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Author: Dina Barabash, Content Development & Web Specialist
Posted: July 16, 2021

It’s National Ice Cream Month, which is perhaps the greatest time of the summer! From classic flavors to creative new masterpieces, there is an ice cream for everyone. NASBA staff have a wide variety of favorites, from vanilla to mint to Rocky Road. Which one is your go-to?

To celebrate this delicious time of year, fun facts about ice cream have been gathered for your reading pleasure. Please enjoy the following facts with a dreamy, creamy ice cream treat of your choosing!

  1. Around 50 percent of the volume of ice cream is air, which gives it a light texture.
  2. The first ice cream truck vendor in the U.S. was Harry Burt who started his business in 1920.
  3. George Washington may have been the nation’s first insatiable ice cream eater. Reports indicate he spent some $200 for ice cream during the summer of 1790. That’s about $5,800 in today’s dollars.
  4. We can thank Baltimore milk dealer Jacob Fussell, dubbed the father of American ice cream, for bringing ice cream to the masses. He pioneered the industry around 1889 when he figured out how to insulate ice houses—and the rest is history.
  5. Today, Americans eat more than 1.3 billion gallons of frozen dairy products every year – that’s almost four gallons, annually, for every American.
  6. Neapolitan ice cream got its name from Naples, Italy.
  7. Chocolate syrup is the most popular ice cream topping.
  8. It takes 12 pounds of whole milk to make one gallon of ice cream.
  9. When enjoying ice cream, gelato or ice pops outside of the home, 81 percent of Americans like to share the experience with family and friends.
  10. Vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor.

Resources:

International Business Times
RisMedia
Food Lion
Discover Dairy
Mental Floss
PWCVA.org