“It was on his face as it dripped down cold
Sweet and a familiar taste which was bold!
Lips were red, a look to make you scream!
Don’t fret! Its just an ice cream!”
In the heat of the of the summer, few things are more refreshing than a frosty, sweet popsicle. Some people just call these ice pops while we used to call them ice cream sticks. Did you know that Popsicles were invented by 11-year-old Frank Epperson and named after him! Now that does not make any sense! Must be brain freeze from the ice! Read on!
Now of course the thought of taking an ice cream or any icy treat is out of question and even the imagination makes me sneeze! Plus the calories! Not to mention the raw sugar and the artificial colours and flavours! Oh how did I become so old!
During our childhood though one of the best things about summer were these ice cream sticks! The mango and the orange flavours and different colours were a delight to us when we were young (er!). If our kids get to know what junk we have eaten am sure they will be shocked! How the ice cream bhaiyya would shake off all the flies and take out the ice stick from his old cart! I still remember how some ice cream used to be salty since he used to put salt on ice to make them melt slowly! Even that salty and sweet taste was like nactar!
The proper Ice cream or milk based ice creams like Kulfi were more costly and reserved only for house parties or special occasions only! The go to cheap ice creams were the sticks and later on these flavoured ice filled plastic sheets! You were supposed to bit one end and stick sucking slowly! If you think about the plastic and the storage now you would puke! At that time of course it was a sweet delight!
We have also tasted the iced lollies called the “Chuskies!” which is actually a play on Chus which means suck (of the eating kind!) and that used to come with so many flavours! The fresh crushed ice was a icy delight and the race was to suck the flavour and make it colourless before the ice melts!
On a hot summer day walking back to our house chatting with friends and later on showing our red or more orange tongue and lips were some of the unforgettable memories of the ice cream wala!
Even during holidays, the familiar ring of the bell of the cart of Ice cream wala would send us rushing behind him before the favourite varieties get over!
The other day I found my kids having a similar iced stick which was at least ten times the price of normal ice cream and proudly they exclaimed that it was, “The Popsicle!” If only they knew!
Now coming to The Popsicle! The story is that Frank Epperson had been stirring a drink with a stick but forgot it on the porch on a cold and icy night and it froze!
When he found it later, it was a frozen treat with its own handle and thus history was made. We have also done this so many times! Put the ice cream stick in a cup of juice and freeze it and voila! An icy treat!
But that was when he was 11, so it didn’t go anywhere and by the time he patented the idea as an adult, no one else had thought of it so he named them Eppsicles! That name and the treat did not go together for obvious reasons and his kids agreed!
No one wanted to eat an Eppsicle, and they never called it that!
Instead they called them popsicles because they were pop’s cicles, as in “Hey pop, make me one of your cicles.” So even though it’s not his given name, their pop took their advice and changed it! He was not only Frank he was also their Pop! Speaking of Pop reminds me of the dad of all cop shows CID starring the birthday celebrity Shivaji Satam!
Now take some warm water and sleep!
Shubh ratri!
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