Walmart’s Ice Cream Sandwiches Have A History Of Not Melting

On August 2nd, National Ice Cream Sandwich Day encourages us to cool off with one of our favorite frozen treats. Whether it’s vanilla, strawberry, or Neopolitan between two chocolate wafers, the dessert sure will hit the spot on a hot summer day.

• The first known record for an ice cream sandwich was in 1894 and used sponge cake with ice cream.
• First seen in the late 1800s, according to Rochester First. Vendors with pushcarts sold ice cream between two pieces of paper in New York City. Deemed “hokey pokeys,” they sold for the price of a single penny.
• The original ice cream sandwich sold for a penny in 1900 from a pushcart in the Bowery neighborhood of New York.
• The vendor’s idea became commercially popular by 1902 and the peddler was busy making sandwiches to order.
• Pictures from the Jersey Shore circa 1905 “On the beach, Atlantic City”, show Ice Cream sandwiches were popular at 1c each.
• By 1940, grocers sold ice cream sandwiches made with crispy wafers.
• One account claims the modern ice cream sandwich with the chocolate wafer was invented in 1945 by Jerry Newberg. The ice cream maker sold his creation at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, PA. At the time, the storied location was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers.
• Although ice cream sandwiches were made by hand and distributed by New York street vendors in the early 1940s, it wasn’t until 1945 that the first ice cream sandwiches were mass-produced.
• The average number of ice cream sandwiches eaten per second nationally is 48.
• The dynamic duo of ice cream and cookies was started in San Francisco in 1928.
• If all the ice cream sandwiches made yearly were placed end to end, they would circle Earth 3 1/2 times.
• The 30-44 age group buys the most ice cream sandwiches.
• The ice cream sandwich is so American it is sold at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
• The rectangular chocolate cookies with ice cream between were patented in 1963 by Jack Delaney, Tim Jones, John Defillippio, and Sam West.
• Ice cream sandwiches are the second best-selling novelty ice cream in America.
• The eastern part of the country consumes almost 50% of ice cream sandwiches in America.
• Around the world:
  • In Australia, ice cream sandwiches are called giant sandwiches.
  • In Iran, they are called bread ice cream and are made with two wafers and with traditional Iranian ice cream.
  • In Israel, they are called Kasata and are a variation of the Italian dessert cassata. It is ice cream between layers of sponge cake
  • In Mexico they are called tortas de nieve or emparedado de nieve and they literally are a sandwich. They are ice cream in a roll or between two pieces of bread.
  • In the Philippines, pushcarts sell ice cream sandwiches with the bread called pandesal.
  • In Singapore, they are called Potong which has two wafers holding together a block of ice cream.
  • In Vietnam, they are called bánh mì kẹp kem is commonly sold on the street as a snack.  Street vendors sell ice cream stuffed between two layers of bread
  • In Scotland and Ireland, they’re called “Sliders”
• The “Chipwich”, an ice cream sandwich made with two chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream rolled in mini chocolate chips, was created in 1978 by Richard LaMotta.
• Walmart’s ice cream sandwiches have a history of not melting. A Youtube video by Consumer Reports that when brought out in 100-degree heat and placed on a plastic tray, the ice cream sandwich was left unbothered for 30 minutes, and barely melted in an hour.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Days of the Year

Mobile-Cuisine

Foodimentary

Crafty Moms Share

Forbes

Flour and Oats

Mashed