Invented in Chicago

At one point during On the Verge, Fanny declares that everything was invented in Chicago, including ice cream sandwiches. That got me to wondering how much of that was true. Mental Floss has a pretty good list of foods invented in Chicago - 

1. Italian Beef (my Chicago born husband's personal favorite)
2. Twinkies
3. Wrigley Gum
4. Vienna Beef
5. Cracker Jack
6. Chocolate Brownies
7. Frozen Desserts (NOT ice cream sandwiches but frozen Sara Lee pound cakes)
8. Jibarito 
9. Pepper and egg sandwich
10. Pizza Puff
11. Flaming Saganaki
12. Chicken Vesuvio
13. Kronos Gyros
14. Cream of Wheat
15. Shredded Wheat

I did some digging since ice cream sandwich isn't on the list. Here's what I found: 

"According to the book Sugar and Snow: A History of Ice Cream Making by Jeri Quinzio, the ice cream sandwich was created in 1899 by an unknown pushcart peddler in the Bowery neighborhood of New York City.  These sandwiches consisted of vanilla ice cream pressed between two thin graham wafers.  The treat was revolutionary not only because it was hand-held and portable, but also because the heat from the hands helped to soften the ice cream, making it easier to eat.  The early predecessor to the ice cream sandwich was a slice of vanilla ice cream cut from a larger slab known as an “okey-pokey” that was sold by street vendors in London. 

In July of 1900 The New York Tribune, the popular newspaper of the time, published an article about the pushcart vendor who was selling the sandwiches. According to the article the man was so busy pressing the sandwiches to order into a tin mold that he didn’t have time to make change and insisted that customers pay the exact price of one cent.

The modern ice cream sandwich that we know, a slice of vanilla between two rectangular chocolate cookies, was invented by Jerry Newberg who sold ice cream at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh."

So there you have it. Not Chicago!