"Alfred L.Cralle"{September 4,1866-1920}

Was an African-American from Virginia,who became and inventor and

businessman in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania.He is best remembered for inventing the ice cream scoop in 1897.He was born in Kenbridge,Lunenburg County,Virginia,just after the end of the Civil War (1861-1865).He attended local schools and worked with his daddy in the carpentry trade as a young man,becoming interested in mechanics.Alfred was scent to Washington,D.C. where attended Wayland Seminary one of a number of schools by the American Baptist Home Mission Society to help educate African Americans after the Civil War.He later settled in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania where he first serve as a porter in a drug store and at a hotel.It was while working in Pittsburgh as a porter that he noticed that ice cream,which had become a popular confection,was difficult to dispense.It tended to stick to spoons and ladles,usually requiring use of two hands and at least two implement to serve.To over come this,he invented a mechanical device now known as the ice cream scoop and applied for a patient  on February 2,1897,he was granted U.S.Patent #576395.Alfred's ingenious invention,originally called an "Ice Cream Mold & Disher" was design to be able to keep ice cream and other foods from sticking,and easy to operate with one hand with one hand.Strong and durable,effective,inexpensive,it could constructed in almost any desired shape,such as a cone or a mound,with no delicate parts that could break or malfunction.