Is nothing sacred?

This famous premium ice-cream brand has been around since 1961 - but how, exactly, is it spelt, and has it always been spelt that way?

Created in the Bronx, New York by Reuben and Rose Mattus, it brought the world such delights as the Banana Brownie Split, Cookies and Cream and Strawberry Cheesecake amongst many others.

Some people remember the current spelling of "Häagen-Dazs" differently, where the final "s" is dropped. The usual problems with there being a branding change apply - companies are extremely reluctant to do this without good reason since they usually invest millions in establishing it, and the longer it has been around the more so this is the case.

Origin of the name

The founder, Reuben Mattus, came up with the name supposedly as a tribute to the way Denmark looked after the Jews in World War 2. He was a little off the mark, since it's nothing in common with anything Danish - especially the umlaut - and the name didn't have any meaning anywhere before he invented it. Since he was in the US, and wanted to draw a connection with the reputation Denmark had for its dairy products.

His daughter said he spent hours combining cut out nonsense words together before he came up with one which sounded right.