in Central Park, Two Rivers, Manitowoc County 

In 1881, George Hallauer asked Edward C. Berner, the owner of a soda fountain at 1404 15th Street, to top a dish of ice cream with chocolate sauce, hitherto used only for ice cream sodas. The concoction cost a nickel and soon became very pop­ular, but it was sold only on Sundays. One day a ten-year-old girl insisted she have a dish of ice cream "with that stuff on top," saying they could pretend it was Sunday. After that, the confection was sold every day in many flavors. It lost its Sunday-only association, to be called the ICE CREAM SUNDAE when a glassware salesman placed an order with his company for the long canoe-shaped dishes in which it was served, "as sundae dishes."

Learn More

Dictionary of Wisconsin History

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]