Disir
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For many years, the Klondike — a chocolate-coated ice cream confection sold today at just about every supermarket — was a special treat found only at Isaly’s in Pittsburgh and Ohio.
Pittsburgh lays claim to Isaly’s Klondike, which makes sense as the city housed the most Isaly’s stores and became the brand’s headquarters, said Brian Butko, director of publications at Heinz History Center, who wrote “Klondikes, Chipped Ham & Skyscraper Cones: The Story of Isaly’s.”
It’s even currently competing for the title of Ultimate Pittsburgh Frozen Treat, which you can vote for in this bracket presented by The Philadelphia Contributionship.
But the square-shaped, foil-wrapped delicacy didn’t actually start here. It all began in Mansfield, Ohio, with William Isaly and his Mansfield Pure Milk Company, founded during the early 1900s.
The son of Swiss immigrants, Isaly made milk and cheese, and then set up a storefront called Isaly’s. Shoppers loved it because they could buy from the manufacturer directly, rather than from a middle-man at a traditional market, Butko said.
The earliest reference to the Klondike dates back to a Feb. 5, 1922 article in the Youngstown Vindicator.
Unwrapping the Klondike bar's history in Pittsburgh
I don't like Klondike Bars but I would have tried a cherry or grape one for the sheer novelty.
Pittsburgh lays claim to Isaly’s Klondike, which makes sense as the city housed the most Isaly’s stores and became the brand’s headquarters, said Brian Butko, director of publications at Heinz History Center, who wrote “Klondikes, Chipped Ham & Skyscraper Cones: The Story of Isaly’s.”
It’s even currently competing for the title of Ultimate Pittsburgh Frozen Treat, which you can vote for in this bracket presented by The Philadelphia Contributionship.
But the square-shaped, foil-wrapped delicacy didn’t actually start here. It all began in Mansfield, Ohio, with William Isaly and his Mansfield Pure Milk Company, founded during the early 1900s.
The son of Swiss immigrants, Isaly made milk and cheese, and then set up a storefront called Isaly’s. Shoppers loved it because they could buy from the manufacturer directly, rather than from a middle-man at a traditional market, Butko said.
The earliest reference to the Klondike dates back to a Feb. 5, 1922 article in the Youngstown Vindicator.
Unwrapping the Klondike bar's history in Pittsburgh
I don't like Klondike Bars but I would have tried a cherry or grape one for the sheer novelty.
