16 July 19

580 years ago today, kissing was banned in England, to prevent the spread of the Black Death. On a much happier note, my ice cream cone tie celebrates the birthday (on 14 July, 1906) of Tom Carvel, founder of the Carvel Corporation. As recorded in Wikipedia, "Carvel began selling ice cream out of his truck in 1929 in Hartsdale, New York. On Memorial Day weekend in 1934, his truck had a flat tire, so he pulled into a parking lot next to a pottery store and began selling his melting ice cream to vacationers who were driving by. The owner of the store allowed Carvel to use electricity from his store, so he opened his parked truck for ice cream sales. Within two days he had sold his entire supply of ice cream and concluded that he could increase his profits by working from a fixed location. In 1936, Carvel purchased the pottery store and converted it into a roadside ice cream stand; this permanently established Carvel as the first retailer to develop and market soft ice cream."