Were You There When New England’s Ben & Jerry Created a Monster, 13-Ton Ice Cream Sundae?

Ever wonder what Paul Bunyan would eat if he went through a bad breakup? Thanks to Ben and Jerry, some New Englanders got to see firsthand 40 years ago this spring.

Long before America was on a first name basis with Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenberg, the duo was hard at work making not only ice cream, but a name for themselves. According to their online biography, the duo invested $12,000 in their first ice cream shop (located inside a renovated gas station in Burlington).

While the journey to ice cream superstardom can’t be rushed, the road wasn’t all that rocky (pun intended, thank you). Just a year into their business partnership, they were able to hold their first annual Free Cone Day.

By the early '80s, Ben and Jerry were using a VW Squareback wagon to export their ice cream to local shops, and soon, they had their second shop. But as 1983 rolled around, Ben and Jerry were thinking bigger. Much bigger. To be even more specific: the biggest.

Residents in St. Albans, Vermont, soon began to see flyers advertising Ben & Jerry’s attempt to build the world’s largest ice cream sundae.

On April 15, 1983, crowds gathered in downtown St. Albans to see “The Vermonster” – a massive sundae that weighed 27,102 pounds.

Like a pair of record-setting snowmen in Maine, the world’s biggest sundae is all gone. However, Ben & Jerry still sell a smaller version of the concoction, believed to be freshly made and not just leftover ice cream from that frosty day in ’83.