Ice Cream in America
By Harriet Whipple
2008 - Little Red Press
Americans have loved ice cream right from the start. You might say that Ice Cream is as American as Apple Pie. George Washington ate it at Mount Vernon. First Lady Dolly Madison served the treat at her husband’s inaugural ball. But, in the early days of the republic, making ice cream at home was strictly a luxury for the elite.
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The delicacy required a surplus of sugar, salt (both expensive, imported products), cream, and labor—plus an ample supply of ice, which had to be cut out of rivers and ponds during the winter and stored with the hope it'd last until summer
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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 innovations, including steam power, mechanical refrigeration, the homogenizer, electric power and motors, packing machines, and new freezing processes and equipment. In addition, motorized delivery vehicles dramatically changed the industry. Due to technological advances, today's total frozen dairy annual production in the United States is more than 1.6 billion gallons.
Ice-cream machines slowly became smaller around the 1880s and many people had them in their home. They typically consisted of a metal inner pail with a paddle attached to a crank handle.
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In 1926, the continuous-process freezer was invented, allowing mass commercial production of ice cream.
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Ice cream became an edible morale symbol during World War II. Each branch of the military 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 cream. Americans consumed over 20 quarts of ice cream per person in 1946.
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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 fountains of days past, as well as with new generations of ice cream fans.
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