"Pie a la Mode" (Fork? Spoon?)

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   From Ancestry.com.


   27 May 1936, NEWS (Frederick, Maryland), pg. 4, col. 1 editorial:
      _PIE A LA MODE._
   Surely no list of great American inventors is complete without the name of
Charles Watson Townsend, father of pie a la mode, who has passed away in New
York Stste at a great age.  It is to be regretted that the original creation,
due to its perishable nature, is not available for the Smithsonian Institution
or some kindred agency.
   We believe the luncheon clubs and all kinds of citizens who gather at noon
in an atmosphere of good fellowship and chicken croquettes followed by apple
pie with a top dressing of ice cream, will see the propriety of paying tribute
by a moment of silence at their next meetings to the memory of a benefactor.
To the best of our knowledge, it was never officially settled whether pie a
la mode is played with the spoon or fork or both, though common preference
seems to lean to the fork alone.  In any event, millions of his fellow men are
indebted to Mr. Townsend for lending flavor--usually vanilla--to their daily
lives.


   29 August 1963, Nevada State Journal (Reno, Nevada), pg. 7, cols. 3-5:
_Pie a la Mode Invention_
_Of American Restaurants_
   CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. (UPI)--Pie a la mode is as American as baseball or the
Virginia reel but its origin eludes those not aware of this small community in
the Adirondack foothill.
   In 1896, a music teacher, Professor Charles Watson Townsend, regularly
concluded his dinners at the Hotel Cambridge with the combination of apple pie
and ice cream.
   When Mrs. Berry Hall, an employee at the hotel first saw the creation, she
gasped, "pie a la mode."  The name was acceptable enough to Townsend, who
wasn't fussy as long as his favorite dessert was served.
   Later that year at fashionable Delmonico's restaurant in New York City,
Townsend requested "his" dessert.  When the waiter disclaimed knowledge of "pie
a la mode," Townsend was astonished and then indignant.  He called the manager
and described how a little hotel in Cambridge, N.Y. regularly served the
dish.
   With Delmonico's reputation at stake, the flustered manager ordered "pie a
la mode" featured on the daily menu.
   A reporter from the old New York Sun overheard the conversation and the
emergence of "pie a la mode" was told in a feature story in the daily the next
day.  Other newspapers across the nation followed suit and the dessert was soon
a household standby.
   Why did the phrase "a la mode" become so quickly associated with a mound
of ice cream on a slice of pie?  A Wagner College history professor noted that
"a la mode" was used widely in the 1890's to describe anything extremely
fashionable.
   A few persons are aware of the origin of the term.
   Walter Gann, present owner of the Hotel Cambridge, said his sister was
listening to a phone-in-the-answer quiz program in New York when the dessert's
birthplace was asked.  She telephones within three minutes only to be told some
200 listeners had already called in the correct answer.
   Gann credits much of  Cambridge's national notoriety to Roy Shoet, who has
been the radio and television announcer at nearby Saratoga Raceway for many
years.  During the winter months, Shoet broadcast from California and
frequently mentioned the birthplace of "pie a la mode" on a network.
   In addition, Cambridge is a fashionable resort which had catered for many
years to well-traveled guests who spread its reputation throughout the globe.


(She gasped "pie a la mode"?  Actually, Berry Hall saw the ice cream on the
apple pie and gasped, "That's one small step for man..."--ed.)