For a number of years, there stood a 10,000 pound concrete ice cream cone in front of the home of Jennifer Hawn Caldwell on Wilshire Place, just off Santa Fe.
Five or six times during the year, the cone would be repainted to highlight the current season or holiday. New themes always appeared for Valentine’s Day, Easter, July 4, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
The whimsical cone soon became an iconic Corpus Christi attraction for tourists and locals alike.
I, for one, never missed an opportunity to photograph the latest paint job and take a quick selfie.
The origins of the huge cone are somewhat of a mystery.
Apparently, the cone first came into existence in the early 1950's.
It stood out in front of a place called "The Sundae Cone" at 1719 Morgan (at 15th Street), owned by Mr. and Mrs. Earl Ashmore. They sold hamburgers, but their specialty was soft serve ice cream, injected with what they said was "rich flavor injected by a special machine".
Newspaper ads from the 1950's and 60's indicate that the Sundae Cone was open from 1952 to 1969.
So what happened to the cone? A March 1975 Caller-Times ad listed a “10,000 pound ice cream cone" that was for sale. The same cone? Probably.
Jennifer Caldwell passed away in July of 2018. Her family decided to donate the iconic cone to the Ronald McDonald House behind Driscoll Children’s Hospital.
In February 2019 the massive cone was transported to its new location. A ribbon cutting ceremony in June 2019 dedicated the cone to the memory of Jennifer Hawn Caldwell.
Robert Parks is a special contributor to KRIS 6 News. Parks was a history teacher at Carroll High School for 19 years and is now retired. His knowledge of Corpus Christi history makes him a unique expert in the subject.
