Ice cream, commercially available in New York City as early as 1786, was not sold in Honolulu stores until offered by the Criterion Coffee Saloon in May 1870. An ice-making machine, costing $100, was exhibited a year earlier, in July 1869.

Although historians attribute the first ice cream cone to the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis, 1904, a competing claim has been made for Kaua‘i. Josephine Wundenberg King sometimes served ice cream to the ladies and children of the Hawaiian Sunday School at her home in Lihu‘e. She noticed her spoons disappearing after such affairs and accordingly had senbei cookies made for her by a local Japanese baker, who, at her direction, rolled them into “cornucopias” or cones. No date has been offered for this innovation in crime prevention.

Marshmallows were introduced to Hawai‘i in October 1878, by Emma Louise Dillingham. As recorded by Mary Frear, Emma brought from San Francisco by sailing vessel a large tin box of marshmallows, unobtainable then in Honolulu. These delicate morsels were served as after-lunch-on-Sunday treats.

By Robert C. Schmitt