We already know that Pittsburgh is famous for its world-class businesses, schools, and museums, but this area is also home to several unique, interesting, and even delicious inventions. The famous banana split, which was invented in 1904, was the product of a 23-year-old optometrist. More a result of necessity than creativity, the small green Mr. Yuk stickers began here at Children’s Hospital, and the Clark bar was originally made for American soldiers fighting in World War I. And who can forget the Big Mac? McDonald’s well-known sandwich was first served in nearby Uniontown in the late 1960s. Read on to find out more about these four distinctive, Pittsburgh-original products!

The Banana Split
What do you get when you combine one banana, one scoop each of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream, chocolate syrup, strawberry sauce, pineapples, crushed nuts, whipped cream and a cherry? You get an unmistakable dessert that originated in 1904 in nearby Latrobe, Pa.

Dr. William Strickler, the inventor of the banana split, got the idea from watching soda jerks while vacationing in Atlantic City. His goal was to improve sales and marketing at the pharmacy where he apprenticed, and it didn’t take long for his ice cream treat to catch on with local college students. Once St. Vincent College’s coeds starting spreading the word about Strickler’s delicious dessert, sales took off and the banana split was here to stay. When it first began selling, the banana split cost 10 cents, which was twice the amount of a regular sundae. Some people who remember when the banana split was first introduced recall that when two young people were on a date, the man would buy his “best girl” a banana split. “Other girls just got ice cream cones,” Strickler was quoted as saying.
 
The Mr. Yuk Sticker
“Mr. Yuk means no!” are famous words most children associate with this tiny green frown-faced sticker. Known worldwide as the symbol for avoiding poisonous substances, it originated at Pittsburgh’s own Children’s Hospital in 1971. Hospital officials wanted a different symbol than the traditional skull and crossbones, which children often associated with pirates or adventure. Children’s Hospital also wanted to create awareness for the Pittsburgh Poison Control Center’s 24-hour hotline. After testing different colors and symbols on children, they settled on the infamous green frown because children were most disgusted by it. One child even called the sticker “yucky.” Since its creation, more than 42 million Mr. Yuk stickers have been distributed around the world, and free sheets of Mr. Yuk stickers are available by contacting the Pittsburgh Poison Center at Children’s Hospital. They are all printed with the phone numbers for the national poison control hotline that directs callers to their nearest poison control center anywhere in the U.S.

The Clark Bar
By 1917, the North Side based D. L. Clark Company was already well on its way to producing a lot of distinctive candy that Pittsburghers loved. And like many other U. S. companies of the time, the D. L. Clark Company wanted to do their part for the war effort. The Clark Bar was created with U. S. soldiers in mind. The five cent bar was individually wrapped to make shipping overseas easier and more convenient for soldiers. Even though the candy bar was created in the states, it didn’t enjoy local popularity until after the war, when the grateful soldiers spread the word about the Clark Bar at home. The Clark Bar is similar in taste to the Butterfinger, featuring a peanut butter crisp coated in chocolate, and shares fame with two other D. L. Clark candy bars: the Zagnut and the Coconut Crunch bars. An early inspiration for the candy bar supposedly came from an early employee’s pet chinchilla named Clark Can’t. Today the Clark Bar is such an old favorite that displaced Pittsburghers, especially on the West Coast, have the candy bar shipped to them.

The Big Mac
“Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun” is the famous jingle that refers to a 1968 Pittsburgh area creation, McDonald’s Big Mac sandwich. Frank Berardi is the man who claimed to have served the first Big Mac as a teenager, but the invention is credited to Jim Delligatti, a franchise owner in the Pittsburgh area. What was so different about this sandwich was not only the extra meat, but the additional bun in the middle of the sandwich, which was in place to stabilize the toppings and prevent them from spilling. Moving beyond recognition in the fast food world, the Big Mac is used by The Economist as a way of evaluating currency values and cost of living in different countries. Based on purchasing power parity, or PPP, the idea that the dollar should buy the same amount in all countries, the Economist uses the Big Mac as a basis for determining that. Since the Big Mac is sold in 120 different countries, the Big Mac index can be applied almost anywhere. This theory is what The Economist calls “burgernomics.” There aren’t many sandwiches that can say they have infiltrated global market research, and it is a credit to the Pittsburgh area that such an invention was the idea of one our own.  

Bal, Kecia. “Towns divided over who created the ice cream treat.” Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_206001.html. 1 August 2004.)

Martin, Chuck. “The Great Banana Split.” The Cincinnati Enquirer.” 3 June 2001. online edition.
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/06/03/tem_the_great_banana.html
www.foodtimeline.org/foodicecream.html#bananasplit
www.pittsburgh.about.com
www.necco.com/aboutus/history.asp
www.answers.com/topic/clark-bar
www.economist.com/markets/bigmac/index.cfm
www.answers.com/topic/big-mac
www.mcdonalds.com