1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: The Day in History Class is production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:12,079 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to this Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: show for those interested in the big and small moments 4 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: of history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, we're 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 1: telling the story behind the world's first chocolate coated ice 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: cream bar. The day was January two. Danish immigrant Christian K. 7 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: Nelson received a patent for a frozen treat known as 8 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: the Eskimo Pie. The patent itself was a mere page 9 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 1: and a half of text, and while it didn't mention 10 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: the product's name that was trademarked separately, it did give 11 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: a comically dense description of chocolate coated ice cream. What 12 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: Nelson had invented the according to the patent, was quote 13 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: a core consisting of a block or brick of ice 14 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: cream of general rectangular configuration, sealed within a shell of 15 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: edible material. Mm hmm. Nelson had put a good deal 16 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: of work into perfecting the formula for a chocolate coating 17 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: that would harden at a lower temperature. He hoped his 18 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: patent would protect that hard work and allow him to 19 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: profit from what it proved to be a winning idea. 20 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: But in the end, the Eskimo Pie patent wound up 21 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: having the opposite effect, embroiling Nelson and drawn out lawsuits 22 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: and eventually bankrupting his company. Christian Kent Nelson was born 23 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: on March twelfth, eighteen ninety three, in Denmark. When he 24 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: was still an infant, his dairy farming family emigrated to 25 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: the United States. They moved around from Illinois to Wisconsin, 26 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: and finally to Iowa, settling in the town of Onnawa 27 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen o three. As an adult, Nelson earned a 28 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: teacher's certivocate from the University of Nebraska, but then put 29 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: his career on hold to serve in the army during 30 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 1: World War One. When the fighting ended, he returned to 31 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: Hanawa and got a job as a high school teacher. 32 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: A little later, he opened a small confectionery shop near 33 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: the school, selling ice cream and candy to many of 34 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: his own students. While working the counter, one day in 35 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: Nelson had an interaction with a customer that would change 36 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:29,519 Speaker 1: his life forever. A young boy was having trouble deciding 37 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: between a chocolate bar and an ice cream cone, and 38 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: when Nelson suggested he by both, the boy replied, sure, 39 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:38,799 Speaker 1: I know, I want him both, but I only got 40 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: a Nickel. The Boy's Dilemma gave Nelson the idea to 41 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: combine the two popular products into one affordable treat. The 42 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: experiment proved surprisingly tricky, though, as Nelson couldn't get the 43 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,839 Speaker 1: melted chocolate to stick to the frozen ice cream bar. 44 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,079 Speaker 1: After several weeks of tinkering, Nelson solved the problem by 45 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: adding cocoa butter to the chocolate, which made it here 46 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: perfectly to the vanilla ice cream. Right away, Nelson cranked 47 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: out five hundred ice cream bricks coated with this specially 48 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: formulated chocolate. He called them ice scream bars, a play 49 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: on the famous rhyme ice cream. You scream, we all 50 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 1: scream for ice cream. The foil wrapped bars made quite 51 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: an impression at the local fireman's picnic, so Nelson began 52 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: looking for companies that could mass produce his product and 53 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:31,639 Speaker 1: sell it nationwide. In nelson search took him to Omaha, 54 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: where he met an ice cream plant superintendent named Russell Stover. 55 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: The two hit it off immediately, so much so that 56 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: they signed a business contract on the very same day 57 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: they first met. The simple handwritten agreement stated the men 58 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: would be partners and that they would quote coat ice 59 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: cream with chocolate and divide the profits equally. The plan 60 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: was to sell the manufacturing rights to local ice cream 61 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: companies for a fee of between five hundred and one 62 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: thousand dollars, plus a royalty for every bar sold. There 63 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: was one problem, though Stouffer hated the name ice cream. 