Dietribes: Popsicles

"¢Â Like Band-Aids and Kleenex, Popsicle is a brand whose name we probably all substitute to mean any frozen treat on a stick. The Popsicle brand itself had humble and accidental beginnings: Apparently, in 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson left a mixture of powdered soda, water, and a stirring stick in a cup on his porch. It was a cold night, and Epperson awoke the next morning to find a frozen pop. He called it the "Epsicle," and later in life his own children started requesting "Pop's 'sicle." In 1923, Epperson changed the name and applied for a patent, eventually selling the rights to the brand name Popsicle® to the Joe Lowe Company in New York.

"¢Â What's better than one popsicle? Two! The twin ice pop was invented during the Great Depression, so two children could share an ice pop for just a nickel.
 
"¢Â So just what is it that you chew on after you finish your Popsicles? The sticks are made of birch wood. Or you can create something with them (and not just a paper puppet): using 15 million recycled Popsicle sticks and the help of about 5000 Dutch school children, a Dutch man made a replica Viking ship ... and sailed it to London!

"¢Â Cherry may be the current number one Popsicle flavor, but it may lose ground against Beer Popsicles, which one Washington restaurant has begun to serve, despite some controversial liquor law constraints.

"¢Â The biggest problem with Popsicles? The melting issue. Just ask Snapple: in 2005, the company attempted to beat the 10-ton mark for world's largest ice pop when the giant pop turned to mush ... and slushed into the streets of New York.

"¢Â Lollipops have prizes inside, so why not popsicles? Brazilian ice-cream company Kibon plans to manufacture 10,000 "prop"sicles, identical in size and color to real ice pops, and will contain a frozen iPod shuffle inside.

"¢Â If you thought that handing out vuvuzelas at a recent Florida Marlins game for a promotion was a little crazy, consider Ted Williams Popsicle Night. In June of 2003, when William's body was cryogenically frozen, an Arizona minor league team, the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings, gave popsicles to the first 500 fans.

"¢Â We humans are not the only ones who enjoy an icy summer treat - here are a few videos of hippos, a polar bear, and a baby panda enjoying some specially designed Popsicles just for them!

"¢Â Finally, a sweet story about a pitbull named Popsicle.
 
"¢Â Do you grown up Flossers still enjoy Popsicles? What are you favorite flavors, and do you ever make your own?

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"˜Dietribes' appears every other Wednesday. Food photos taken by Johanna Beyenbach. You might remember that name from our post about her colorful diet.