Ice Cream

Historical references indicate that frozen desserts existed as far back as the fourth century B.C.E, perhaps originating with chilled wines and other iced beverages, favorites of Alexan¬der the Great. So although ice cream by no means originated in the United States, it certainly was popularized and industrialized in that country. During the American Revolutionary period, George and Martha Washington kept an ice cream maker at their home in Mount Vernon and served ice cream to guests during the first presidency.

Innovations in manufacturing during the latter half of the 19th century made frozen desserts more readily available to everyday citizens. Ice cream shops started opening up throughout the United States. From the late 19th century right into the beginning of the 20th century, temperance and prohibi¬tion movements promoted the idea of the ice cream parlor and drug store as an alternative to the saloon.

Ice cream’s popularity and availability increased with the invention of the first hand-cranked freezer, which was patented in 1843. The first commercial plant for mass production of ice cream opened in 1851 in Baltimore, Maryland. By the end of the century, commercial pro¬duction had surpassed 5 million gallons. As the U.S. population went through tremendous growth, with one wave of immigrants after another entering the country, the demand for ice cream continued to increase. Technological developments—including pasteurization (in 1895), homogenization (in 1899), continuous freezing (in 1926), and overall improvements in production, storage, and distribution—also supported increased consumption.

At the beginning of the 20th century, most ice cream consumption took place away from the home, usually in an ice cream parlor, but consumers soon began the habit of home consumption, carrying their ice cream home in small paperboard containers, typically pints, for immediate consumption. As home refrigeration improved and expanded, ice cream prepackaging at the point of production began to compete with ice cream hand-packed at the ice cream parlor. By the 1920s, marketers were offering prepackaged ice cream in con¬tainers that were the shape and size of ice cube trays made to fit in home freezers. Half-gallon packages debuted in 1948. With time, sales shifted away from hand-packed to prepackaged ice cream, as supermarkets became the dominant chan¬nel of grocery sales and home refrigeration became ubiquitous.