99 Flake
Encyclopedia : 9 : 99 : 99F : 99 Flake
A 99 Flake (now Flake99) can refer to an ice cream cone with a Cadbury Flake chocolate bar inserted in it; a specially produced Flake bar for this purpose; or a wrapped ice cream cone product marketed by Cadbury. It was originally designed to be a cuboid, and fit into a wafer. It was later adapted for a cone.
99 ice cream
A 99 Flake ice cream, or more commonly just 99, is a standard ice cream cornet, usually made with soft, rather than scooped, ice cream, into which a Flake bar is inserted, typically at a 45-degree angle. They are traditionally sold by ice cream vans and parlours and are a typical holiday (summer vacation) memory for most British people. Variations include a 99 with two flakes and a 99 with strawberry or raspberry topping sauce.
There are many references to 99s in British pop culture. Notably, the pop-electronica duo The KLF used ice cream van iconography and included the phrase "Mine's a 99" in their songs.
For a long period of time in the 1990s, many ice cream stands sold Flake 99s for the appropriate sum of 99 pence.
Cadbury 99 Flake bar
In 1930, Cadbury started producing a smaller version of the standard Flake bar especially for ice cream cones. These were marketed under the name 99 Flake and sold loose in boxes rather than individually wrapped like the traditional Flake.
Name
The origins of the name are uncertain. One claim is that the '99' was coined in Portobello, Scotland, in 1922, by the Arcari family, who owned a well known ice cream shop there. They sold ice-creams with half a large 'Flake' inserted in the top, and reputedly gave it the name simply because the shop was sited at 99 High Street. The idea spread locally, then further afield.
Another theory (put forward by a Cadbury's sales manager, but now proved to be unfounded) was that the name came from Italy: "In the days of the monarchy in Italy the King had a specially chosen guard consisting of 99 men (The Guard actually consisted of 110), and subsequently anything really special or first class was known as 99 — and that is how the 99 Flake came by its name". The Wordhunt initiative in 2005 found that the myth actually referred to the Vatican's Swiss Guard, which traditionally had 105 members, and now has 100.
Another explanation for the name could refer to the last wave of conscripts for the First World War having been born in 1899 and referred to as "i Ragazzi del 99" - the Boys of '99. They were held in such high esteem that there are even streets in Italy named in honour of them after the War. If the 99 was launched in 1928 then possibly this was the reason why ice cream sellers in the UK were attracted to the name. It could well be that the chocolate flake reminded Italian ice-cream sellers (many of whom hailed from mountainous areas in the Veneto, Trentino, Bellunese and Friuli) of the famed Alpine Regiments - the Alpini - who wear a long dark-coloured feather cocked at an angle on their helmets.
Yet another ingenious suggestion is that the initials of "Ice Cream", IC, form the Roman numerals for 99 (being 100 - 1). In practice, the number 99 is not written like this but as XCIX (wafer, chocolate, ice cream, wafer?). It could, of course, be that the name was coined by someone who either did not know this or ignored it.
And, finally, a company known as "Askey's" first established a cone called "99". As people ordered this, "99 with a flake" would have been shortened over the years to "99 flake".
The Cadbury's website says that the reason behind the Flake being called a 99 has been "lost in the mists of time".[#endnote_cadbury]
Cadbury 99 Flake ice cream
Cadbury now also produce a ready made, wrapped ice cream cone, similar to a Cornetto, with a Flake already inserted. These products are also called 99 Flake, and come in a variety of flavours.
References
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