Sure, July’s most famous holiday is the one celebrating our fine nation’s birth, but let’s not forget one of the month’s other noteworthy events: National Ice Cream Month. In 1984, Ronald Reagan designated the whole month as such, and he also named the third Sunday of July (yesterday) National Ice Cream Day. His proclamation called for people to observe these with “appropriate ceremonies and activities.” I neglected to eat any ice cream yesterday, but in the last 10 days of the month, I plan to give ice cream a proper celebration. ICE CREAM BY THE NUMBERS:
9: percent of the milk produced by U.S. dairy farmers used to make ice cream. [IDFA]
57: flavors of ice cream and sorbet available at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Personally, I’d like to try scoops of taro and avocado. [Chinatown Ice Cream Factory]
1744: year of the first official account of ice cream in the “New World.” [IDFA]
200: amount, in dollars, President George Washington spent on ice cream during the summer of 1790 (and I thought I had a problem). [IDFA]
23.3 billion: amount, in dollars, spent on ice cream and frozen desserts in 2007. [Packaged Facts]
1903: year the ice cream cone was patented by Italo Marchiony. [IDFA]
20: years peanut butter cup ice cream from Milk & Honey in Canton, OH, has been my favorite flavor.
