Here's the Scoop

Not a news scoop, but something better to really scream about — ice cream.

It's really a cooling topic (pun intended) for scorching 🥵 temps in the U.S. and worldwide.

No lies here, as many already know from other posts, we really like ice cream (a lot).

Luckily Grenville's mid-July birthday was another reason to enjoy our favorite treat as here in the U.S. National Ice Cream Day was Sunday, July 17. (His birthday is July 15, so perfect timing.)

We celebrated early (and often) while on a road trip to Maine for his birthday—And, he thanks ALL for the birthday well wishes. 

During a week-long road trip celebration, we took several outings (more on those later). Along the way found way too many local ice cream vendors. Of course, we had to sample and support these businesses ! Many only open seasonally, so it was a must stop and sample.

Chocolate Drop Candy Shop is a confectionery store on Main Street in Belfast, ME. This vintage era candy shop offers locally made, hand-dipped chocolates, and a selection of classic candies like Necco Wafers, Mallo Cups, Black Jack gum and jelly beans. It includes a clasic fountain counter where you can sit on a stool enjoying a treat of locally sourced ice cream.

July is Ice Cream Month in the U.S.

That's because in 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July, National Ice Cream Month. The third Sunday in July was named National Ice Cream Day. Celebrations have continued, publicized (no surprise) annually. Historically, ice cream has been a key feature in American communities. The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) reports that most ice cream companies are family owned; so many in operation for decades. Did you know that Americans lead the world in ice cream consumption and enjoy on average 23 gallons a year?

Yes, we're helping to do our part. How about you?

There's no definite date of origin or inventor who's been credited with discovering ice cream. Sure, myths abound about its start. Some credit Marco Polo bringing it back from Far East travels. Others say Catherine de Medici introduced it in France. But, ice cream goes back further. Biblical passages refer to King Solomon having cool iced drinks during harvest. In Greece, Alexander the Great reportedly indulged in icy drinks flavored with honey or wine. In Nero's reign, ice was harvested from nearby mountains and held in deep pits covered with straw. This practice of keeping ice in place of refrigeration would become commonplace for centuries.

Stone Fox Farm Creamery in Searsport sells 25 flavors of homemade super premium ice cream (some seasonal) produced at a small plant in Monroe, ME. Ingredients include milk and cream from Hilltop Farm in Maine, real sugar and natural flavorings and extracts. Flavorings and extracts are all natural, and include Maine grown fruit and maple syrup whenever possible from local outlets. Flavors include classics like chocolate, vanilla bean and strawberry to bananas foster, rum raisin and salted caramel.

In 1660, ice cream was made available to the general public when a recipe blending milk, cream, butter and eggs was introduced at the first café in Paris.

The first advertisement for ice cream was in May 1777 in the U.S. was when British confectioner Philip Lenzi advertised that he would make ice cream available to the public in his Manhattan shop and stated in his ad, May be had almost every day.

A few things I found out: Until 1800, ice cream was a rare dessert enjoyed mostly by the elite. About 1800, insulated ice houses were invented, and making ice cream became an American industry. In 1874, the soda fountain shop created the job of "soda jerk." This title was due to the jerking action needed to swing the soda fountain handle back and forth when adding soda water to a fountain beverage. Ice cream merchants invented the Ice Cream Sunday in the late 1890s and later changed it to sunda" to remove any connection with the Sabbath in response to criticism for eating sinfully rich treats on Sunday.

You scream, I scream, We all scream for ice cream!

If you grew up in America, odds are you know this rhyme was often shouted it in anticipation of the arrival of a Good Humor ice cream truck in a neighborhood.

How did that slogan happen? 
As with most things, there's a couple of explanations. And, of course, I had to find out more (and share it here). Hopefully, this will become an ear worm for some of you.

One goes that it was a commercial slogan for a particular ice cream confection, the iconic Eskimo Pie, not it's original name (and renamed again in 2021, more on that later.)

Christian K. Nelson

This well known ice cream treat was created by Iowa school teacher and store owner Christian Kent Nelson in his home laboratory in 1920. While his store was mainly a candy store, it also carried and sold ice cream. Nelson conceived the idea to try and combine chocolate with ice cream, in one handy treat after a boy came into his store unable to decide on what to spend his money on — ice cream or a chocolate bar. Nelson figured that with his new product, customers wouldn't have to decide, and could enjoy both.

