Date: Fri 23-Jul-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

ice-cream-history

Full Text:

The Great Summer Soother: The Scoop On Ice Cream

(with photos)

BY JAN HOWARD

I scream, you scream, we all scream for... what else? Ice cream!

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines ice cream as a sweet

flavored frozen food containing cream or butterfat and usually eggs. Well, not

always. Somehow that definition fails to fully convey what ice cream really is

today.

No doubt the Webster's lexicographer never visualized the varieties of ice

cream available to us today. You only have to look in the frozen food section

of any supermarket to know that ice cream can be anything from sugar free to

lactose free, or low fat to non-fat and many other categories in between, in

addition to the original creamy confection with plenty of calories.

It also comes in numerous sizes and shapes, including pints, quarts, half

gallons, packaged cones, sandwiches, sticks, and cups.

No matter what time of year it is, ice cream of some sort is the dessert of

choice, but there is something really special about ice cream in the summer

time, no matter how it melts and drips off the cone onto your hand.

What could taste better on a hot, humid, summer day than a tall cone of your

favorite flavor ice cream or a root beer soda topped with big scoops of

vanilla ice cream? How many times have you slipped out of work on a hot day,

ignored lunch, and headed straight to the local ice cream shop? Or at least

wanted to.

Ice cream has been the awesome finale to gourmet dinners, a la baked Alaska.

It is the perfect topping for birthday cake or, more commonly now, it can be

the main ingredient in the birthday cake. A milk shake is the perfect

accompaniment to a hamburger.

How many Newtowners keep a close eye for when The Ice Cream Shop on Church

Hill Road opens in the spring? Its opening is a sure sign that warm weather is

on the way after a long, cold winter. Newtown's love affair with ice cream has

gone on for more than a century.

Resident Jennifer Ober recently said in a Snapshot feature that one of her

most vivid memories of Newtown was serving a lot of ice cream at The Ice Cream

Shop.

Some desserts are good by themselves, but add a couple of scoops of ice cream

to hot apple or blueberry pie, or apple crisp, and they become extra special.

Years ago, ice cream socials offered opportunities for residents to get

together. Old-fashioned ice cream parlors were also popular gathering places,

particularly in the summer, in Newtown and other locales.

A stop at the local ice cream shop for a sundae or banana split is the perfect

way to top off a summer evening of a movie, game of miniature golf, or a

Little League game.

The History Of Ice Cream

The first written comment on ice cream in America comes from a letter written

in 1744 by William Black, a guest of Thomas Bladen, the proprietary governor

of Maryland.

Mr Black wrote, "You saw a plain proof of the great plenty of the country, a

table in the most splendent manner set out with great variety of dishes, all

served up in the most elegant way, after which came a dessert no less curious;

among the rarities... was some fine ice cream which, with the strawberries and

milk, eat most deliciously."

Ice cream is believed to be a Chinese invention. Originating as "water ices"

some 3,000 years ago, it was brought to the west by Marco Polo.

In America, George Washington made it, Mrs Alexander Hamilton served it, and

Dolly Madison popularized it.

Ice cream was often served at elaborate dinners as the piece de resistance ;

at President James Madison's second inaugural ball in 1812, the climactic

moment was marked by the serving of ice cream. The cream came from the

President's dairy at Montpelier and strawberries from Mrs Madison's garden

topped the dish.

In 1851, Jacob Fussell, a milk dealer in Baltimore, set up the first large

wholesale ice cream business.

In 1874, according to legend, the ice cream soda was introduced at the

semi-centennial of The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The ice cream cone

reputedly was originated at the St Louis Fair in 1904.

By the early 1900s, millions of Americans ate ice cream, in cones, sodas,

sundaes, and out of bucket freezers. The old pot freezer, in which the

ingredients were beaten by hand and then shaken up and down in a pan of ice

and salt until frozen, disappeared in 1846 when Nancy Johnson invented the

hand-cranked portable ice cream freezer.

The sundae, originally an ice cream soda without soda, came into being to

skirt a law prohibiting the sale of "stimulating beverages" on Sunday. Ice

cream was offered in Newtown along with "temperance" drinks in the late 1800s.

A Local Favorite

On June 24, 1892, The Newtown Bee reported that "On Saturday, the room over

the post office will be opened with a line of ice cold temperance drinks

constantly on hand; also, bread, pie and cake. Ice cream will be dished out or

sold by quart or gallon, every day in the week except Sunday, and Newtowners

will be supplied with an article long needed and missed by the home people, as

well as summer boarders."

Ice cream, it seems, was back by popular demand by residents and tourists

alike.

