Who doesn’t like a nice bowl of delicious ice cream, or a nice cone, or a tasty Sundae?
Did you know that a man named Alfred Cralle invented the scoop?
Alfred L. Cralle (September 4, 1866 – May 6, 1919) was an African-American businessman and inventor of the “Ice Cream Mold and Disher”. (wikipedia)
It was when he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he first served as a porter in a drug store and at a hotel. Alfred noticed that servers at the hotel had trouble with ice cream sticking to serving spoons, and he developed an ice cream scoop.
On 10 June 1896, Alfred applied for a patent on his invention. He was awarded patent 576,395 on 2 February 1897. The patented “Ice Cream Mold and Disher,” was an ice cream scoop with a built-in scraper to allow for one-handed operation. Alfred’s functional design is reflected in modern ice cream scoops.
For further information on Alfred L. Cralle, check out these links…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_L._Cralle
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cralle-1
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/cralle-alfred-l-1866-1920/
https://tnc.network/black-history/
