Fall Flavor Review

1    Pumpkin Pie Flavor Review

Fall is ending fast, and soon students will flock back to their homes to celebrate Thanksgiving, the last true special fall event. In honor of the special fall holiday, Babcock has created their special pumpkin pie flavored ice cream to commemorate the staple fall dessert. This seasonal delight shares all the same great flavors as a typical pumpkin pie with the added frozen delight that ice cream naturally brings along to the table (or bowl really, I guess). It even features wonderful texture enhancing bits of real pie crust, and lets face it, that is definitely the best part of any pie. So hurry up and enjoy this festive treat in a bowl, waffle cone or whatever tickles your fancy. Just make to catch it while you still can to celebrate the last couple days of fall.
-Brett Hutchison

The Man Behind the Name; Stephen M. Babcock

Stephen M. Babcock

Every University of Wisconsin - Madison student has heard the name Babcock.  Even the students who don't like ice cream have probably drank the milk or walked on Babcock Drive.  The name appears everywhere, but who is this guy?

Stephen M. Babcock is a local celebrity.  He is famous for creating "The Babcock Test." In 1889, William Henry, the dean of the university's College of Agriculture asked Mr. Babcock is design a method to cheaply and effectively measure the amount of butterfat found in a sample of milk.  At that time, the cream separator had recently been invented and butter was beginning to be made in factories.  When butter was just made on farms, it did not matter whether the milk was tested or not.  But in order to pay the farmers appropriately, it was necessary to know how rich a sample of milk was.  The method used for determining the value of milk at that time was much too expensive.  A new method was needed and Mr. Babcock was the guy set to accomplish the task.

"The Babcock Test" is an easy and inexpensive way to test buttermilk content.  It was revolutionary at the time.  And the most impressive thing is Dr. Babcock did not patent his invention.  This means he would not make people pay to use it.  Giving up a patent meant giving up a fortune. This is just who Dr. Babcock was.  He was once described as "a white haired man with a merry laugh" (Henderson).
Today it's been said that Dr. Babcock's milk tester is "one of the world's most important helps to man" (Henderson).  No dairy is complete without one of Mr. Babcock's milk tester.  So next time a University-Student hears the name Babcock, they can think of the profound man behind the title; maybe while also enjoying a delicious scoop of the famous ice cream. :)

Source: 

Hendersen, Margaret G. "A Fortune Given Away." WER:. N.p., 1949. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.     <http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/wireader/WER0659-1.html>.