August 26 is National Cherry Popsicle Day, which sounds like the perfect way to celebrate the end of a long, hot summer. Cherry Popsicle are the best way to cool off, as long as you can finish it before it melts and your hand gets all sticky.
Its not clear how August 26 became National Cherry Popsicle Day. The treat dates back to 1905, when an 11-year-old San Francisco boy named Frank Epperson mixed soda on his porch with a stick. According to Popsicle.com, he left the stick in the batch overnight and found it completely frozen. He learned that he had just created the first Popscicle.
Epperson waited until 1922 to introduce his creation to the world at a firemans ball, according to his New York Times obituary. in 1924, he got a patent for “a handled, frozen confection or ice lollipop.”
Epperson, who died in 1983 at age 89, sold the patent in 1925 to the Joe Lowe Company, a move he later regretted, notes NPR. The company made it a national success during the Great Depression by using two sticks to give consumers the impression that they were getting more for their nickel.
There was also a feud between Good Humor, which had just introduced ice cream on a stick, and the Popsicle. However, that rivalry is long over now, since Good Humor and Popsicle are both owned by Unilever.
It’s worth noting that while you can easily make a Popsicle at home, the name itself is under copyright. So if you plan on making a Popsicle, just call it an “Ice Pop.”
In addition to the video above that explains how to make a Cherry Popsicle, here are some others that explain how to make other varieties. Note that soda pop isn’t needed any longer.
This one explains how to make cherry lime Popsicles.
Here’s how to make three different tart cherry Popsicles.
And here’s a quick way to make cherry Popsicles for children.
This video explains how to make healthy Popsicles.
