"The sundae's convoluted history has its roots in the 19th century with the spontaneous invention of the ice cream soda in 1874 by Robert M. Green, who substituted ice cream for sweet cream in a soda-fountain drink. Other vendors began serving the wildly popular concoction of ice cream, soda water, and flavored syrup up until the Blue Laws in some states banned the consumption of soda water on Sundays due to its perceived sinfulness,"
"In Twin Rivers, Wisconsin (sometime in 1881), George Hallauer stopped by Ed Berners' Ice Cream Parlour and asked pharmacist Berner to make him an ice cream soda. Since it was a Sunday, Berner couldn't use soda water, so he scooped vanilla ice cream into a dish, poured chocolate syrup on top, and sold it for a nickel. When more customers began asking for a "Sunday" on other days of the week, Berner's creation came to be known as a "sundae.""
"A possibly stronger contender in the sundae origin story comes from Ithaca, New York. Evidence points to the exact day (Sunday, April 3, 1892) when Reverend John M. Scott dropped by his regular post-services hangout, Platt & Colt Pharmacy, owned by Chester C. Platt. While chatting with the reverend, Platt told his soda-fountain clerk to scoop up two bowls of vanilla ice cream for them and make it special by pouring on some cherry syrup and topping with a candied cherry."
The sundae traces back to 19th-century soda-fountain inventions, beginning with Robert M. Green's 1874 ice cream soda substitution. The Blue Laws in some states banning soda water on Sundays influenced alternate service methods, prompting vendors to serve ice cream with flavored syrup without soda. One origin claim credits Ed Berner in Twin Rivers, Wisconsin, in 1881 for serving vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup on a Sunday, leading customers to request a "Sunday". Another claim identifies an Ithaca, New York event on April 3, 1892, where cherry syrup and a candied cherry topped two bowls of ice cream, creating a competing origin story.
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