Ice cream has been around for a long time, but when did we get it? The answer is that no one knows! There are many theories about how and why people began eating the frozen treat. One theory suggests that ice cream was invented in China during the 10th century. However, this doesn’t make sense because there were not any dairy farms in China until after 1904. Another theory suggests that Marco Polo brought the recipe to Italy from Persia (modern-day Iran). This also does not make sense because Marco Polo never traveled farther east than modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. There is no clear answer to the question, “When did we get ice cream?”
We can infer from these theories that there are not any definitive answers about when or where people first started eating it. We also know that Marco Polo never traveled farther east than present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan, so if he brought the recipe for iced cream back with him then it would have been created in a location closer to China. That means someone else probably developed this treat somewhere between Persia (modern-day Iran) and Italy. It’s possible they were inspired by something they had eaten before arriving at their new home: perhaps sherbet or even some kind of dairy product like yogurt? The more you learn about how food spreads and evolves, the clearer it becomes that iced cream is a very well-traveled treat.
Back in 1843, when a Bostonian named Nancy Johnson invented our modern version of iced cream by adding sugar and eggs to milk and whipping them all together with ice, she didn’t know her creation was going to change American food culture forever. It’s possible Frederick Belmont first served this dessert on Independence Day because he wanted America’s new citizens to enjoy something as delicious as they were free. But we’re not sure if he made up this story or if some other person did decades before him; there are no records left for us today which might tell us more about how iced creams started appearing at celebrations like these.
In 1874, the first ice-cream vending machine opened in New York City. The idea was invented by an ice cream man named Hoolie Burtz. You could buy a nickel’s worth of this frozen treat and keep it cold with chunks of salt on top as you walked around town–or just eat it there for free if you didn’t want any change! He called his invention “Mr. Fruiz,” but I bet he would have loved to know that we’ve been calling him Mr. Froyo ever since 1920 or so after someone messed up spelling his name at some point along the way; hahaha!
Nowadays, everyone loves their ices in different ways: like full fat, low fat, no sugar added, with extra flavorings like chocolate syrup or whipped cream on top.
Ice cream has been around for over 2000 years. It was originally used to cure ills and as a way of celebrating holidays, like the Roman Saturnalia in December or the Persian New Year’s celebration called Sizdah Bedar in June. In 1690, an Italian chef named Francesco Procopio Dei Coltelli invented granita—a refreshing sorbet-like dessert that could be served with fruit toppings or sweet biscuits and coffee beans on top so it would resemble snowfall. Soon after this invention, gelato became popular among well-to-do Italians who enjoyed desserts with caffeinated beverages before dinner parties. But when did we get ice cream?
In 1776, America had its first taste of ice cream when an iced dessert was served at the first-ever Independence Day celebration in Philadelphia. The cold concoction caused a sensation—so much so that George Washington had another dish of it when he arrived later in the day to give his speech!
In 1843, Nancy Johnson invented America’s hand-cranked ice cream maker, and soon afterward entrepreneurs like Jacob Fussell (see photo) started selling their own versions of what would become known as “Fishermen’s Ice Cream” because they could use fresh dairy from fishermen who brought milk and eggs upriver to New York City where there were no cows or chickens on account of all the people living in cramped quarters back then. These early machines made four gallons of delicious frozen cream at a time.
The early ice cream makers had to use rock salt, large blocks of ice, and snow from the nearest available source—usually their own front yard or a back lot—to keep churning all day long until it was ready for sale in the evening. These days, we have electric machines that make several batches of ice cream per hour which also means you no longer need a backyard full of snow! The only thing that’s still quite expensive is getting your hands on some fresh dairy products outside of major metropolitan areas like New York City… but there are ways around that too these days with refrigerated trucks delivering iced milk and eggs almost anywhere overnight within 500 miles (800km) so now even small towns can enjoy this treat.