64 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: He thought it was far too menacing for a frozen dessert, 65 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: So he wrote out a long list of cold themed 66 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,039 Speaker 1: words and had guests at a dinner party vote on 67 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: the combinations they like the best. By the end of 68 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: the evening, Eskimo Pie was the clear favorite, a contribution 69 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: from Stover's wife, Clara. The new name was meant to 70 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: evoke the frigid region of Alaska and the Indigenous people 71 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: who lived there, but the imagery used in the advertising 72 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: and the name itself were rooted in racist stereotypes. The 73 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: word eskimo was a catch all term used by European 74 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: colonists to refer to Inuit you pick and Alluit people's. 75 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: Today many consider it antiquated or downright offensive, but back 76 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,919 Speaker 1: in the nineteen twenties, few people questioned the terms usage, 77 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: even in marketing. In fact, the first ad campaign to 78 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: was the Eskimo Pie name was a breakout success. Nelson 79 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 1: and Stover sold two hundred and fifty thousand units in 80 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: the first twenty four hours, and by spring of ninety 81 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: two they were selling a million bars per day. The 82 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: Eskimo Pie company was riding high, but it wasn't long 83 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: before Nelson's own patent started to get in the way. 84 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: The problem was the breadth of the patent. It was 85 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: written so vaguely that it could have applied to any 86 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: kind of frozen material layered onto ice cream. Nelson's real breakthrough, 87 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: the idea he should have protected, was the formula for 88 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: the special chocolate coating he'd invented, the one that works 89 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: with ice cream. The actual patent didn't mention it at all, though, 90 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: Instead it outlined the basic concept of candy coated ice 91 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:53,359 Speaker 1: cream bars, essentially claiming rights to the entire category. That 92 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: was clearly the company's intention, too, because on the day 93 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,359 Speaker 1: the Eskimo Pie patent was issued, an internal memo was 94 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: sent that described it as quote a broad and basic 95 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: patent covering not only the chocolate covered ice cream bar, 96 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:12,479 Speaker 1: but almost every conceivable variation of it. Nelson and his 97 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: company were trying to claim ownership of products they hadn't invented. 98 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,799 Speaker 1: The Eskimo Pie may have been the first chocolate covered 99 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 1: ice cream bar on the market, but Nelson didn't invent 100 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: the idea of surrounding ice cream with frozen candy. For example, 101 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: soft serve ice cream cones had been dipped in chocolate 102 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 1: for years by that point. Nelson's contribution was the recipe 103 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: and process that allowed such a treat to be packaged 104 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 1: and sold on mass, but again, that's not what he patented. Nonetheless, 105 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 1: when competitors rushed their own coated ice cream bars to market, 106 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: Nelson responded with lawsuits. They were rarely settled quickly and 107 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: even less often in the company's favor, and so faced 108 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: with the growing legal costs of defending such a broad patent, 109 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,599 Speaker 1: Russell Stover decided to cut and run. He sold his 110 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: shares of the company in ninety three and used the 111 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: money to start the famous candy company that still bears 112 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: his name today. One year later, Nelson sold the Eskimo 113 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: Pie Company to the firm that made its rappers, the 114 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: US Foil Corporation, which later became the Reynolds Medals Company. 115 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: For the first few years after the buyout, US Foil 116 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: carried on suing competitors for violating its patent, but that 117 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: finally came to an end in ninety eight when the 118 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: patent was officially declared invalid. The rights to the Eskimo 119 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: Pie continued to change hands throughout the twentieth century and 120 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: into the twenty one, eventually landing under the purview of 121 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: Dryers in two thousand seven. Thirteen years later, the company 122 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: announced it would finally retire the product's divisive name, rebranding 123 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: the Eskimo Pie as the Edies Pie, a tribute to 124 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: candymaker Joseph Dye, the co founder of Dryers. It's not 125 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: the most appetizing name for an ice cream bar, but 126 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: it's still an improvement over what basically amounted to a slur. 127 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 1: I'll admit, though, that naming it after Dy seems like 128 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: a bit of a slap in the face to Nelson, 129 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: the man who invented the product, but considering the stunt 130 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: he tried to pull with his patent, maybe he had 131 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: it coming. I'm Gay Bluesier and hopefully you now know 132 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: a little more about ice cream history today than you 133 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up with the show, 134 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 135 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: t d i HC Show, and if you have any 136 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my way 137 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: at This Day at iHeart media dot com. Thanks to 138 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks to you 139 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow for 140 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 1: another Day in History class. The Intended, the Bed, and 141 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: into the Future.