Eskimo Pie

An Eskimo Pie is a chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar wrapped in foil, the first such dessert sold in the United States. It is now marketed by Dreyer's, a division of Froneri. In 2020, Dreyer's announced it would change the brand, saying that Eskimo is a derogatory term.

Eskimo Pie

1943–1954 Eskimo Pie design for cardboard, ice cream box
Product type	Ice cream bar
Owner	Froneri
Country	U.S.
Introduced	1921
Markets	United States, International

History

Danish immigrant Christian Kent Nelson (1893–1992),[1] a schoolteacher and candy store owner, claimed to have received the inspiration for the Eskimo Pie in 1920 in Onawa, Iowa, when a boy in his store was unable to decide whether to spend his money on ice cream or a chocolate bar.[2] After experimenting with different ways to adhere melted chocolate to bricks of ice cream, Nelson began selling his invention, under the name I-Scream Bars. In 1921, he filed for a patent, and secured an agreement with local chocolate producer Russell C. Stover to mass-produce them under the new trademarked name "Eskimo Pie" (a name suggested by Mrs. Stover), and to create the Eskimo Pie Corporation. After patent 1,404,539 was issued on January 24, 1922, Nelson franchised the product, allowing ice cream manufacturers to produce them under that name. The patent, which applied to any type of frozen confection encased in candy, was invalidated in 1928.[3]

One of the earliest advertisements for Eskimo Pies. November 3, 1921, Iowa City Press-Citizen.[4]

• 
  Russell Stover, co-founder of the Eskimo Pie
• 
  Christian Kent Nelson, co-founder of the Eskimo Pie, in 1922

Stover sold his share of the business. He then formed the well-known chocolate manufacturer Russell Stover Candies.[5] Nelson became independently wealthy off the royalties from the sale of Eskimo Pies. In 1922 he was selling one million pies a day.[3]

The abandoned Rosedale Dairy, Fort Dodge, Iowa, longtime manufacturer of Eskimo Pies

Nelson then sold his share of the business to the United States Foil Company, which made the Eskimo Pie wrappers. He retired at a young age, but reportedly out of boredom rejoined what was then called Reynolds Metals Company (now part of Alcoa) in 1935, inventing new methods of manufacturing and shipping Eskimo Pies and serving as an executive until his ultimate retirement in 1961.

In 1992, Nelson died at the age of 99. In that same year, Eskimo Pie Corporation was spun off from Reynolds in an initial public offering, as an alternative to an acquisition that Nestlé had proposed in 1991.

The original round-faced child icon for the brand was created by the illustrator Gyo Fujikawa.

CoolBrands International, a Markham, Ontario-based company, acquired Eskimo Pie Corporation in 2000. Originally a yogurt maker, CoolBrands at one point owned or held exclusive long-term licenses for brands including Eskimo Pie, Chipwich, Weight Watchers, Godiva, Tropicana, Betty Crocker, Trix, Yoo-hoo and Welch's. The company encountered financial difficulties after losing its Weight Watchers/Smart Ones license in 2004.[6] By 2007 it was selling off core assets, and in February 2007 it sold Eskimo Pie and Chipwich to the Dreyer's division of Nestlé.[7][8]

On June 19, 2020, Dreyer's announced that it would change the "Eskimo Pie" brand name and marketing, saying the term is "derogatory."[9]

In France

In June 1924, the "Esquimaux-Brick" company was founded in Paris.[10] It quickly expanded its production to other European countries, in particular to Italy and Hungary. The company produced "Esquimaux Bricks" which, as the name says, did not yet have a stick. The rights for Esquimau brand were registered in France in 1928.[11] The "Esquimaux Ch. Gervais" were marketed the same year by Gervais, a French cheese producer.[12] In 1931, Gervais bought the Société Esquimaux-Brick which was dissolved.[13] The brand was deposited by Gervais. It was renamed to "Kim" ("Kim Eskimo" or "Kim cone") in the years 1990–2000, as due to its wide use it was recognized as a generic name.[14]

In other countries

In South Australia, the Alaska Ice Cream company licensed the Eskimo Pie name and manufacturing process in 1923.[15]

The product was introduced to New Zealand in the 1940s,[16] where it is produced by Tip Top.[17]

In the countries of the former Soviet Union as well as in France the word "Eskimo" is used as a generic name, not a trademark, for chocolate-covered ice-cream with a wooden stick to handle it.

In the Czech Republic, "Eskymo" is a brand of Eskimo-Pie style ice-cream currently (2020) produced by Unilever under its Algida brand.[18] While the word "Eskymo" can be used as a generic term in some regions of the country, the most common word for a chocolate-covered bar of ice-cream with a stick handle is "Nanuk" (in reference to the Nanook of the North film).

Notes

1. www.findagrave.com
2. James T. Ehler (1992-03-08). "Christian Kent Nelson: Who's Who in Food History". Foodreference.com. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
3. Duan, Charles (20 October 2015). "Ice Cream Patent Headache". Slate. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
4. "Eskimo Pies". Archived from the original on 2007-07-11. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
5. "History of Russell Stover Candies Inc. – FundingUniverse". Fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
6. "CoolBrands sells Eskimo Pie, Chipwich brands to Dreyer's". CBC News. 2007-01-24. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
7. "CoolBrands press release announcing sale of Eskimo Pie and Chipwich". Archived from the original on 2007-05-17. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
8. "History of Eskimo Pie Corporation – FundingUniverse". Fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
9. "Acknowledging derogatory term, Eskimo Pie owner says to change ice cream's name". Reuters. 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
10. "Part de Fondateur: Scriponet" (in French).
11. "Bâtonnet de crème glacée" (in French). Office québécois de la langue française. 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
12. "Histoire de Nestle en France" (in French). Nestle. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
13. "Etablissements Esquimaux Brick" (in Italian). Archivio Centrale dello Stato. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
14. Ces marques victimes de leur succès
15. "Alaska Ice Cream Company". The Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 29 August 1923. p. 7. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
16. "Eskimo stays despite frosty reception". The New Zealand Herald. NZPA. April 22, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
17. "Tip Top Eskimo Pie – Fonterra Food Services – Products". Fonterra Food Services. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
18. "Seriál o zmrzlině: Česká klasika" (in Czech).

External links

• History of the Eskimo Pie, from the Smithsonian Institution
• U.S. Patent 1,404,539
• CoolBrands press release announcing sale of Eskimo Pie to Dreyer's