Where Does Ice Cream Come From?

School is back in session, so we have decided to feature  some historical ice cream facts that you can share with your classmates, friends, and teachers. For instance, do you know where ice cream originated? Most believe that it’s a native of Italy because of their famous gelato, but that is not really accurate. Here’s the truth and some more fun facts about the history of ice cream.

• There are records of people eating a basic form of ice cream as early as 350 B.C.E. Alexander the Great was said to have enjoyed honey-flavored ice.
• The Chinese took ice cream making to the next level around 200 B.C.E. by packing together rice, milk, and snow. Emperor Tang of the Shang Dynasty was thought to have over 90 “ice men” who were responsible for making ice cream by mixing different flavors with the ice.
• Emperor Nero of Rome sent his servants up the mountains to collect snow for his ice cream.
• Marco Polo brought Sherbet back from China. Catherine de Medici then took sherbet to France and King Charles I took it to England. It is said that King Charles liked ice cream so much that he had his own secret recipe that he refused to share with the public.
• A store began to sell ice cream to the greater population of France in the late 1600s.
• American Presidents love ice cream: President George Washington loved Ice Cream; in 1790 he bought $200 worth of it over the summer (about $3,000 today). Thomas Jefferson created his own vanilla recipe. President Madison’s wife served Strawberry Ice Cream at his second inaugural dinner.
• The first ad for ice cream being sold in stores was in 1777 in the New York Gazette. This was difficult because until the 1800s, people did not have insulated freezers and therefore the ice cream would not last very long.
• Nancy Johnson invented the hand-cranked churn in 1843. Jacob Fussell built the first ice cream factory in Pennsylvania in 1851.
• The development of ice cream was help out by the Industrial Revolution: Carl von Linde of Germany invented the industrial refrigerator in the 1870s, making it easier for ice cream to be produced on a high scale.
• In the late 1800s religious leader condemned eating ice cream sodas on the holy day leading to the invention of ice cream sundaes where shopkeepers would use syrup instead of soda.
• Ice cream began to be sold in grocery stores in the 1930s and was popularized by WWII troops.

Photo by John Vachon

As we can see from looking at the history of ice cream, the delicious dessert we have all come to love has come a long way since it was first created over 2,000 years ago. Do you know any more historical facts about ice cream? Do you have any memories in which ice cream played a role in your life?