I can't tell you who invented National Cherry Popsicle Day, but I can tell you who invented the Popsicle. His name was Frank Epperson and he was just a lad of 11 years old when he stumbled upon this sweet frozen treat.
Francis William Epperson was born in 1894 and was raised in San Francisco, California. One evening, in 1905, young Frank was mixing up a concoction of soda drink powder and water, a popular drink of the time, and whether it was on purpose or by accident, Frank left the glass of sweetened liquid on the porch over night (one source suggested that Frank liked to experiment and wondered what the drink would taste like frozen). That night was unusually cold for San Francisco and when he awoke the next morning, Frank discovered his drink concoction frozen solid in the glass, with the stirring stick embedded within. He wriggled the frozen drink out, gave it a lick, and decided it was pretty good! Frank ran and showed the frozen treat to his family and friends, but soon after, it became just a memory.
Frank grew up, became a husband, a father, and a Real Estate agent, and then one day, he decided to re-invent his childhood discovery. He made up some "ice on a stick" and served them at a fireman's ball in 1922, at which they met with great approval. In 1923, eighteen years after that frigid San Francisco night, Frank applied for and was soon after granted a patent on the "Epsicle Ice Pop", a name which he eventually changed when his children began to call them "Pop's sicle's".
Sadly, Frank's invention did not meet with instant success. Production and marketing of the "Popsicle" proved to be costly and not as profitable as anticipated. Frank was forced to sell all of his assets in order for he and his family to survive. He sold the patent for the "Popsicle" to the Joe Lowe Corporation in 1925, a decision he regretted for the rest of his life.
Today, "Popsicles" are owned by Good Humor. The favorite flavor is said to be orange. I myself prefer root beer or banana, but we're not here today to talk about any other flavor but cherry, which is pretty darn yummy itself!
For the occasion, you may enjoy whipping up some nutritional, homemade cherry popsicles for your family.
Here are two recipes that sound extra yummy to me:
from Simple Bites
(with a recipe for making chocolate shell)
from Zoku Blog
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