National Soft Ice Cream Day is observed annually on August 19th. Soft service ice cream is the result of air being introduced to the dairy product during the freezing process.
- In 1934 on Memorial Day weekend, Tom Carvel had a flat tire on his ice cream truck in Hartsdale, New York. After pulling into a parking lot, he began selling the softened ice cream to vacationers driving by. With amazement, seeing the love that people had for soft ice cream, he concluded that a fixed location selling the new-found dessert was potentially a good business idea.
- In 1936, Carvel opened his first store on the original broken down truck site, selling his secret formula soft serve ice cream dispensed from his patented super low-temperature ice cream machines.
- A competitor, Dairy Queen, also claims to have invented soft serve, but they date their creation to 1938, a year after Carvel went into business.
- It’s All About the Air, Aside from the lower fat content and slightly higher temperature, the main reason soft serve is, well, soft, is because it contains a lot more air than traditional ice cream. Called “overrun,” it’s what makes soft serve so fluffy.
- It’s Called ‘American Ice Cream’ in Parts of Europe, Soft serve is actually called “American ice cream” (translated into their local language) in many parts of Europe and Israel.
- It’s called “soft ice” in Germany and parts of northern Europe, “machine ice cream” in Greece and Romania, and “soft whip” in Ireland.
- In Britain, Ireland, Australia, and South Africa, many ice cream vendors sell what’s called a “99,” which is a cone of soft serve ice cream with a Cadbury Flake bar stuck into it.
- It’s Called a Creemee in New England, The term originated in Vermont. If you’re up there and come across any shops selling a maple creemee, which is essentially soft serve flavored with real maple syrup, make sure you try one.
- 1940s – Margret Thatcher, the former U.K. prime minister works for a company dedicated to developing a soft-serve recipe compatible with American machines.
- 1950s – Illegal Soft-Serve- Until the 1950s, the Minnesota legislature actually prohibits the sale of ‘ice milk’ from trucks, specifying that the dessert has to be sold prepackaged
- 1960s – Mechanized air pumps are added to the soft-serve machines, allowing better aeration and boosting sales for ice cream machine manufacturers.
- According to one statistic, 70% of people will choose soft-serve over hard ice cream.
- The Mister Softee Jingle Has Lyrics, And while we’re on the subject of Mister Softee, did you know that its earworm jingle has lyrics?
