Product Innovation
In 1920, when Burt was operating an ice-cream parlor and confectioner business in downtown Youngstown, he developed a chocolate coating that was "compatible" with ice cream. According to testimony provided by his widow more than a decade after his death, Burt came up with the idea of inserting a wooden stick into a chocolate-covered bar of ice cream in either 1920 or 1921. This was at least a year before the appearance of the Good Humor bar's closest relative, the Eskimo Pie.
On January 30, 1922, Burt applied for patents that would cover the process and manufacturing apparatus as well as the product itself. In October 1923, he was granted patents for both the process and manufacturing equipment, but not for the product. Sadly, this development opened the way for legal battles during the years to come.
Read more about this topic: Harry Burt
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