Ice cool: Nelson’s victory

Choc horror: The experiments must have been frustrating.

The Eskimo Pie is the original chocolate-covered ice cream bar. This invention is the great-granddaddy of pre-packaged takeaway ice cream culture and slightly predates the Good Humor Bar, a chocolate-covered ice cream on a stick.

The story goes that a Danish immigrant to the US, Christian K. Nelson, was inspired to come up with the Eskimo Pie in 1919, after noticing that a boy in his sweet shop could not choose between an ice cream or a chocolate bar. Mr Nelson tried various experiments, melting quantities of chocolate on to small bricks of ice cream - doubtless a messy task.

Eventually he got the mix right and initially dubbed it the I-Scream Bar. We can only presume that it was frustration and exasperation that drove him to name it in this manner.

In July 1921, Nelson became partners with Russell C. Stover and they renamed it Eskimo Pie.

By early 1922, they were selling a million bars a day, causing the US price of cocoa beans to rise by 50 per cent.

In New Zealand, the Eskimo Pie is still manufactured by Tip Top and has been a staple part of their range since the 1960s.

Another ice cream of the stick-less variety to gain popularity with Kiwis was the Kapai (it's good) block - a slice of vanilla ice cream laid between pink wafers.

Sadly it has lost this name and is now packaged simply as Tip Top ice cream slices.

There's nostalgic value attached to these ice creams. They're low on gimmick and high on return. They come from a simpler time and can make you feel like a kid again.