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The Way I See It: Jims, Jimmys or Jimmies…They’re All Good

July 18, 2011 - Norway - As I have mentioned in columns past, one of my absolute favorite things about summer is going to the ice cream stands that are only open during this time of the year.

With the recent heat I have been making more trips to the local ice cream stand than is good for my wasted waist, but it has been a refreshing way to cool down a bit in the evenings. Also, I think black raspberry ice cream covered in chocolate jimmies is not a bad way to end a day.

I think jimmies are the most tasty little bits of curiosity going. No one knows for sure why they are called jimmies or who even invented them, though there is a lot of speculation.

There is one story that the tiny chocolate confections were named after a boy named Jimmy who got them on his birthday ice cream. This particular Jimmy is the namesake of the Jimmy Fund, the children’s cancer charity favored by the Boston Red Sox. There is no proof of that.

There are a variety of other Jims, Jimmys or Jimmies that different stories attribute the chocolate sprinkles name to. There is no proof in any of them.

There is a candy company in New York called Just Born that takes credit for both the creation of jimmies and the name. As the story goes, the machine that makes the jimmies was invented by the company founder, San Born, and that the name is from Jimmy Bartholomew, who operated the machine. An interesting story, but there is no proof of it.

Just Born, the company that also makes marshmallow Peeps and Mike and Ike candy, was founded in 1923. However, a newspaper ad in the Nashua, N.H., Telegraph in 1921 promoted an ice cream treat with chocolate sprinkles. That would pretty much shoot a hole in the Just Born story, at least as the inventors.

Jimmies, no matter who invented them or who they are named for (Jimmy Bartholomew sounds like a plausible story) are incredibly popular. They certainly are popular with me and not just on ice cream. They dress up a cake or cupcakes and I’ve even sprinkled them on puddings.

Over the years since chocolate jimmies came on the scene, other colored sprinkles have appeared. There are rainbow sprinkles and red, white and blue sprinkles available at most ice cream stands and solid-colored sprinkles often used at bakeries.

They’re all good and certainly dress up an ice cream cone or a cake, but can you call them jimmies? It seems to me that only the original chocolate variety are truly jimmies, but there’s no proof in that.

I avoided jimmies for a long time, not because I didn’t like them , but because I mistook a small brown ant on an ice cream cone covered with jimmies and ate it. I realized my mistake when I felt the ant moving on my tongue. That led to a bout of spitting and hysterics and swearing off jimmies forever.

But, forever is a long time and I eventually got over it, though ever since the ant incident I check my jimmies for movement.

Jimmy Bartholomew, Just Born or Jimmy Fund, whichever is responsible for jimmies, I and many others thank you. There is no question that jimmies are good and the way I see it there is a whole lot of proof in that.

Sharon Bouchard, Sun Journal, July 2011


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