The Great Banana Split Feud: When Dessert Divided a Nation

ANTELOPE VALLEY, CA -- If there’s one thing people in the Antelope Valley can agree on, it’s that ice cream makes just about everything better. Unless, of course, you’re talking about who invented the banana split, then things get a little sticky.

Let’s travel back to 1904 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where a young pharmacy apprentice named David “Doc” Strickler decided that three scoops of ice cream weren’t quite enough on their own. So he split a banana lengthwise, dropped the ice cream in between, and drowned the whole thing in syrups, whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry on top. The townspeople loved it, and Latrobe has been proudly calling itself the birthplace of the banana split ever since.

But a few years later, in 1907, along came Ernest “Doc” Hazard in Wilmington, Ohio, with his own version of the dessert.

Hazard claimed he invented it to draw in college students on slow winter days. According to Wilmington, their “Doc” was the true genius behind the split. And just like that, a sweet little feud was born.

Latrobe points to Strickler’s glass order, he had special long, boat-shaped dishes made for his new creation in 1904, as proof they were first. Wilmington counters with a whole festival dedicated to their claim, complete with banana split contests and family fun. Latrobe answered back with their own celebration. What started as two towns serving ice cream turned into two towns competing to prove who served it first.

Boston and Davenport, Iowa, even tried to join the argument, tossing their names into the sundae bowl of history. But let’s be honest, most people forgot about them. This has always been a Pennsylvania vs. Ohio showdown.

The truth? We may never know which “Doc” deserves the crown. But maybe that’s the point. The banana split wasn’t meant to divide us; it was meant to give us one more reason to grab a spoon and share something sweet. And whether you’re in Latrobe, Wilmington, or the good ol’ A.V., we can all agree on one thing: life’s better with a cherry on top.

Beat the heat, head on over to Monday night bites at Sgt. Steve Owens Park and grab some delicious food and some ice cream.

Sources

• “Banana Split.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_split

• “How Latrobe Put the Banana Split on the Map.” NEXTpittsburgh. https://nextpittsburgh.com/eatdrink/how-latrobe-put-the-banana-split-on-the-map/

• “The Historical Debate Behind the Origins of the Banana Split.” The Daily Meal. https://www.thedailymeal.com/1125438/the-historical-debate-behind-the-origins-of-the-banana-split/

• “Banana Split Festival History.” Banana Split Festival. https://bananasplitfest.com/history/

• “The Great Banana Split Rivalry.” Brady Carlson. https://www.bradycarlson.com/the-great-banana-split-rivalry/