The Bay Area’s love affair with ice cream has a long history. In 1928, an enterprising soul invented the It’s It ice cream sandwich and sold it at San Francisco’s Playland-at-the-Beach, and it soon became a Bay Area icon. Swensen's and Mitchell’s ice cream parlors have battled it out for ice cream parlor dominance since the 1950’s, with each attracting a loyal following. And now, there’s ice cream of every style and flavor available, whether you’re craving a simple scoop of ube, or a creamy cup of salted caramel created with liquid nitrogen.
The Bay Area also happens to be the birthplace of another frozen treat: the Popsicle. In 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson mixed some sugary soda powder with water and left the mixture out overnight. (Epperson’s location is debated: some sources, include his Associated Press obituary say he grew up in San Francisco, but others say he lived in Oakland). It was a cold night, and the mixture froze. In the morning, Epperson devoured the icy concoction, licking it off the wooden stirrer. He declared it an Epsicle, a portmanteau of icicle and his name, and started selling the treat around his neighborhood.
![A 1917 ad for Alameda's Neptune Beach Source: Alamedainfo.com](http://ww2.kqed.org/bayareabites/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2015/07/edited3-800x450.jpg)
In 1923, Epperson decided to expand sales beyond his neighborhood. He started selling the treat at Neptune Beach, an amusement park on the coast of Alameda. Dubbed a “West Coast Coney Island,” the park featured roller coasters, baseball, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Neptune flourished in the pre-Depression days, and consumers eagerly consumed epsicles and snow cones (which also made their debut at Neptune).
Buoyed by this success, Epperson applied for a patent for his “frozen confection of attractive appearance, which can be conveniently consumed without contamination by contact with the hand and without the need for a plate, spoon, fork or other implement” at the Oakland courthouse in 1924. The patent illustrates the requirements for a perfect ice pop, including recommendations on the best wood for the stick: wood-bass, birch, and poplar. Eventually, Epperson’s children urged him to change the ice pop’s name to what they called it: a Pop’s ‘Sicle, or popsicle.
![The patent Frank Epperson filed in 1924 for his "Frozen confectionery" Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office](http://ww2.kqed.org/bayareabites/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2015/07/edited-800x1176.jpg)
Epperson’s charming yet unverifiable origin story has since become a quaint urban legend, but it didn’t have a happy ending for the inventor. A broke Epperson sold the rights to his creation to the Joe Lowe Company in 1929, much to his regret: "I was flat and had to liquidate all my assets," he later said. "I haven't been the same since."