The History of Ice Cream

Ice cream has been around for thousands of years, or atleast something resembling it. One of the earliest accounts of someone eating ice cream was during the Roman Empire when Nero Claudius Caesar ordered his men to go to the mountains and return with snow and then flavoured it using juices and fruits.

After that, a thousand or so years later, Marco Polo created what closely resembles sherbet. He was travelling in the east and returned to his home in Italy with the recipe in mind, so it’s unknown whether he got inspiration from the east or not. Historians believe that Polo’s recipe is what evolved into today’s ice cream. Around the 16th and 17th centuries, “cream ice” appeared at royal tables in England, Italy, and France. Then in the mid-1600s, ice cream was available to the public instead of just available for royal families. Ice cream travelled the oceans to the Americas shortly after and expanded steadily. It followed a similar path as before, only being enjoyed by the elites. George Washington mentioned how he spent $200 on ice cream one summer. Thomas Jefferson had an 18-step recipe for what seems awfully similar to a Baked Alaska.

In the 1800s, insulated ice houses came around and ice cream became more and more common, turning into a booming industry around the country. The wide availability of ice cream in the 19th century led to some unique new creations. For example, the Ice Cream Sundae used to be called Ice Cream Soda. However, following religious criticism, they dropped the carbonated water from the recipe and changed the name to Ice Cream Sunday. Then to remove all religious affiliations from the treat, they changed Sunday to Sundae.

Ice cream was also heavily prevalent during the second world war. When the war ended and dairy restrictions were lifted, people celebrated by having a whole lot of ice cream. It’s estimated that Americans consumed about 20 quarts of ice cream per person in 1946. That’s a whole lot of ice cream! With the widening availability of ice cream now being sold in ice cream parlours and supermarkets, ice cream has grown to be what it is today.