Snowballs

Snowballs are uniquely Baltimorean. I have never seen them in any part of the United States. Along with the arrival of warm weather came hundreds of snowball stands, many of them in the basements of row houses.

Basements had windows which opened up to the sidewalk about two or three feet above the sidewalk level and voila, there was a business location. The capital requirements were minimal; for less than $25.00 you were in business.

A metal box about 3x3x6 with a hinged lid on the top and a blade in the bottom was the device used to shave the ice. The bottom was scraped across a block of ice and the shaved ice was deposited in the device. The hinged lid was opened and the shaved ice was deposited into a paper boat. Flavored syrup was shaken into the shaved ice, a flat wooden paddle-like spoon was added and a five cent snowball was ready.

Syrup was made by mixing a five pound bag of granulated sugar with five gallons of hot water. This made twenty quarts of simple syrup. A tablespoon of concentrated flavor extract was added to each quart to complete the process. A tablespoon of concentrated citric acid was added to the fruit flavor. Chocolate flavor was made with half chocolate syrup and half simple syrup.

Sugar cost about fifty cents for a five pound bag and flavor extract was thirty-five cents for an eight ounce bottle. I don’t remember what the paper boats and spoons cost, but it was minimal. The total cost of the snowball was less than two cents.

We began selling snowballs in the store about 1965. I bought a snowball machine for $250.00. This was basically a large blender about three feet tall with a circumference of about a foot with an electric motor to turn the blades. Ice chunks were deposited into the top and a six ounce cup was held under the spout. A lever started the motor and shave ice was deposited into the cup. Flavor and the flat spoon were added and the five cent snowball was ready. Chocolate flavor, ice cream, and marshmallow were each five cents extra. The snowball machine paid for itself in about two months.

We doubled the amount of sugar and flavor extract used which made for a much better snowball. The profit was still there. One summer, David ran the snowball business. He purchased the supplies, kept records, sold the snowballs and retained the profits. As I recall, he ended up with six or seven hundred dollars at the end of the summer; and that was 1965 dollars.

Today there are very few snowball outlets, all with a minimum price of a dollar for a ten ounce cup of shaved ice and a sprinkle of flavor. My, my!