The origin story of one of America's most popular desserts is surprisingly complicated.
Why Is Ice Cream Sundae Spelled ‘Sundae’?
Published on Jul. 28, 2025
It’s hard to imagine a more iconic sweet treat for the summer than the ice cream sundae, but for all its popularity, the dessert’s backstory is more mysterious than you might think.
That’s because multiple U.S. cities and towns lay claim to having invented the ice cream sundae—and each has its own lore surrounding the dish’s unique spelling.
According to research from the nonprofit organization The Dairy Alliance, ice cream sundaes were created in the late 19th century because many pharmacies—which dished out ever-popular ice cream floats—were barred by so-called blue laws from serving their customers soda on Sundays. Pharmacies simply replaced the soda they were serving on Sundays with chocolate or fruit syrup, inventing what we now know as the ice cream sundae.
Where the backstory gets more complex is, first, the question of how the sundae arrived at its unusual name and, second, who came up with the idea first.
Why is ice cream spelled ‘sundae’?
As for the name, Wisconsin Life, a branch of PBS Wisconsin, credits it to Edward Berner, the owner of a soda fountain in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. According to local lore, a customer first asked him to top his ice cream order with chocolate syrup in 1881, and Berner began to serve it every Sunday. A young customer then suggested that the dish be available every day, so it was named a “sundae” to alleviate any confusion about when the dessert was available.
According to What’s Cooking America, other historical accounts say the dish was spelled “sundae” in an attempt to avoid offending religious individuals who might take offense to a novelty ice cream dessert being named after the Sabbath, traditionally a day of rest and worship.
Two Rivers isn’t the only place with a compelling ice cream sundae backstory either. According to Cornellians, an online publication for Cornell University alumni, the sundae was actually invented in Ithaca, New York in 1892.
As the story goes, Platt & Colt’s drug store and soda fountain began serving what it called a “Cherry Sunday”—vanilla ice cream topped with cherry syrup and a candied cherry—and began advertising it in local newspapers. The business even attempted (unsuccessfully) to trademark the term “Sunday” in 1894.
While the mystery of the ice cream sundae may never be solved, there’s one thing we can agree on: We’re forever grateful for whoever made it socially acceptable to pile even more sweet goodness—like chocolate, fruit and whipped cream—on top of ice cream.
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