July Is National Ice Cream Month: Celebrate It In The Hamptons

Summer has always been the time of year for cold, creamy treats. But it wasn’t until 1984 that Ronald Reagan declared July “National Ice Cream Month.”

More specifically, the third Sunday of the month (which happens to be July 17th this year) is National Ice Cream Day. Don’t hesitate to put the date on your calendar — but don’t feel pressured to wait until the 17th, either.

Indulge all month at your preferred Hamptons ice cream location. Maybe homemade flavors at Bridgehampton Candy Kitchen are your thing. Perhaps Sag Harbor‘s Ice Cream Club or Big Olaf does it for you. Whatever your choice, remember that it’s you duty to honor ice cream devotees and innovators everywhere this month. With that said, we’ll leave you with a few fun facts about the history of the frozen delicacy. [expand]

Did you know?...

* Each American consumes a yearly average of 23.2 quarts of ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, ices and other commercially produced frozen dairy products.

* The Northern Central states have the highest per capita consumption of ice cream at 41.7 quarts.

* More ice cream is sold on Sunday than any other day of the week.

* Ice cream and related frozen desserts are consumed by more than 90 percent of households in the United States. (Source: Mintel)

* Ice cream consumption is highest during July and August.

* The most popular flavor of ice cream in the United States is vanilla (27.8%), followed by chocolate (14.3%), strawberry (3.3%), chocolate chip (3.3%) and butter pecan (2.8%). (Source: The NPD Group’s National Eating Trends In-Home Database)

* Children ages two through 12, and adults age 45 plus, eat the most ice cream per person.

The average number of licks to polish off a single scoop ice cream cone is approximately 50.

The History of Ice Cream and the Cone:

The true origin of ice cream is unknown, however reports of frozen desserts have been reported as far back as the second century B.C.

* The first official account of ice cream in America was recorded in 1700 from a letter written by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen.

* In 1812, Dolley Madison served a magnificent strawberry ice cream creation at President Madison‘s second inaugural banquet at the White House.

* The first ice cream cone was produced in 1896 by Italo Marchiony. Marchinoy, who emigrated from Italy in the late 1800’s, invented his ice cream cone in New York City. Around the same time a similar creation, the cornucopia, was independently introduced at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

* Stephen Sullivan of Sullivan, Missouri was one of the first independent operators in the ice cream cone business. In 1906, Sullivan served ice cream cones at the Modern Woodmen of America Frisco Log Rolling in Sullivan, Missouri.

Sources: International Ice Cream Association, a constituent organization of the International Dairy Foods Association (www.idfa.org). [/expand]