CC Brown opened as a candy shop in downtown Los Angeles, California, in 1906 with founder Clifton Hibbard Brown and his father Clarence Clifton Brown (hence the name CC Brown) using copper kettles and candy-making equipment brought from their home in Ohio by covered wagon.

While selling candy, Clifton experimented with chocolate sauce recipes  and eventually hit upon his perfect chocolatey hot fudge sauce.

By heating it gently and serving it in a little jug to pour over scoops of vanilla ice-cream, he allegedly invented the world’s first hot fudge sundae, topped with toasted almonds and whipped cream.

Other innovative ice cream confections included the Lovers’ Delight (for two), the Buster Brown and the Peter Pan.

CC Brown relocated in  1929 to the Hillcrest Cadillac building at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard, near Grauman’s Chinese Theater. 

Crystal chandeliers, high-backed booths made of walnut and mahogany tables were brought from the original location. Employees wore white uniforms and sundaes were served in metal goblets with warm sauces in miniature ceramic pitchers.

Judy Garland was once a waitress and many celebrities joined tourists lining up for delicious treats. There was Clark Gable, Mary Pickford, Joan Crawford, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, to name a few.

Actor Marlon Brando ate his sundaes in his limousine while his family enjoyed theirs inside the restaurant.

John Schumacher, a chemist, bought the business in 1963 and he continued to produce the original recipes in the back kitchen. He and his wife Jo Ellen and their eight children also manned the counter in the busy Walk of Fame location.

In the 1980s, food critic Ruth Reichel described CC Brown’s as ‘such a side of small town Americana that you wonder whether you have somehow stumbled into some old Frank Capra movie set here in the heart of Hollywood.’

In the late 80s and early 90s business suffered because of the downtrodden condition of Hollywood Boulevard at the time and ‘upstarts’ like Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s opening outlets nearby.

The legendary birthplace of the hot fudge sundae closed in 1996 and to many, it was like the passing of a dear friend. Adults, who had come there as wide-eyed children, returned for last treats.

According to reports in the LA Times, news choppers hovered overhead to catch the mile long line of final customers snaking down the boulevard.

You can still taste a CC Brown’s sundae, with the hot fudge sauce faithfully made just as it was in the original recipe, at Lawry’s Prime rib restaurants.

The company bought the recipe from the Schumacher family and preserve the delicious legacy of CC Brown’s to this day. 

Courtesy Eric Lynxwiler.