The Lowe Company went on to catapult Epperson’s invention to national success. During the Great Depression, the company debuted the two stick popsicle to help consumers stretch their dollar, selling the duo for five cents. The company also faced competition from Good Humor--who had recently debuted its chocolate-covered ice cream on a stick--and were sued for copyright infringement. The court’s compromise? Popsicle could sell water-based treats, and Good Humor could sell ice cream pops. Popsicle tested the limits of the agreement, selling a “Milk Popsicle,” and the two companies tussled in court about the definitions of sherbert and ice cream over the years through a series of lawsuits.

The giant food corporation Unilever bought the Popsicle brand in 1989 and further expanded by introducing more options than the original fruit flavors. They also bought Good Humor, ending the feud between the two companies. Over the years, Epperson’s childhood invention achieved icon status, entry into the pantheon of American consumerism where a certain brand’s product become the default term for the item, a la Xerox or Kleenex. Also over the years, Unilever has worked to keep the name Popsicle theirs and theirs alone: in 2010, they threatened legal action against artisan Brooklyn ice pop makers People’s Pops for using the word “popsicle” on their blog.

Things have changed since Epperson debuted his invention almost a century ago. Today, Neptune Beach is nothing more than a mural in a shopping center. There are a dizzying amount of Popsicle choices on the market: Mystery Middle popsicles, Slow Melt Mighty Mini popsicles, and Frozen popsicles ("Pretend your pop is a microphone and belt, 'Let it gooo!'").

But despite the changes, his unhappy exit from the company and his death in 1983, Epperson’s invention--and his apocryphal origin story--continues to charm. He’s buried in Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery, where he’s featured on a tour celebrating food luminaries along with chocolate mogul Domingo Ghirardelli and mai tai inventor Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron. His story has been repeated everywhere, from the official Popsicle website--where it’s illustrated in comic form--to an inspirational Christian self-help book about trusting in God’s grand plan for your life. His childhood invention, born randomly on a freezing night, has also proved to be even more successful than he could have imagined: today, the company sells two billion Popsicles every year.

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How A Bay Area 11-Year-Old Invented The Popsicle