birthday is The
Ice Cream Cone

Dairy Queen celebrates the ice cream cone's
100th anniversary, September 22, 2003, with
free ice cream cones and contributions
benefiting the Children's Miracle Network

Cake is usually the star of any birthday celebration, but this time it's the ice cream that takes center stage as the ice cream cone turns 100 years old on September 22, 2003. To celebrate, Dairy Queen will give away free 5 oz. ice cream cones on September 22.

Dairy Queen employees also will be collecting donations for Children's Miracle Network (CMN) with the goal of raising one million dollars. CMN is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children by raising funds and awareness for 170 hospitals for children throughout North America. The free 5 oz. vanilla ice cream cones will be served at participating Dairy Queen restaurants.

"The ice cream cone, like Dairy Queen, is an American icon," said Chuck Mooty, president and CEO of International Dairy Queen, Inc. "So it's a natural for Dairy Queen to take the lead in this celebration. At the same time, this great occasion allows us to make a difference in the lives of so many by raising money for Children's Miracle Network."

As Dairy Queen kicks off a yearlong celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Ice Cream Cone with free cone day, other events and promotions involving the famous "cone with the curl on top" are being planned throughout 2004.

While September 22, 2003 is recognized as the official 100th birthday of the ice cream cone, the date is not without controversy. Italo Marchiony, the legally credited inventor, immigrated to New York from Italy in the late 1800s. He began wrapping paper and making a crude form of the cone we know today. He later replaced paper with pastry and on September 22, 1903, he applied for a patent for a cone shaped mold. On December 15, 1903, it was granted under U.S. patent number 746971. Although Marchiony is credited with the invention, a similar creation was introduced at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. There, Ernest A. Hamwi, a Syrian concessionaire, provided an ice cream vendor, who ran out of dishes to serve ice cream in, with his wafer like waffle pastry called zalabis which were rolled up and filled with ice cream. This marked the beginning of the evolution of what today has become the ice cream cone.

IDQ, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., develops, licenses and services a system of more than 5,837 Dairy Queen stores in the United States, Canada and other foreign countries, offering dairy desserts, hamburgers, hot dogs and beverages. IDQ is part of the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. family, a company owned by Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. In 2001, IDQ launched a new concept called DQ Grill & Chill(TM) that blends the best of the Dairy Queen brand's heritage with the most modern innovation in quick service food and design, featuring an all new expanded menu and newly designed restaurant interiors. Visit their web site at www.DairyQueen.com