You may already know that than folks tend to assume, but have you ever considered the absolute genius concept that the ice cream cone is? Because of this lightly sweetened, crunchy, rounded wafer, you are able to eat your Rocky Road while walking down the street, sitting in the car, or even riding a bike (if you can ride one-handed). You can eat it here or there, you can eat it anywhere. But the advantages of the ice cream cone aren't limited to its portability.
Perhaps the most important concept is that, before its creation, people often ate their scoops from unwashed and unsanitary reusable glasses. This was a great way to spread diseases such as tuberculosis and cholera which, indeed, happened. In the mid to late 19th century, London-based ice cream vendors would serve individual portions of ice cream in glasses they called penny licks.
Paying customers would lick the ice cream right out of the glasses and return them to the vendors. Whether it was because they didn't have access to flowing hot water and a sanitizing detergent, or because there was just so much business, these vendors often simply took the licked glasses and refilled them with more ice cream for the next customers. Ick.
Fortunately, the cones were coming. While there were certainly edible ice cream holders prior to 1904, it was the St. Louis World's Fair that same year that is credited with popularizing ice cream cones.
But first, let's go a bit further back in the ice cream serving evolution. A long lead .