No-Bake Banana Split Dessert

Who created the banana split? The world may never know.

According to the folks of Wilmington, Ohio, local restaurateur, E.R. Hazard created the iconic American ice cream treat in 1907 as a means of attracting local college students to his eatery. If you travel just 275 miles away to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, however, you'll hear lore of David Strickler, a former local pharmacy clerk who supposedly created the nostalgic, soda fountain confection in 1904.

Both towns stick to their guns on the origin of this American classic, and in Wilmington, they even hold an annual Banana Split Festival to commemorate our favorite treat from the bygone soda fountain era. In Latrobe, a man by the name of Joseph "Ice Cream Joe" Greubel, president of the Valley Dairy restaurant chain, claims that he personally talked with Strickler about his creation, which in his words, "originally cost 10 cents, twice the price of regular sundaes." Ice Cream Joe also says that even the National Ice Cream Retailers Association has declared Latrobe the home of the banana split, which is likely why if you do simple Google search, most of the results will tell you the same.

Early Walgreens drug stores, operated by Charles Rudolph Walgreens in the Chicago area, are often credited with spreading the word nationally about the banana split and bringing about its widespread popularity. The store promoted the sundae as their signature dessert, attracting customers that would have otherwise been in and out after filling their prescriptions.

Though Wilmington and Latrobe are split on the split's origin, they both agree on the classic formula. Three scoops of ice cream, 1 vanilla, 1 chocolate and 1 strawberry. Pineapple, strawberry and chocolate sauces, a whole banana, halved, and whipped cream, cherries and nut garnishes.