Ice Cream Mold
From chain parlors such as Menchies to local establishments such as Scoops, the NC community harbors first–hand experience with the sweet joys of ice cream. Despite the immense adoration the treat receives, one aspect flies under the radar of recognition by connoisseurs— the ice cream mold. This novel tool, created by Black inventor and businessman Alfred Cralle, allowed for the distribution of ice cream to occur in a swift manner. Despite the lucrative allure this invention may emit, however, Cralle never received a dime for his innovation.
From his youth, Cralle took an interest in mechanics, and he studied the field further at the Wayland Seminary of the National Theological Institute in Washington, D.C.. During his stint as a pharmacy worker in Pennsylvania, Cralle brainstormed ways in which the dispensation of ice cream from the server’s spoon to the customer’s cones could transpire less awkwardly. The early iterations of the ice cream mold and scooper heavily reflect its contemporary iterations, with the head of the tool sporting a triangular scooper as opposed to the cup form it harbors today. By 1896, Cralle’s invention became a historically patented reality; By that following year, consumers eagerly utilized his successful creation, and his efficient innovation received raving acclaim from his local Pennsylvania newspaper “The Pittsburgh Press.”
“His [Cralle’s] invention made it so convenient to scoop ice cream. It’s difficult to scoop with a regular spoon, and the scoop is so much easier to dip in water and then into ice cream. The curvatures make the hard work easier. I just wonder what we’d be using to scoop ice cream without it,” senior Imani Wilson said.
Although his invention helped drastically improve the quality of ice cream distribution, Cralle never received any profit or celebrity from the creation of the ice cream scoop. Before his tragic death in 1920, Cralle remained relatively unacknowledged in the realm of entrepreneurship for his landmark tool. While he did not receive any financial gain for the ice cream mold and scoop during his lifetime, the legacy of Cralle’s groundbreaking invention lives on in every ice cream parlor, lounge and store.