The History of Ice Cream

The History of Ice Cream. . Ice cream was not invented, but undoubtedly evolved from the chilled wines and other iced beverages and foods that graced the tables of potentates of antiquity and the water ices that were popular in the early medieval period. In the fourth century before Christ, Alexander the Great is reported to have been fond of iced drinks, one of which, the Macedoine, still is named after him. The Roman emperor, Nero, who lived and ruled in the first century A.D., sent fleet slaves to the mountains to bring snow and ice to cool and perhaps freeze the fruit drinks that he favored. , , When Marco Polo returned from his famous journey to the Orient at the end of the thirteenth century, he brought back a recipe for making water ices, which was said to have been in use in Asia for thousands of years. These water ices became popular in Venice and throughout Italy, and it is possible that milk and cream also were mixed with other ingredients and were served as frozen desserts. From water ices to cream ices was a logical step, but history is silent as to who first took the progressive step. According to one writer, Bernard Buontalenti (1536-1608), an Italian architect, was the first to manufacture frozen drinks and desserts, but they were not well received. The vogue for water ices was established in France when Catherine de Medici, of the celebrated Florentine family, married Henry II in 1533 and brought a staff of her own cooks to Paris. Her son, Henry III, also was addicted to these delicacies and is said to have consumed them daily. , , In the next century in France, ice cream apparently had come into its own, for it is narrated of a court dinner given by Louis XIV that, "Toward the end of the feast, his chef (Vatel) caused to be placed before each guest, in silver gilt cups, what was apparently a freshly laid egg, colored like those of Easter, but before the company had time to recover from their surprise at such a novelty at dessert, they discovered that the supposed eggs were a delicious sweet-meat, cold, and compact as marble." , , A state banquet given by Charles I of England some 300 years ago was made memorable by the appearance of a new and unique dish. The king's French chef had concocted a frozen dessert, or cream pie, which the assembled gourmets received and consumed with delight. Charles was so pleased with his culinary masterpiece that he summoned the cook, bade him to hold the recipe forever a secret and pensioned him with 500 pounds a year, so that the delicacy would be reserved for the exclusive use of the royal table. , , Ice Cream Appears In America , lee cream, like so many other things was brought across the Atlantic by our colonial forefathers. Searching into some personal letters of this day, we find one written in 1700 by a guest of Governor Bladen of Maryland who said, "... we had a dessert no less Curious; among the Rarities of which it was Compos'd, was some fine Ice Cream which, with the Strawberries and Milk. eat Most Deliciously." , , At a festive banquet given in 1774 by the Due de Chartres in Paris, ice cream was served to guests. The frozen dessert was decorated with the ducal coat of arms, skillfully carved in the cream itself. The same year, 1774, is also notable for the first public re-corded mention of ice cream in America A caterer named Philip Lenzi announced in a New York newspaper that he had just arrived from London and was prepared to supply to the gentry various confections, including ice cream. Caterers and chefs of this era sometimes prepared ice cream for a limited clientele, usually on special order. Lenzi inserted other advertisements in the local press in order to call attention to his luscious wares. In the New York Gazette Mercury for May 19, 1777, he thanked his customers for their valued patronage, told of his removal to Hanover Square and stated quaintly, "May be had almost every day, Ice Cream." , , President Washington was known as a man of discriminating tastes. He took his liking for ice cream to his home, Mt. Vernon, where he kept "two pewter Ice Cream pots." It also is said that Washington bought "a Cream Machine for Making Ice" when he was in Philadelphia attending a meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati. Sitting on the banks of the Potomac River, looking out over the rolling greens of Mount Vernon and eating ice cream apparently was a pleasant occupation in the private life of our first President. , , Other famous men who were responsible for founding our country and conquering our frontiers depended on ice cream to lighten the burdens of state and war. General Wayne, hero of the Battle of Fallen Timbers, describes a dinner he and his officers enjoyed at Greenville, Ohio, after returning from a campaign in the West. , , "Officers waiting only long enough to wash away travel stains, sat at a table to dine sumptuously on roast venison, beef, boiled mutton, duck, raccoon, o'possum, mince and apple pies, plum cake, floating island, and to cap the jubilation, dishes of Ice Cream, a dainty which the Army had not seen since it left the East." , , Dolley Madison, wife of our fourth president, generally is credited with having introduced ice cream at a White House reception. "Last night," says a contemporary account of one of Mrs. Madison's family dinners. "I was bid by our president to the White House. and it was a most unusual affair. Mrs. Madison always entertains with grace and charm, but last night there was a sparkle in her eyes that set astir an air of expectancy among her guests. When finally the brilliant assemblage , America's best , entered the dining room, they beheld a table set with French china and English silver, laden with good things to eat, and in the center, high on a silver platter, a large, shining dome of pink Ice Cream." As a climax to Madison's second inaugural ball in 1812, ice cream made of cream from the Madison dairy at Montpelier and strawberries from Dolley's garden was the piece de resistance. , , In 1830, Fredrich Goetz, a confectioner of Ilmenau, Germany, wrote a technical treatise on "The Art of Ice Cream Making," which is possibly the first book of this nature. In America the earliest work on the subject apparently was a book entitled Ice Cream and Cakes, published by Scribners in 1883. The author was given merely as "An American." Another author who mentioned ice cream was Thackeray, who related in "Vanity Fair," published in 1847, that Becky Sharp regarded ice cream as a luxury while on her honeymoon. , , While ice cream had won its place at an early date in the history of our country, it still was a rare dish, partly because it was so difficult to manufacture. Some of this difficulty was overcome when salt was combined with ice to lower the freezing temperature. When Dolley Madison's servants made the ice cream served at the inaugural balls, they had to beat it by hand and shake it up and down in a pan of salt and ice. This was called the "pot freezer method of making ice cream. , , The first improvement in the manufacturer of ice cream was given to us by a woman, Nancy Johnson, who in 1846 invented the hand-cranked freezer. This device still is familiar to many of our grandparents who as boys and girls turned the freezer handle by the hour. By so doing they agitated a container of ice cream mix in a bed of salt and ice until the mix was frozen. As a reward for their labors they received liberal portions of ice cream before it reached the table. Freezers of this type still are to be found in some communities, where they are used in much the same manner as they were a century ago. Because Nancy Johnson lacked the foresight to have her invention patented, her name does not appear on the patent records. A similar type of freezer was, however, patented on May 30, 1848, by a Mr. Young. , , As with many good things, this hand-cranked freezer was imitated and "improved", and many other patents were issued for this general type of freezer. , , Wholesale Ice Cream , The father of the wholesale ice cream business in the United States was Jacob Fussell, a milk dealer of Baltimore, who began to manufacture ice cream in that city in 1851. The business was so successful that he opened additional wholesale plants in Washington, D.C. in 1856, in Boston in 1862, and in New York in 1864. James Madison Horton started The Horton Ice Cream Company in New York City about this time. , , Woman Invents First Freezer , This new enterprise was in sharp contrast to the first small retail establishments where ice cream was made and sold on the premises. , , With the westward migration of pioneers and the development of large western cities, a demand for ice cream sprang up. Perry Brazelton, who learned the ice cream industry from Jacob Fussell, opened a plant in St. Louis in 1858. Later this same enterprising gentleman established two more plants, one in Chicago and one in Cincinnati. , , As late as 1890 ice cream was manufactured commercially by the hand-cranked freezer method. In a reminiscent mood, F.D. Hutchinson, one of Iowa's pioneer ice cream manufacturers says, "I remember that on the Fourth of July in 1890 we shipped out 300 gallons of Ice Cream , all frozen by hand." What a tedious chore that must have been!