The History Center News: The Proof is in the Sunday!

July 17, 2007

The Proof is in the Sunday!

Ithaca's ongoing "Sundae War" with Two Rivers, Wisconsin, may have just ended, thanks to new evidence uncovered by The History Center's Corson Fellows Laura Willemsen and Meredith Buchberg. Their story is featured in an article in the Ithaca Journal.

Ithacans have long held the first sundae was created at Platt & Colt's pharmacy on State Street in April, 1892. Two Rivers residents counter the sundae originated at Ed Berners' soda fountain in 1881. The competing claims first made headlines in the 1930s and became a full fledged "Sundae War" in 2006. But the cold war was mostly hot air until Buchberg and Willemsen entered the fray this winter.

Scouring historical archives at The History Center and Cornell University's Kroch Library, and Internet databases to research the origins of the sundae, the two history detectives uncovered a treasure trove of lost sundae information, including a long-lost letter from a Platt & Colt fountain clerk providing an eyewitness account of the sundae's creation in Ithaca. They also unearthed Platt & Colt's 1892 shop records listing the ingredients on hand to create the first sundae. Another new discovery was an original letter from a Washington, D.C. patent attorney showing Platt & Colt's attempt to trademark the sundae as their original creation in 1894. They found nothing to support Two River's claim, but did find evidence contradicting the Wisconsin city's story.

In examining Two Rivers' claim, the researchers found no evidence that Ed Berners created a sundae there in 1881. Furthermore, they discovered articles printed at the time of Berners' death dating his first sundae to approximately 1900. They also uncovered Wisconsin birth records showing Berners was 17-years-old in 1881 and unlikely to have been operating his own soda fountain business.

"After doing the research, it's pretty certain that the sundae was created here," Meredith said. "Ithaca's story checks out completely. There's a lot of historical documentation to prove it. Two Rivers' story has some big holes in it."