We All Scream for ICE CREAM!

Maybe not scream, but verbally make our desire known. Forcefully.

And we desire ice cream often. ‘We,’ meaning a lot of us, although not all of us. I realize there are a few souls out there who are not ice cream fans. All I can say is…I’m sorry.

Ice cream enthusiasts have their favorites – hard, soft, yogurt, sherbet, shaved ice – the varieties are endless. So are the flavors, with new ones constantly being invented, although vanilla endures as the most-sold flavor worldwide.

Whatever your political persuasion, we can thank Ronald Reagan for designating July Ice Cream Month, and the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day.

Ice cream has been enjoyed by folks for centuries, although for a very long time only the wealthy and privileged could afford the indulgence. Much of the early history of ice cream is legend and conjecture. The first known version of ice cream can be traced to 4000 B.C. Nobles along the Euphrates River in the Middle East built icehouses for their cool creations. Iced delights are recorded in ancient China, and later in Persia and India. Marco Polo brought a sherbet recipe home from his travels to the Far East in the 13^th century. Catherine de Medici introduced ice cream to the French and English nobility in the 16^th century. Ice cream crossed the Atlantic thanks to Thomas Jefferson, who discovered the treat in France, and George Washington, who purchased a mechanical ice cream maker for the enjoyment of his family and guests. 

Industrial innovations spurred the development of mass-produced and low-cost items in the 19^th century, ice cream being one such item. Common folk could now experience the treat.

There is a lot more to the story of ice cream as it made its way around the world and into our tummies. I bet there are few home freezers today without at least one box of ice cream on the shelf, although if they’re like my house, the containers disappear quickly. 

One last tidbit of historical trivia. When ice cream sodas were introduced in the late 1800s, blue laws banned the sale of soda drinks on Sundays. To placate religious critics who railed against eating sinfully rich ice cream sodas on Sundays, merchants left out the carbonated water and invented the Ice Cream Sunday, the name ultimately changed to sundae to eliminate any religious connection.