I . Ihadcfinrk Aid 2AS AHfgcimCninrSIlnmf .. : ; Pure Refreshing 9 The. Origtnct Drink On n Stick' US Patent Nc 15Q3S92, August tf,I92f frank V. EppcraonjOakfaruCat. An early advertisement touted Popsicle's refreshing qualities. By Steven LsVoie ONE OF SUMMER'S favorite treats is that all-American standard, the Popsi-cle an Oakland invention that revolutionized summertime refreshments. ' mmhpmm Its creator. Frank W. While his frozen-treat. business boomed. Epperson's real estate business quickly fell into ruin. Four, of his five partners lost their fortunes and committed suicide. m w t :-vn)or- M- h Epperson, was 1 1 years old when he left, a glass of fruit soda swizzle stick still in it on his family :s San Francisco porch one winter in 1905. The drink froze solid overnight in a record cold... The next morning. Epperson pulled. on the stick and the prototype Popsicle came out of its mold. Many years later he described the incident to his wife. Mary, who suggested he go into the ."ice lollipop business. Epperson took her advice and leased the defunc.t . Oakland Ice Co. , plant on San Pablo Avenue, near the family ceramics plant, to mass-produce his invention. . He named his product the "Ep-Sicle" after icicle" - and began selling it from the back of his Dodge sedan at bustling amuse-. . ment parks at Neptune Beach in Alameda and' Idora Park in Oakland. Epperson's children were the Ep-Sicie's biggest fans. One day Epperson's son George asked . his dad for one of Pop's sides." Epperson immediately renamed, the product as a tribute to . his chijdrep., .'..Popsicle sjjcks originally were made of ihort lengths of round dowel, which was readily available from local suppliers.". Eppersoir worried. that children might slip on the round . sticks, and decided to use flat material instead-- '- material that he found unavailable. To rescue his business. Epperson was forced to sell the Popsicle patent to a New Jersey investment group. The Popsicle Corp, grew into the muliimillion-dollar. enterprise it is today. Meanwhile. Epperson continued his clever ways. His next invention was a powdered drink . known as Hi-Dry. forerunner of Kool-Aid and Tang. He also blended a high-quality shampoo named Vitecn. which he sold to beauty parlors. Epperson's family descendants of the French Due d'Epernon had come to the Bay Area with the GotTHph. After the 1906 earthquake. Henry Thorpe Epperson moved his children to a house on Athens Avenue in the McCly-monds section of West Oakland. Around the corner, on San Pablo Avenue. . he founded the California Toy and Bisque Doll Co,: which made kewpie dolls and ceramic figurines. To sell their wares, the family put son Frank in charge. of a store the H.C. Epperson and Son Art China Shop, -r at 1 4th and . Washington streets.. Frank later went bn to sel housing in the Montclair and Arlington areas of North Berke- . ley. For his own nine children. Epperson built a large, unusual house on ' Kingsland Avenue . overlooking the Maxwell Park section of East Oakland, The Popsicle inventor and his wife evehtin ally, retired to Fremont, where Epperson died -in .1983 at age89. -r - Epperson left his legacy built into the. ar? . He was forced to fabricate his own sticks but of waste. boxes scavenged from the Kraft, cheese factory at '2601 Adeline St. . -,v; Using a paper cutter.1 he- cut the waste ..wood into sticks and . printed . Popsicle-' on each, using a small hand-printing press in the . attic of his family home. ' When the stock market crashed in 1929. Popsides were being sold as far away as Egypt. THllWUire, uf two of; his homes. His Maxwell Park house shows a distinct Popsicle-stick mo- . tif. A summer home in Pacifica was built with . .driftwood and shards of glass, from bottles of his, Viteen shampoo; ' Stnva LaVoie's Time Capsule column looks back evtny-Sunday on the .East Bay's past. Have a column . ldiaH. Please call Stew at 5I0-tH5-2745. or write lit the . . Oakland Tribune.. p.O. Box 21104. Oakland. G4 04621