Mary Davis' Blog: May 2025

Monday, May 26, 2025

Tuesday Tidbits: POPSICLE: AN ICY BEGINNING

Have you ever had an Epsicle?

You probably have and didn’t know it.

In 1905, eleven-year-old Frank Epperson, of Oakland, California, showed his friends a powder soda mix that could be whipped up with water into a flavorful drink. Getting distracted, as an eleven-year-old has a tendency to do, he forgot it outside overnight. The temperatures dropped, and in the morning, his drink had frozen solid with his stir stick still in it. He ran the glass under hot water to free the solid drink. Using the stick as a handle, he gave it a lick and loved it.

Making more, he shared his treat with his friends. He called his frozen confection Epsicle, a combination of his last name and icicle. He continued to create these for the neighborhood kids. Then as an adult, he made them for his own children, who called them Pop’s Sicle.

A man in Central Park tasting his daughter's popsicle, 1942

In 1923, when he sought a patent, his children persuaded him to use their name for them, Popsicle. These were popular at baseball games, amusement parks, and other events, advertised as “a drink on a stick.”

With the crash of the stock market, Epperson found himself “flat and had to liquidate my assets.” He sold his invention to the Joe Lowe Co., who catapulted it to national success. Epperson said he was never the same after selling.

The Joe Lowe Co. added a second stick to create the twin pop, which sold for a nickel. This was a money stretcher during the Depression where two hungry children could pool their pennies and split one.

Good Humor (who sold chocolate covered ice cream on a stick) took the Joe Lowe Co. to court several times for copyright infringement. The court compromised and ruled that Joe Lowe Co. had rights to water based frozen confections and Good Humor had rights to ice cream based ones. Neither side was completely happy. The angst continued between these rivals until Unilever bought the Joe Lowe Co. then later acquired Good Humor.

In 1986, the twin pop was discontinued by the Unilever Co. as they were deemed too messy by moms. However, other companies still make some. Cherry, grape, and orange are the favorite flavors with cherry being number one.

What was your favorite flavor as a kid? And as an adult?

Mine were lime and root beer until I discovered missile bars. They were a cherry/mango swirl of deliciousness. I still eat them today under the name of Monster Cherry-Mango Pops.

THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTERS SERIES

COURTING HER AMISH HEART (Book 1) ~ A doctor or an Amish wife? Kathleen Yoder can choose to be only one… Practicing medicine means sacrifice—no Amish man wants a doctor for a wife.

COURTING HER SECRET HEART (Book 2) ~ Caught between two worlds… Deborah Miller lives a double life as an Amish woman—and a fashion model! Soon she must choose between the Englischer world of modeling and the Amish man she’s come to love.

COURTING HER PRODIGAL HEART (Book 3) ~ Mother-to-Be’s Amish Homecoming. Pregnant and alone, Dori Bontrager is sure her Amish kin won’t welcome her back into the community—or the child she’s carrying.

https://books2read.com/marydavisbooks

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in Colorado with Carolina Dog named Shelby. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

SOURCES:

The American Century Cookbook: The Most Popular Recipes of the 20th Century by Jean Anderson, 1997, p410

https://www.shared.com/these-facts-about-popsicles-may-surprise-you/

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-popsicle-4070016

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-brief-history-of-popsicles-92923396/

https://www.history.com/news/frozen-history-the-story-of-the-popsicle

https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/a3406/history-of-popsicles-0610/

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/07/22/425294957/how-an-11-year-old-boy-invented-the-popsicle

https://www.popsicle.com/us/en/our-story.html

Monday, May 12, 2025

Tuesday Tidbits: THE $2 BILL

Series 1976

Do you have one of these oddities tucked away in a drawer or box somewhere?

I remember when they came out in 1976. Or rather they were reissued in 1976.

Yes, REissued.

I thought they were a new thing back then, but the $2 bill has a long history. A lot of people—myself included—believed these were for our country’s bicentennial. In actuality, it was to commemorate Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. Since it was the US Bicentennial, they put the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the reverse so it could serve two purposes.

Let’s roll back the clock nearly 250 years to the beginning of this misunderstood slip of paper.

When the Colonies were battling for independence in 1775, the Continental Congress issued $2 “bills of credit” to help finance the defense of what would become the United States. On May 10, 1775 these were released, making them older than our country.

1775

They quickly lost their value due to the lack of solid backing and counterfeiting.

The next—and first official $2 bill—was printed in 1862. It was a legal tender note of a larger size (7.375” by 3.125”) than we currently have today. This bill featured Alexander Hamilton on the front and beautiful scrollwork on the reverse with the numeral 2. Because the backs of these were green, they came to be known as “greenbacks.”

Series 1862

The $2 bill remained this larger size until the smaller note (6.14” by 2.61”) was adopted for all US currency bills in 1928.

Timeline

The $2 bill received various facelifts and renditions over the years.

Series 1886

The series 1886 depicts Winfield Scott Hancock, a US Army officer and 1880 presidential nominee.

Series 1890

The series 1890 depicts James McPherson, a US Army officer who served with Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War at the Battle of Shiloh.

Series 1891

The series 1891 depicts William Windom, US Secretary of the Treasury.

Series 1896

The series 1896 (the “Educational series”) depicts a teacher and children on the front and on the reverse side Robert Fulton and Samuel Morse.

Series 1899

The series 1899 depicts George Washington, first US president.

Series 1928

The series 1928 depicts Thomas Jefferson on the front and Jefferson’s home, Monticello, on the reverse.

This little bill stayed in print until 1966 when it was discontinued. Then in 1976, it was brought back and is still a current denomination.

Series 1976-Author Image

The series 1976 depicts Thomas Jefferson on the front, as before, for his birthday on April 13^th—the bill’s release day—and, the signing of the Declaration of Independence replaced Monticello on the reverse.

Though still in print today and legal tender, people believe them to be rare—me included—because they are seldom seen. Others think they are counterfeit. In 2005, a man tried to pay for his purchase with some $2 bills. The store and local police believed that they were counterfeit, and the man was hauled off to jail. In another instance, occurring in 2016, a 13-year-old girl tried to buy her school lunch with one. The school thought it wasn’t real because it was an older bill (series 1953) before the counterfeit markers would work on it, and she was detained by the police. Both matters were quickly cleared up.

Most people don’t use them, and cash drawers don’t have a slot for them. So why does the government keep printing them? And they are still printing them every couple of years. One reason is because they want people to use this cheaper to print bill. If people would use one two instead of two ones, it would cost the government almost half as much to print them for the same purchasing power.

If you want to learn more about the $2 bill, here is a documentary about it. (Running time—1:40:53) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b3TczZpC_Y

I just picked up a handful of crisp, brand new $2 bills at the bank to give my grandkids at Christmas. The teller smiled when I asked for them.

Do you have any of these tucked away in your house or wallet?

THE QUILTING CIRCLE SERIES Box Set

Historical Romance Series

By Mary Davis

THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT (Book1) – Will a secret clouding a single mother’s past cost Lily her loved ones?

THE DAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT (Book2) *SELAH & WRMA Finalist* – As Isabelle’s romance prospects turn in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams.

THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Book3) *SELAH Winner* – Nicole heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. Can she learn to be enough of a lady to snag the handsome rancher?

THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET (Book4) – Complications arise when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into Deputy Montana’s arms.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNZPRRS2/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3NJNTQ5SD1WGB&keywords=the+quilting+circle+by+mary+davis&qid=1700957455&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C155&sr=1-7