Why Is It Called A 99

So there I was, standing in a queue at a seaside van on a blazing hot August afternoon. The man in front of me, a sunburned dad in flip-flops, turned to his kid and said, “Get a 99, mate. You’ll love it.” The kid nodded, and I thought: Why ninety-nine? Is it ninety-nine pence? Nope, it’s like three quid now. Someone once told me it was because King Edward VII asked for “one of those, and make it look like a 99” — but I’ve got no clue if that’s true. So I did what any slightly obsessed person does on a long train ride home: I dug into the history. And let me tell you, the answer is weirder and way more Italian than you think.

The Great Ice Cream Conundrum

First things first: a 99 is a soft-serve ice cream cone with a Cadbury Flake stuck in it. That’s it. No gimmicks, no secret sauce, just vanilla soft serve and a chocolate stick that crumbles like a delicious disaster waiting to happen. (Side note: why does the Flake always fall off right when you’re about to take a bite? It’s a test of character, I swear.) The mystery, of course, is the name — and it has nothing to do with the price, the year, or some royal decree about a “99” shaped cone.

The most widely accepted story actually starts in Scotland in the 1920s. An Italian immigrant named Stefano Arcari opened a shop in Glasgow and sold ice cream with a wafer, but he wanted something special. He got a shipment of Flakes from Cadbury, which had just launched them in 1920, and decided to put it right in the middle of his cones. Why call it a 99? Because, according to his son, their shop at 99 Portobello High Street in Edinburgh was the birthplace. Boom. That’s the local legend, anyway. (But wait — there’s a twist, because history never gives us a clean answer, does it?)

The Competition: Italian Ice Cream Kings

Another theory comes from the Italian ice cream community in the UK. Many of those early gelato makers — the ones who brought soft serve to British beaches — were from a town called Portobello in Italy. And in Italian slang, “99” was supposedly the code for “emergency” or “the best” among vendors. (No, I’m not making this up — it’s like a secret handshake for gelato bosses.) Some historians even say that “99” referred to the price in old Italian lira: 99 centesimi, which was a nice, affordable number. But that doesn’t hold up because the Flake wasn’t part of that original Italian recipe.

Still, my favorite story — the one that keeps me up at night in a good way — is about King Edward VII. Apparently, he visited a shop in London and asked for an ice cream. The vendor handed him one with a Flake, and the king said, “Make it look like a 99!” — referring to the number on the door of a local club or something. This story is almost certainly total baloney, but I love it because it’s exactly the kind of nonsense people repeat at parties to sound smart. (You can use it, by the way. I won’t tell anyone you’re lying.)

The Cadbury Factor

Let’s talk about the Flake itself, because it’s not just any chocolate. Cadbury invented the Flake in 1920, and it was this weird, crumbly, almost brittle bar that didn’t melt in your hand — perfect for ice cream. The marketing team at Cadbury noticed that when you stuck it in a cone, it looked like the number “99” if you squinted really hard. (Okay, I’m paraphrasing, but they actually claimed the shape of the Flake resembled the numerals.) It’s a bit of a stretch, sure, but in the world of branding, if you can get people to connect your product to a number, you’re golden.

Here’s where it gets ironic: today, a 99 always means a Flake. But back in the 1930s, you could just ask for a “99” and get a plain cone with a wafer, because the name caught on before the chocolate did. It’s like ordering a latte and being surprised you don’t get a plain coffee — the magic is in the extra. (Ever tried a 99 without a Flake? That’s just vanilla ice cream with a wafer. It’s called a plain cone, my friend. Don’t let anyone upsell you.)

The Real Reason? It’s Kinda Romantic

After all this digging, the truth is that nobody knows for sure. That’s the beauty of it. The name “99” is like a little urban legend that changes depending on who you ask. But the most believable origin — the one that doesn’t involve kings or lira — goes back to that shop in Edinburgh, where the owners literally stamped “99” on their cones as a house number. People came in, said “I want one of those 99 cones,” and the name stuck. The Cadbury Flake was just a delicious bonus.

So the next time you’re sweating on a beach, holding a drippy 99 with chocolate crumbs on your shirt, remember: you’re eating a piece of Scottish-Italian history with a side of mystery. And honestly? That makes it taste even better. Especially when the Flake falls off, and you have to pick it up off the sand and eat it anyway. (We’ve all done it. No shame.)

Now, go buy a cone, call it a 99, and impress the vendor with your knowledge. Or just enjoy the ice cream. Either way, you’re part of a tradition that’s secret, silly, and sweet — just like the number itself.