Profile America – Sunday, June 8th.
One of the joys of summer and sins of consumption goes back to this date in 1786 when commercially made ice cream was first advertised in New York City. Until then, ice cream was a privately prepared treat, but the New York Post Boy announcement stated that anyone “may be supplied with ice cream every day at the City tavern by their humble servant, Joseph Cowe.” However, the supply was as limited as the technology of the age, and ice cream didn’t become a widespread favorite until the advances in electrical power and refrigeration in the early 20th century. In 1910, Americans on average consumed a little less than two pounds of ice cream a year. Today, that figure is just over 18 pounds, and making ice cream and frozen desserts is a $7.6 billion a year business. Profile America is in its 17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sources:
www.readwritethink.org/resources/resource-print.html?id=20510
Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970 p. 331
http://todayinsci.com/Events/Foods/IceCreamOrigin.htm
www.ers.usda.gov/datafiles/Dairy_Data/pcconsp_1_.xls
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ASM_2011_31VS101&prodType=table NAICS 311520
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Follow Us