Popsicle® is a registered trademark. I didn't realize that it played a big part in the Frozen Sucker War in the 1920s and 1930s. This was a battle between Good Humor v. Popsicle.
The origin of the Popsicle sounds so cute:
'After a long day of play Frank went inside, but left his cup of soda with the stirring stick still in it out on the porch. The night got very cold, and when Frank went outside the next morning he found his drink frozen like an icicle.
Frank called his invention the “Epsicle.” It was a hit with the kids at school, and later with his own kids who called it “Pop’s ‘sicle.” The name was catchy and the treat was delicious, so Frank patented it in 1923 to share his Popsicle® ice pops with the world! Epperson collaborated with employees of the Loew Movie Company to form the original Popsicle Company in 1923, and sold the product to concessionaires at amusement parks and beaches.
Ice cream and frozen novelties were popping up due to advances in refrigeration. Christian Nelson patented the Esimo Pie in January 1922. Good Humor started by Harry B. Burt also produced a chocolate-covered ice cream bar. The Good Humor truck was everywhere in American neighborhoods.
Good Humor sued Popsicle Corporation. It looks like Popsicle suede others. More lawsuits took place. Too many lawsuit events to list here and perhaps too many to understand it all. Defending patents was a full-time activity in the 1920s. Ice cream and fruit ices had various definitions in various states.
By October 1925, Popsicle agreed to pay Good Humor a license fee to manufacture what was called frozen suckers from ice and sherbet products. Good Humor reserved the right to manufacture these products from ice cream, frozen custard, and the like.
But the Frozen dessert war continued on into the 1930s. Popsicle put its foot into the ice milk product and that called for more law suits. The definition of sherbet became the subject of the cases. Was it water sherbet or milk sherbet? Was the shape critical? This went on and on.
Eventually, the Frozen Sucker War came to a peaceful end. Popsicle was allowed to continue manufacturing water ices in a keystone design and later developed new forms for its creation, including the familiar double-stick Popsicle. Ironically, today both the Good Humor Bar and the Popsicle are owned and manufactured by the same company, Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream.
Read the full story starting HERE.
Where did Frank end up in all of this? He died at age 89 in 1983. There seems to be nothing about him after the popsicle invention. What did he do after he sold the patent and went on to other things?
This is all that is quoted in the NY Times obituary:
In 1925, Epperson sold the rights to the Popsicle to the Joe Lowe Company of New York. "I was flat and had to liquidate all my assets," he recalled years later. "I haven't been the same since."
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