Had something of a discussion in work to the above item of food…(plus talked about 1/2p sweets… they were the days lol)
Anyway…
Curiousity got the better of me, and(thanks wikipedia lol)99 ice cream
A 99 Flake ice cream, or more commonly a 99, is an ice cream cone, usually made with soft serve ice cream rather than scooped ice cream, into which a Flake bar has been inserted, typically at an acute angle to the cone. The ice cream is usually vanilla flavoured. They are traditionally sold by ice cream vans and parlours. Variations include a 99 with two flakes – often referred to as a double 99 or “bunny’s ears” – and a 99 with strawberry or raspberry topping sauce, sometimes known as Monkey’s Blood.[citation needed]
There are many references to 99s in British pop culture. The pop-electronica duo The KLF notably used ice cream van iconography and included the phrase “Make mine a 99” in their 1991 single version of “Justified and Ancient”.
For a long period of time in the 1990s, many ice cream stands sold Flake 99s for the appropriate sum of 99 pence.
[edit] Cadbury 99 Flake bar
In 1930, Cadbury started producing a smaller version of the standard Flake bar especially for ice cream cones. These were marketed under the name 99 Flake and sold loose in boxes rather than individually wrapped like the traditional Flake.
[edit] Name
The origins of the name are uncertain. One claim is that the ’99’ was coined in Portobello, Scotland, in 1922, by the Arcari family, who owned a well known ice cream shop there. They sold ice-creams with half a large ‘Flake’ inserted in the top, and reputedly gave it the name simply because the shop was sited at 99 High Street. The idea spread locally, then further afield.
Another possibility is that it was named by Italian ice-cream sellers (many of whom hailed from mountainous areas in the Veneto, Trentino, Bellunese and Friuli) in honour of the final wave of conscripts from the First World War, born in 1899 and referred to as “i Ragazzi del 99” – the Boys of ’99. They were held in such high esteem that some streets in Italy were named in honour of them. The chocolate flake may have reminded them of the Alpine Regiment’s hat, with a long dark feather cocked at an angle.
The Cadbury’s website says that the reason behind the Flake being called a 99 has been “lost in the mists of time”. Although it also repeats an article from an old Cadbury works paper, which states the name came from the guard of the Italian king which consisted of 99 men and “subsequently anything really special or first class was known as 99.”