Eskimo Pie
Encyclopedia
Eskimo Pie is a brand name for a chocolate
-covered vanilla ice cream bar
wrapped in foil, the first such dessert sold in the United States
. It is now marketed by Nestlé
, owners of Dreyer's
of the Western United States
, and Edy's of the Eastern United States
. The product was introduced to New Zealand
in 1955, and are produced by Tip Top
who are now a subsidiary of Fonterra
, the country's largest multinational
company.
immigrant Christian Kent Nelson, a schoolteacher and candy store owner, claimed to have received the inspiration for the Eskimo Pie in 1920 in Onawa, Iowa
, when a boy in his store was unable to decide whether to spend his money on ice cream or a chocolate bar. After experimenting with different ways to adhere melted chocolate to bricks of ice cream, Nelson began selling his invention under the name "I-Scream Bars." In 1921, he filed for a patent, and secured an agreement with local chocolate producer Russell C. Stover to mass-produce them under the new trademarked name "Eskimo Pie" (a name suggested by Mrs. Stover), and to create the Eskimo Pie Corporation. After patent 1,404,539 was issued on January 24, 1922, Nelson franchised the product, allowing ice cream manufacturers to produce them under that name. The patent, which applied to any type of frozen material covered with candy, was invalidated in 1929.
One of the earliest advertisements for Eskimo Pies appeared in the November 3, 1921 issue of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.
Stover sold his share of the business. He then formed the well-known chocolate manufacturer Russell Stover Candies
. Nelson became independently wealthy off the royalties from the sale of Eskimo Pies.
Nelson then sold his share of the business to the United States Foil Company, which made the Eskimo Pie wrappers. He retired at a young age, but reportedly out of boredom rejoined what was then called Reynolds Metals Company (now part of Alcoa
) in 1935, inventing new methods of manufacturing and shipping Eskimo Pies and serving as an executive until his ultimate retirement in 1961.
In 1992, Nelson died at the age of 99. In that same year, Eskimo Pie Corporation was spun off from Reynolds in an initial public offering
, as an alternative to an acquisition that Nestlé
had proposed in 1991.
Eskimo Pie brand confectionery
was sold by CoolBrands
International, a Canadian company that acquired Eskimo Pie Corporation in 2000. On January 24, 2007, CoolBrands announced the sale of its Eskimo Pie and Chipwich brands to Dreyer's
Grand Ice Cream, an indirect subsidiary of Nestlé
.
tourist from Canada
alleged that the use of 'Eskimo' was racially insulting. The allegation was not positively received in New Zealand and both the manufacturer and Cadbury Pascall
, who produce the similarly named Eskimo marshmallow sweets, commented there were no plans to either rename the products or cease production.
's song Ag Pleez Deddy
which was a massively popular hit in the 1960s. George Jones
also wrote and recorded a song called "Eskimo Pie" in 1957.
In French
, Russian
and Ukrainian
the word "Eskimo" (Эскимо/Ескімо) is used as a general name (not a trademark) for any chocolate-covered ice-cream with a wooden stick to handle it.
The seminal Australian punk band Radio Birdman
have a song called "I-94" on the EP
Burn My Eye
which contains the lyric "Eskimo Pies comin' to you, Yeah burning to you straight from hell".
The Canadian band Simple Plan
has a hidden song titled "My Christmas List" on their album No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls
, in which the first half of the song contains the line "I want a lifetime supply of skittles and slurpies and eskimo pies".
In the movie "Post-grad" "Eskimo Pie"s feature as an ongoing motif, which is used as a symbol of friendship and a platonic relationship.
In the episode "Santa Ana Street Fight" of the show Storage Wars
, Darrell finds an Eskimo Pie jar worth about $3000.
In Alice Cooper
's song Cold Ethyl, from his album Welcome to my Nightmare
, he compares "Cold Ethyl", a deceased woman with which he is having intercourse, to an eskimo pie, since she is so frigid, having died a while ago.
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
-covered vanilla ice cream bar
Ice cream bar
An ice cream bar is a frozen dessert on a stick or a candy bar that has ice cream in it. The coating is usually a thin layer of chocolate used to prevent the melting and dripping of ice cream.-History:...
wrapped in foil, the first such dessert sold in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is now marketed by Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
, owners of Dreyer's
Dreyer's
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Nestlé, is a United States-based producer of ice cream and frozen yogurt had originated in 1928 as Edy's Grand Ice Cream, a Northern California business under a partnership of Joseph Edy and William Dreyer. In 1947 the partnership dissolved....
of the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
, and Edy's of the Eastern United States
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
. The product was introduced to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1955, and are produced by Tip Top
Tip Top (icecream)
Fonterra Brands Ltd or commonly known simply as Tip Top ice cream, is a subsidiary of the Fonterra Co-operative Group based in Auckland, New Zealand.-History:...
who are now a subsidiary of Fonterra
Fonterra
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational dairy co-operative owned by almost 10,500 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ$19.87 billion, is New Zealand's largest company.- History :In...
, the country's largest multinational
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
company.
History
DanishDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
immigrant Christian Kent Nelson, a schoolteacher and candy store owner, claimed to have received the inspiration for the Eskimo Pie in 1920 in Onawa, Iowa
Onawa, Iowa
Onawa is a city in Monona County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,091 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Monona County. It is the largest town on the Iowa side of the Missouri River between Council Bluffs and Sioux City....
, when a boy in his store was unable to decide whether to spend his money on ice cream or a chocolate bar. After experimenting with different ways to adhere melted chocolate to bricks of ice cream, Nelson began selling his invention under the name "I-Scream Bars." In 1921, he filed for a patent, and secured an agreement with local chocolate producer Russell C. Stover to mass-produce them under the new trademarked name "Eskimo Pie" (a name suggested by Mrs. Stover), and to create the Eskimo Pie Corporation. After patent 1,404,539 was issued on January 24, 1922, Nelson franchised the product, allowing ice cream manufacturers to produce them under that name. The patent, which applied to any type of frozen material covered with candy, was invalidated in 1929.
