The Memorial Union first opened its doors Oct. 5, 1928, at the University of Wisconsin. Now, exactly 75 years later, the Union will announce the results of its Ice Cream Jubilee competition.
The contest, just one of the many activities featured this fall in celebration of the Union’s 75 years of existence, began last May when people from all over the country were asked to create a new flavor of ice cream and name it.
Of the 1,100 submissions entered, only five were chosen as finalists. This past Friday, students, faculty and Madison citizens alike were invited to sample the remaining flavors in order to determine a winner.
From 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, eager testees spilled over the steps of the Union, awaiting their chance to get in on the free-ice-cream mania.
“I waited in line for a half hour and it wasn’t really worth it,” UW senior Cheryl Bourne said. “All you got were these tiny little scoops of each, and I really only liked one.”
Long lines and warm weather did not deter the hungry crowds, and though the tasting was scheduled to end at 7 p.m., there were still people in line well after 7:45 that night.
Babcock ice cream has been popular with children and adults for years, but very few know the actual history behind the university-made tasty treats. The home of the illustrious ice cream, Babcock Hall’s Dairy Store, first opened in 1951, but it was many years before that in 1890 that Stephen M. Babcock himself first developed the world-famous Babcock Test. Used to determine the amount of butterfat in milk, the Babcock Test is still used as a means of determining which cows produce the richest milk.
It was this original idea, to find and produce the richest, creamiest milk possible, that allowed the Dairy Store to create the ice cream for which it is now known.
And now, the remaining five flavors: Terrace Chairy, Union Utopia, Rathskeller Razzleberry, Never Terrace Apart and Der Banana Splitskeller are all competing for that one spot alongside such classics as Butter Pecan and Fudge Marble in the long line of Babcock ice cream tradition.
