Ice cream has been enjoyed for centuries, but the edible cone became famous at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. According to the most popular account, an ice cream vendor ran out of clean glass dishes to serve his scoops. A neighboring vendor, Ernest Hamwi, was selling 'zalabis' (thin, waffle-like Persian pastries). Hamwi rolled one of his hot waffles into a cone shape and gave it to the ice cream vendor. The combination was an instant success. Before the cone, ice cream was often served in 'penny licks'—small glass cups that customers licked clean and returned to the vendor, which was a significant hygiene risk. The introduction of the edible cone made ice cream a truly portable, sanitary, and 'zero-waste' street food.