It’s summer, it’s 1999, and you’ve just reached the ice cream van with a round pound coin for a Mr Whippy with a Flake and red sauce. You’re handed 1p change and life is good – well, it was back then.
That’s all changed and now ice cream vans this summer have been seen charging everything from £2.50 to as much as £6 for a single 99 Flake. Thanks, inflation. But surely it should be 99p because it’s a 99 Flake right?
One Reddit user had asked how much a 99 Flake cost where they live, and was greeted by a reply that was immediately fact checked, sparking the whole debate anew. It turns out that there’s all sorts of theories on the name – from the Roman army’s soldiers to the street address of the shop where the ice cream was first sold.
u/cheerybottom said: “99p I thought that’s why it’s called a 99”
But u/windymiller said; “The name’s been around since the 1930s, before decimalisation. More likely they priced it at 99p rather than a pound because of the name, for the period that £1 was a reasonable price for it.”
Price theories were blown out of the water by u/decktheballz who said it’s actually based on the adress of the first 99: “The name has nothing to do with price. Stefano Arcari who had opened a shop in 1922 at 99 Portobello High Street would break a large Flake in half and stick it in an ice cream. The name derived from the shop’s address.”
But Cadburys has a different answer, it says it’s to do with the King’s army. On its product names website, Cadburys says: “The real reason for “99 Flake” being so called has been lost in the mists of time, but this is an extract from an article which appeared in a Cadbury works paper many years ago: “At a recent sales conference, Mr Berry, a sales manager, told a story of how Flake became associated with ice cream and how “99” Flake came by its name.
“When I first came north in 1928 I found out that some of the Italian soft ice cream makers in County Durham were trying ways of introducing other lines to increase their sales, which in those days were largely in the form of sandwich wafers.
“The possibilities were obvious if we could get a suitable line, both in shape and size and texture – and the most promising was Flake, which at that time only sold as a 2d line, and therefore had to be cut with a knife to reduce its size.
“It proved very successful and its popularity quickly spread. After successive introductions of half penny and 1d Flake, both of which were sold with ice cream, the Sales Committee finally agreed to produce a special size to fit the sandwich and Mr Berry visited a number of Italian customers in the area. After this of course the cornet with the Flake placed temptingly in the top of the ice cream became very popular.
“In the days of the monarchy in Italy the King has a specially chosen guard consisting of 99 men, and subsequently anything really special or first class was known as “99” – and that his how “99” Flake came by its name.”
Indeed, the Italian ’99 men’ explanation has been floated before too.
So who is right? Cadbury or Redditers? We may never know for sure, but one thing is certain: it’s nothing to do with costing 99p.
Which might make you feel a little better the next time you hand over a fiver at an ice cream van and don’t get any change.