Learn How Todays Waffle Cone Got It's Start

Learn How The Waffle Cone
We Enjoy Today Got It's Start

By MGTG Publishing

May 18th 2008 10:21AM

Once again we are coming upon the month of July and National Ice Cream Month started by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, claiming the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day.

To commemorate this years National Ice Cream Month I would like to bring to mind the latest history on the much debated Ice Cream Cone. I’ll bet you didn’t realize that yes there is new history to be told on the widely popular ice cream cone.

We all know about the never ending debate on when, where, and who invented the ice cream cone. Was it in the late 1800s, the 1904 World’s Fair, or earlier in Europe? The debate may or may not ever get resolved, but one thing is for sure. The popularity of the freshly made ice cream cone ended quickly with the on-set of manufacturers that sprung up to deliver the ever popular boxed sugar and wafer cones.

So, what ever happened to that wonderful invention? You know, the hand made ice cream cone, freshly baked, still warm, right off the waffle iron. The one filled with its delicious, ice cold, creamy concoction within minutes of it being made?

Well, it has been approximately 80 years since the World’s Fair that started it all, before the hand made ice cream cone we enjoy today would make its return to the American palate. Who was it that brought the freshly made ice cream cone back to America? Was it a man or a woman? An American or a Foreigner?

The person responsible for Americans enjoying the freshly made ice cream cones in their local ice cream establishments is a gentleman from Holte, Denmark; named Jorn Caroe. Jorn came to America with the Jorn Caroe Trading Company and opened The Great Danish Cone Company in Solvang, California.

In Solvang (a tourist town with all things Danish, just north of Santa Barbara) Jorn opened his shop in the early 1980s. He placed one of his cone machines in the window of the shop, fired it up and began immediately creating a line out the door, as customers, lead to his shop literally by their noses, couldn’t wait to taste this hand made delight.

With noses pressed against the glass of his shop, watching each cone being made, a new industry was being created. The return of the 1904 World’s Fair Ice Cream Cone and what we know today as the freshly made waffle cone in ice cream stores everywhere.

Today, even though most people only see the electric version, which put Jorn’s original ice cream cone maker and him out of business. The one thing they weren’t able to do was take away his title of: “The Man Who Reintroduced The World To The Hand Made Ice Cream Cone”.

And this time, since the pre-made ice cream cones out of a box are already here, I believe the freshly made ice cream cone will stick around for a long time to come. After all, its already been over 20 years since Jorn first re-introduced the ice cream cone.

Included in this article is a picture of one of Jorn’s Cone Machines. When I purchased one, I sat down with Jorn and his Vice President Benny Asbjerg for an ice cold Danish beer. I asked him about the cone machine and where the idea came from. It seems his father had the cone machine in use in Denmark before World War II. When the war over ran Europe, his father placed it in the cellar where Jorn discovered it decades later and decided to manufacture the cone maker through The Jorn Caroe Trading Company.

It was a nice try for Jorn. After a couple of years the major appliance companies began making the electric model ice cream cone machines you now see in ice cream shops everywhere. The price was cut to nearly a tenth of what Jorn’s cone maker cost.

Although Jorn’s cone maker was definitely a show piece and entertainment in itself for those who never saw an old world ice cream cone baker in action, Jorn’s fortune in America was not to be. A few years after getting started, Jorn suffered a couple of heart attacks and returned to Denmark.

All that is left are the few cone machines you might find in the windows of America’s Only Real Cone Bakeries and the legacy of the man who made bellies smile again, just like at the 1904 World’s Fair when the ice cream cone was first introduced to the world.

The Original Great Danish Cone Company still exists, across the street from the Old Mission the Spanish built when they made their way across California. Visit Solvang the next time you travel in California and be sure to stop and see the ice cream store that showed Americans just how good an ice cream cone can really taste.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ice cream cone expert and inventor of the original gourmet cookie cone Eric R. Nielsen wants everyone to enjoy making handmade ice cream cones at home. Learn how to bake cones at home like a pro and wow your friends and family.

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This Article Is Brought To You By MGTG Publishing Copyright © 2006. All rights reserved. This document may be copied in full only if it includes the author's name and a link back to http://www.icecreamjunkies.com/.