Pancho Villa Loved Ice Cream

Pancho Villa in an ice cream store in downtown El Paso, Texas. Elite Confectionery 201 N. Mesa St. Pancho Villa would visit the Elite Confectionery daily during his exile in El Paso to order his favorite chocolate-covered ice cream "baseballs" for 10 cents. Peanut brittle was another Elite Confectionery specialty. Villa, his friends recalled, could eat a pound of peanut brittle. He would usually order nothing but strawberry soda to go with his treats. Villa completely abstained from alcohol consumption and strictly enforced a drinking ban on his troops. In May 1911, the celebrated El Paso photographer, Otis Aultman, took the well-known photograph of Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco sitting stiffly next to each other at the Elite Confectionery. This was the last photograph taken of the two leaders together. The present Buckler building, which housed the Elite Confectionery, was constructed in 1910.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: El Paso Public Library

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History