After experimenting with different ways to adhere melted chocolate to bricks of ice cream, Nelson began selling his product as the I-Scream bar. I couldn't find any information online as to why he selected this name, except that it's a homonym for ice cream.

In July 1921, Nelson filed for a patent and secured financial backing after signing a partnership agreement with chocolate maker Russell Stover. It was renamed Eskimo Pie, reportedly suggested by Clara Stover. The Eskimo Pie ice cream bar became popular as America's first chocolate-covered ice cream bar. It was another first in that ice cream had never before been delivered in a convenient package to a mass market. The earlier ice cream cone, was made to order, not wrapped and sold in coolers. After franchising, Nelson became independently wealthy from sales royalties. The former teacher ended his career at Reynolds Metal Company in 1961, where he invented new methods of manufacturing (that's right) Eskimo Pies. He died in CA in 1992.

Wild Cow Creamery in Belfast, ME, produces all-natural handcrafted small batch ice cream. Each batch is made with high-quality ingredients and add-ins mixed in by hand. Most bases contain 4 to 6 basic ingredients, including cream, milk, sugar, and eggs. The homemade add-ins include walnut brownies, cookies, marshmallows, almond butter toffee, pecan turtles, cobblers, cakes, and crumbles, no high fructose corn syrup, artificial  flavors or chemical preservatives.

Back to that slogan . . .

Many have credited Nelson with a catchy advertising slogan I-scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream or as as I-scream, you scream, we all scream for the I-scream bar.

But, not all, as others claim its fame stems from a 1927 popular song written by Billy Moll, Robert King, and Howard Johnson called, I scream, You scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream. The verses talk of a fictional college in "the land of ice and snow, up among the Eskimo," the college cheer being the chorus of the song. 

After initial success as a late 1920s novelty song, it became a traditional jazz standard. The lyrics refrain has remained a part of popular culture even without the rest of the song. Notable 1920s recordings were done by Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians for Victor, Harry Reser's Syncopators for Columbia, and The Revelers for Edison Records.

Whether it was an advertising slogan before a song title is uncertain. No one knows for sure.

Splendiferous Sweet Shoppe is an Alice in Wonderland-themed shop in downtown Searsport, ME. It's run by a mother-daughter team who create and sell home-made chocolate specialties in addition to specialty coffee drinks and ice cream. The shop is housed in an a historic bank building that formerly housed a bookshop. Yes, the bank vault is still there.

It's no longer called Eskimo Pie . . .

In 2020, the current owner of Eskimo Pie, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, announced the product would be renamed as Edy's Pie in 2021. The new name was in recognition of candy maker Joseph Edy, a co-founder of Dreyer's. 

Why? Because the former name, Eskimo, is often used to refer to Inuit, Yupik and Aleut people in Alaska. However, it's considered derogatory by tribe members who associate it with non-Native colonizers who often used it in racist ways.

We don't know about anyone else, but the new name doesn't quite have the same appeal to us. 

We're hoping that Klondike Bars keeps its original name.

Curiously enough, the rival ice cream novelties came on the market within a year of one another, Eskimo Pie in 1921. And, in 1922, its rival, the Klondike Bar, was created by the Isaly Dairy Company of Youngstown, OH, and named after the Klondike River in Yukon, Canada.

Eskimo Pie stuck with a tried and true formula of vanilla ice cream and a chocolate shell covering, Klondike offered a variety of ice cream flavors as early as its initial year. To date, Klondike has experimented with multiple ice cream flavors and different shells.

Just wondering —  will you celebrate National Ice 🍦Cream month too?

It's 🥵 everywhere right now, go out and scream for ice cream

And since this post wouldn't be complete without some entertainment, here's a scene from the 1986 film, Down by Law, in which 3 prisoners Jack, Zack and Roberto sing, you guessed it:  

 I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream with other prisoners joining in.

Down by Law is an American black-and-white independent film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni in his first international role. A disc jockey, a pimp and Italian immigrant are arrested in New Orleans and housed in the same jail cell.  If you should find and watch this film, a key element in it is Robby Müller's slow-moving camera work, which captures the architecture of New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou where the cellmates escape.

Last, to answer a question about our favorite ice cream flavors, it's usually one that includes chocolate and coffee in any form, especially with peanut butter; salted caramel has become a recent fave. That said, we're always willing to try new flavors. On this trip, we had blueberry (no surprise being in Maine) and raspberry with "black flies" which were chocolate chips.