In 1916, the front rooms of the Troy building in Sandy Hook were remodeled by

Jack O'Neil, who turned them into an ice cream parlor called The Golden Peach.

After Mr O'Neil's death in 1923 from pneumonia and pleurisy, Steve Wargo

continued the business until about 1930.

The business had been moved across the street in 1920. The new store was built

in 30 days and first occupied on July 4, 1920. On May 14, 1920, the newspaper

reported on the groundbreaking for the foundations for the new building of The

Golden Peach. "Mr O'Neil has bought some fine windows for his building, taken

from the old Masonic home in Wallingford. The new building will give him a

sunny and attractive place for his business. It will be a monitor, or

one-story building, and well lighted with numerous windows."

On July 8, 1921, The Bee cheered the fifth anniversary of The Golden Peach.

"The little shop, which started in 1916 in the Troy block opposite the present

location, gave little promise at the start that it would develop into the

permanent business which has become an institution in Sandy Hook. The only

shop open after 6 pm, its welcome rays of light have guided many weary

travelers on their way after satisfying their hunger or motor trouble. The ice

cream, sandwiches, soft drinks, etc are presided over by Mrs Winslow... The

Peach is a popular trysting place, and the younger set have made it the center

of social activities in the village. The phone is busy day and night..."

The shop used ice cream as an enticement in advertisements for other

offerings, as was noted in the July 28, 1916, Bee . "At The Golden Peach ice

cream parlor, John O'Neil, the proprietor, has also placed on sale the latest

magazines. Call and get a plate of ice cream."

A May Day party on May 14, 1920, was hosted by the sophomore class at Hawley

School for their schoolmates. It included a mock athletic meet with games,

such as a crab race and honeymoon race, and refreshments, including ice cream,

"which disappeared with astonishing rapidity."

Ice cream was served up for patriotism during World War I. At a July 4 event

in 1918, ice cream sales raised over $100 for the Red Cross.

Other worthy causes have profited from the sale of ice cream. Food sales by

the Grange often included the creamy treat. In the May 15, 1998, Top of the

Mountain column, residents were urged to "Stop by The Ice Cream Shop on Sunday

between 11 am and 5 pm and buy an ice cream sundae." The annual Sundae Sunday

benefited Newtown Junior Women's Club's state project, "Special Wishes," which

helps children with life-threatening diseases. The Ice Cream Shop donated a

portion of its sales of sundaes to the cause.

On April 8, 1932, The Bee reported that "John L. Burr on Main Street, manager

of the local store of the A & P Company, has leased a part of the store

vacated by George Fatool in the Atchison block, and will open an ice cream

parlor with restaurant and confectionery in about two weeks."

And so it goes. Down through the years ice cream has remained a favorite treat

for people of all ages.

Good Therapy

Though it definitely is not medicinal, ice cream can be therapeutic. Because

it is cold and goes down the throat so easily, ice cream is top on the list of

requests after a child's tonsils have been removed. In fact, many a kid has

probably complained about a sore throat longer than necessary in order to keep

that ice cream coming. Even adults have been known to treat themselves to ice

cream when they have a sore throat.

Ice cream can be a great reward. In June of 1998, the Newtown Middle School

cafeteria was filled with ice cream-eating sixth graders, who had been reading

and answering quizzes on their own time as part of an incentive program for

kids to read, read, read!

There is nothing like a hint of warm weather to bring out the ice cream

eaters. In March of 1998, according to The Bee of April 3, a cavalcade of

minivans jockeyed for position in the parking lot at The Ice Cream Shop on

Church Hill Road that Monday, "a day that seemed more like the end of June

than late March. The shop has been creating something of a traffic jam since

it opened, with scores of youths and families seeking out frozen treats."

In July of 1998, with power out in the center of town, there were a half dozen

cars at The Ice Cream Shop and more pulling in, their drivers determined not

to let a lack of power get in the way of an ice cream cone.

The owner of the shop, Wendy White, said her staff could not use the soft

serve machine, but they lit candles and continued to scoop hard ice cream

until 9 pm.

In August of 1998, an ambulance crew rushed to The Ice Cream Shop at dinner

time on an emergency call that, in the end, turned out not to be serious.

According to The Bee , "The staff was so glad to see the crew that afterwards

they offered the EMTs ice cream cones." Everyone apparently declined because

it was close to dinner time except for Ken Lerman, who accepted, saying

"What's wrong with ice cream for dinner?"

Nothing, particularly if you did not have it for lunch.

(Additional information for this story was compiled from The American Heritage

Cookbook and Daniel Cruson's Images of America book, Newtown. )