Snow cone vs. Snow balls

If you have spent time in New York City, then you have seen a snow cone cart on every corner. You have seen those huge ice blocks with the tool to scrape up the perfect snow cone, then it's topped with wonderfully flavored syrup. If you remember that, then this is just for you.


First up the Snow cone:

A snow cone is a paper cone filled with crushed ice, topped with flavored sugar syrup.



The snow cone was created by Samuel Bert of Dallas, Texas in 1919. A year later, he invented a machine that shaves ice and began to sell it across the world. He continued his business until he died in 1986, creating a staple dessert for fairs, stadiums, events and neighborhood push carts.


Next, we have the snow ball.


Similar to the Snow cone, the snow ball is shaved to a very fine snow consistency and flavored syrup is added. Usually, they included other ingredients like ice cream, nectar, and cake batter. Also they have interesting names such as the Pink Squirrel, and Robin. Snow balls are a summer-time staple in Baltimore, New Orleans, Hawaii and Texas.

 


The first documented ancestor of snowballs was made in 27 B.C.E. The Roman Emperor Nero sent slaves to collect snow from nearby mountains that he then flavored with a fruit and honey mixture. In imperial Japan, similar things were happening. The wealthy lived in warm areas that were near the snow capped mountains. These wealthy people would send poor people to retrieve the snow, which they would flavor. As Japanese immigrated to Hawaii, they brought this tradition with them. Like Rome and Japan, in Hawaii warm areas are close enough to snow capped mountains so that snow can be brought into the warm areas without melting.


In the 1850’s the American Industrial Revolution, made ice commercially available. Ice houses in New York would commonly sell ice to places like Florida. To transport the ice to Florida, the ice houses would send a wagon with a huge block of ice south. The route to Florida would pass right though Baltimore, MD. In Baltimore, children would run up to the wagon and ask for a small scraping of ice. Before long, mothers started to make flavoring in anticipation of their children receiving some ice. The first flavor these moms made was a current Baltimore favorite: egg custard. Egg custard was an easy flavor to make since all that was in it was eggs, vanilla and sugar.

By the 1870’s, the snowball’s popularity had risen to the degree that duringthe warm summer months, theaters would sell snowballs to keep their patrons cool. Because of this association with the theater, snowballs were thought of as an upper-class commodity. Signs in theaters instructing patrons to finish their snowballs before returning to see the second act, are the earliest tangible evidence of snowballs. During this time, the theaters in Baltimore used hand shavers to shave the ice. Around the city, snowballs were served on newspaper, but in the classy theaters, butchers boats were used. In the 1890’s many people started to invent easier ways for snowballs to be made. In that decade, six different patents for electric ice shavers were filed.

During the Great Depression and World War II, snowballs made the leap from a Baltimore-confined treat to a national treasure. Since snowballs were so cheap, it was one of the few treats that people could afford. This inexpensiveness earned snowballs the nicknames ‘Hard Times Sundae’, and ‘Penny Sundae’. People in need of a job would sell snowballs because it required little overhead. This nationwide adoration was furthered during World War II. In the war, all available ice cream was sent to soldiers, creating a need for an icy treat. This newfound lack of competition helped snowballs became popular across the country. Unfortunately, this depression-fueled nationwide appeal was the height of the great snowballs popularity. Snowball culture quickly receded to Baltimore, the Jersey Shore and Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Hawaii.

Well if you're not in any of these places to make a proper comparison, then you can now get a snow ball right here in your own back yard. The Imperial Woodpecker Sno-balls, located at 145 Seventh Ave. S., at Charles St. can make you a authentic New Orleans snow ball.

So in our war of these summer time favorites, which would you choose? The usual snow cone that can be found on any street corner, or the unusual snow ball that can tantalize and satisfy the taste buds?

Please come again for our next Food vs. Food contest.