Indulgent Sensations on a Stick

DES MOINES, IowaThe Iowa State Fair opened yesterday, and that means that its time for rides on the midway, the judging of meticulously crafted baked goods (as well as livestock), live music andof courseportable, edible indulgences. And naturally, theres no better way to amble and nibble than via foods on a stick.

The first widely known food on a stick very well might have been the ice pops accidentally created by young Frank Epperson one particularly chilly night during 1905 in San Francisco. Little Frankie was stirring up a glass of soda pop when he was called inside, abandoning his task at hand. That night, as legend holds, the temperature dropped below freezing and, in the morning, his stirring stick was surrounded by frozen-solid soda. He removed the unintended creation cleanly from his glass andvoilàthe ice pop was a reality. Years later, in 1923, he applied for a patent, dubbing his treat the Epsicle, which eventually became Popsicle at the insistence of some future director of marketing (the story claims that it was his children who coaxed the wise name change out of their pop). Rights to the name were sold a bare couple of years later (ouch), and a legend was born that still thrives today.

Corn dogsthat other quintessential food on a stickfollowed quickly thereafter, with variations on the theme ostensibly first appearing in the 1920s. But the concept didnt really find a following until various entrepreneurs latched onto the idea at various points during the 1940s when it started appearing at the Minnesota State Fair; the original Hot Dog on a Stick beachside stand in Santa Monica, Calif.; and the Cozy Dog Drive-In in Springfield, Ill., all claiming birthright to the venerable, portable, easily holdable corn-enrobed frank.

This year, the Iowa State Fair boasts no fewer than 57 foods on a sticksome expected, others purely magical gut-busting state-fair culinary whimsy (Double Bacon Corn Dog, Im talking to you):

Summers almost over, and summer just wouldnt be summer without attending some sort of festival, or state or county fairand a visit to the state fair just wouldnt be the same without some sort of food on a stick.