The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.net Wednesday, July 24, 2013
In 1984 President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and
the third Sunday of the month at National lce Cream Day. He recognized ice cream as a
fin and nutritious food that is enjoyed by a full 90% of the nation’s population.
In the proclamation, President Reagan called for all people of the United States to
observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
The Evolution of Ice Cream
Ice cream'’s origins are known to reach back as far as the second century B.C. al-
though no specific date of origin nor inventor has been undisputably credited with its
discovery. We know that Alexander the Great enjoyed snow and ice flavored with honey
and nectar, Biblical references also show that King Solomon was fond of iced drinks
during harvesting. During the Roman Empire, Nero Claudius Caesar (A.D. 54-86) fre-
quently sent runners into the mountains for snow, which was then flavored with fruits
and juices. : :
Over a thousand years later, Marco Polo returned to Italy from the Far East with a
recipe that closely resembled what is now called sherbet. Historians estimate that this
recipe evolved into ice cream sometime in the 16th century. England seems to have dis-
covered ice cream at the same time, or perhaps even earlier than the Italians. "Cream
Ice," as it was called, appeared regularly at the table of Charles:| during the 17th cen-
tury. France was introduced to similar frozen desserts in 1553 by the Italian Catherine
de Medici when she became the wife of Henry Il of France. It wasn't until 1660 that ice
cream was made available to the general public. The Sicilian Procopio introduced a
recipe blending milk, cream, butter and eggs at Café Procope, the first café in Paris.
lee Cream for America
The first official account of ice cream in the New World comes from a letter written in
1744 by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen. The first advertisement for ice
cream in this country appeared in the New York Gazette on May 12, 1777, when con-
fectioner Philip Lenzi announced that ice cream was available "almost every day."
Records kept by a Chatham Street, New York, merchant show that President George
Washington spent approximately $200 for ice cream during the summer of 1790. In-
ventory records of Mount Vernon taken after Washington's death revealed “two pewter
ice cream pots." President Thomas Jefferson was said to have a favorite 18-step recipe for an ice cream
delicacy that resembled a modern-day Baked Alaska.
Until 1800, ice cream remained a rare and exotic dessert enjoyed mostly by the elite.
Around 1800, insulated ice houses were invented. Manufacturing ice cream soon became an
industry in America, pioneered in 1851 by a Baltimore milk dealer named Jacob Fussell. Like
other American industries, ice cream production increased because of technological innova-
tions, including steam power, mechanical refrigeration, the homogenizer, electric power and:
motors, packing machines, and new freezing processes and equipment. In addition, motor-
ized delivery vehicles dramatically changed the industry. Due to ongoing technological ad-
vances, today's total frozen dairy annual production in the United States is more than 1.6
billion gallons.
Wide availability of ice cream in the late 19th century led to new creations. In 1874, the
American soda fountain shop and the profession of the "soda jerk" emerged with the inven-
tion of the ice cream soda. In response to religious criticism for eating "sinfully" rich ice
cream sodas on Sundays, ice cream merchants left out the carbonated water and invented
the ice cream "Sunday" in the late 1890's. The name was eventually changed to "sundae" to
remove any connection with the Sabbath.
Ice cream became an edible morale symbol during-World War Il. Each branch of the mili-
tary tried to outdo the others in serving ice cream to its troops. In 1945, the first "floating
ice cream parlor" was built for sailors in the western Pacific. When the war ended, and dairy
product rationing was lifted, America celebrated its victory with ice Crean. Americans con-
sumed over 20 quarts of ice cream per person in 1946.
In the 1940s through the ‘70s, ice cream production was relatively constant in the United
States. As more prepackaged ice cream was sold through supermarkets, traditional ice
cream parlors and soda fountains started to disappear. Now, specialty ice cream stores and
unique restaurants that feature ice cream dishes have surged in popularity. These stores
and restaurants are popular with those who remember the ice cream shops and soda foun-
tains of days past, as well as with new generations of ice cream fans.
in Summertime... than
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