Classic story, at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, a n ice cream vendor ran out of cups. A nearby pastry vendor, Syrian Ernest Hamwi, decided to help out by wrapping his waffle pastry into cones. It was a hit. However it is important to note that even though the Fair made headlines for cones, a patent for an ice cream cone was actually filed earlier in that year by Italian immigrant Italo Marchiony.