What tasty treat is said to have been invented at the 1904 World's Fair?

The first true edible conical shaped cone for serving ice cream was created at the St. Louis Worlds Fair in 1904 by a Syrian pastry vendor named Ernest A. Hamwi. He rolled up some of his “zalabia” (a waffle-like pastry) from his pastry cart into cones and gave them to Arnold Fornachou, who had run out of paper dishes to serve his ice cream. Word spread quickly though the Fair and many other vendors began selling ice cream in waffle cones. Many claimed to have invented it but the first cone was created by Ernest Hamwi.

After the Fair, Hamwi joined with J. P. Heckle and helped him develop and open the Cornucopia Waffle Company. Ernest traveled throughout the United State introducing the World's Fair Cornucopia as a new way of eating ice cream. In 1910, Hamwi opened the Missouri Cone Company and called his container, the ice cream cone, to avoid a conflict with Cornucopia.

In 1920 Ernest Hamwi was issued a patent for a pastry cone making machine. His Missouri Cone Company later became the Western Cone Company as the market for ice cream popularity spread and the company grew.

The cone obviously gained popularity across the United States because by 1924 Americans were consuming upwards of 245 million cones per year.

Cotton candy, which was introduced at the 1904 Worlds Fair as fairy floss, was invented in 1897.