One of the earliest advertisements for Eskimo Pies appeared in the November 3, 1921 issue of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.
Russell Stover Candies
Russell Stover Candies, Inc. is a supplier of candy, chocolate, and confections in the United States. They are headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.- Ice cream years :...
. Nelson became independently wealthy off the royalties from the sale of Eskimo Pies.
Nelson then sold his share of the business to the United States Foil Company, which made the Eskimo Pie wrappers. He retired at a young age, but reportedly out of boredom rejoined what was then called Reynolds Metals Company (now part of Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
) in 1935, inventing new methods of manufacturing and shipping Eskimo Pies and serving as an executive until his ultimate retirement in 1961.
In 1992, Nelson died at the age of 99. In that same year, Eskimo Pie Corporation was spun off from Reynolds in an initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
, as an alternative to an acquisition that Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
had proposed in 1991.
Eskimo Pie brand confectionery
Confectionery
Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...
was sold by CoolBrands
CoolBrands
Swisher Hygiene Inc. is a company based in Markham, Ontario, Canada.-CoolBrands International:The company originally named CoolBrands International Inc., and it core business was frozen desserts that it sold under a variety of brands...
International, a Canadian company that acquired Eskimo Pie Corporation in 2000. On January 24, 2007, CoolBrands announced the sale of its Eskimo Pie and Chipwich brands to Dreyer's
Dreyer's
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Nestlé, is a United States-based producer of ice cream and frozen yogurt had originated in 1928 as Edy's Grand Ice Cream, a Northern California business under a partnership of Joseph Edy and William Dreyer. In 1947 the partnership dissolved....
Grand Ice Cream, an indirect subsidiary of Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
.
Racial controversy
News headlines were made in New Zealand after a female InukInuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
tourist from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
alleged that the use of 'Eskimo' was racially insulting. The allegation was not positively received in New Zealand and both the manufacturer and Cadbury Pascall
Pascall (company)
Pascall is an Australian and New Zealand confectionery brand owned by Cadbury, which is now owned by Kraft Foods. The company is known for making Clinkers and Pineapple Lumps.-History:...
, who produce the similarly named Eskimo marshmallow sweets, commented there were no plans to either rename the products or cease production.
In popular culture
"Eskimo pie" was featured in the chorus of Jeremy Taylor (singer)Jeremy Taylor (singer)
Jeremy Taylor is an English folk singer and songwriter who has spent much of his life in South Africa, originally as a teacher of English in southern Johannesburg, but since 1994 has lived in Wales and in France. Part stand-up comedian, part singer, Taylor has used his talents to confront the...
's song Ag Pleez Deddy
Ag Pleez Deddy
Ag Pleez Deddy is a classic South African song from 1961 sung by Jeremy Taylor. The song was written by Taylor's best friend, Pip, who was killed in the Rhodesian Bush War. Sung with a strong accent, it is full of references to places, brands, and entertainment popular among working-class white...
which was a massively popular hit in the 1960s. George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
also wrote and recorded a song called "Eskimo Pie" in 1957.
In French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
the word "Eskimo" (Эскимо/Ескімо) is used as a general name (not a trademark) for any chocolate-covered ice-cream with a wooden stick to handle it.
The seminal Australian punk band Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman was one of the first punk bands in Australia along with The Saints. Deniz Tek and Rob Younger formed the group in Sydney, Australia in 1974...
have a song called "I-94" on the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Burn My Eye
Burn My Eye
Burn My Eye was the debut EP recorded by Sydney punk rock band Radio Birdman, in October 1976. It was a low-budget EP recorded at Trafalgar Studios, Sydney and released on the studio's own Trafalgar label, after the band had been rejected by many other labels...
which contains the lyric "Eskimo Pies comin' to you, Yeah burning to you straight from hell".
The Canadian band Simple Plan
Simple Plan
Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
has a hidden song titled "My Christmas List" on their album No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls
No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls
No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls is the debut album by Canadian pop punk band Simple Plan. It was released on March 19, 2002 on Atlantic Records. The band released four singles from the album. In the band's native, Canada, the album peaked at No. 8 on the Canadian Albums Chart and was certified...
, in which the first half of the song contains the line "I want a lifetime supply of skittles and slurpies and eskimo pies".
In the movie "Post-grad" "Eskimo Pie"s feature as an ongoing motif, which is used as a symbol of friendship and a platonic relationship.
In the episode "Santa Ana Street Fight" of the show Storage Wars
Storage Wars
Storage Wars is a reality television series on the A&E Network that premiered in 2010. The show features auctioneers Dan Dotson and Laura Dotson, as well as auction hunters Dave Hester, Darrell Sheets, Barry Weiss, and Jarrod Schulz and Brandi Passante...
, Darrell finds an Eskimo Pie jar worth about $3000.
In Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
's song Cold Ethyl, from his album Welcome to my Nightmare
Welcome to My Nightmare
Welcome to My Nightmare is the eighth album by Alice Cooper, released in 1975. This was Alice Cooper's first solo album . The cover artwork was created by Drew Struzan for Pacific Eye & Ear. Rolling Stone would later rank it as one of the "Top 100 Album Covers Of All Time".Welcome to My Nightmare...
, he compares "Cold Ethyl", a deceased woman with which he is having intercourse, to an eskimo pie, since she is so frigid, having died a while ago.
External links
- History of the Eskimo Pie, from the Smithsonian Institution
- Neilson Dairy history
- CoolBrands press release announcing sale of Eskimo Pie to Dreyer's