Did you know that July is Ice Cream Month? And while Canadians may consume more ice cream in the harsh cold winter months (no seriously, we do) we can’t think of a tastier way to cool off during the Manitoba heat waves. Here are some interesting ice cream facts to enjoy, and some great Eastman locations to go grab a cone, or a split, or a parfait, or even a cake!1. Ice Cream was first said to be created in Ancient Greece before the idea of a refrigerator ever came to pass. The so-called “Ice Cream” was incredibly rudimentary, being a mixture of snow honey and fruit, but it was still the beginnings of a great tradition.

2. There are over 1000 flavours of ice cream.

3. The average number of licks to finish a scoop of ice cream is 50.

4. It takes 11 litres of whole milk to make one gallon of ice cream. No wonder it’s so creamy.

5. The country that consumes the most ice cream is the USA, followed by Australia then Norway.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lanky’s (@lankyshotdog) on Jun 18, 2016 at 12:32pm PDT

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Beausejour Dairy Bar (@beausejourdairybar) on Jul 4, 2016 at 12:57pm PDT

6. Chocolate ice cream was invented before vanilla.

7. The most popular flavour is Vanilla.

8. Chocolate is the second most popular flavour followed by Cookies N’ Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Butter Pecan, Birthday Cake, Strawberry, Moose Tracks, and Neapolitan.

9. Some of the strangest flavours found are avocado, garlic, chilli, licorice, Stilton cheese, and bacon.

10. The first written ice cream recipe was found in a 1665 recipe book.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Pennyweightmarket (@pennyweightmarket) on Apr 15, 2020 at 9:21am PDT

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by De’s Family Grill & Dairy Hut (@des_dairy_hut) on Jun 16, 2019 at 5:52pm PDT

11. Industrial ice cream production in the US began in 1851.

12. The tallest ice cream cone was over 9 feet tall in Italy.

13. Chocolate syrup is the most popular ice cream topping.

14. The average American eats 45.8 pints of ice cream a year.

15. When town leaders in Evanston, WY, made it illegal to sell ice cream sodas on Sundays, shop owners invented the ice cream sundae. They replaced the soda with syrup to get around the law, and they replaced the ‘y’ in Sunday with an ‘e’ in order to avoid offending religious leaders.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Town Bake Shop & Ice Cream (@townbakeshop) on Jun 13, 2020 at 10:25am PDT

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Nite Hawk Cafe Est. 1970 (@nitehawkcafe) on Jun 30, 2018 at 8:22am PDT

16. Around 50% of the volume in ice cream is air, which gives the dessert its light texture.

17. The ice cream cone was invented at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 when a Syrian named Ernest E. Hamwi used batter at his waffle booth to make cones to help out his neighbour, an ice cream vendor who had run out of bowls.

18. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan declared July to be National Ice Cream Month.

19. The first ice cream truck vendor in the United States was Harry Burt, who started his business in 1920.

20. Italian ice cream, called gelato, is hugely popular. In 2017, Italy produced 19% of all ice cream made in Europe, totalling 157 million gallons, or about 6.8 billion scoops.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Nicki (@nickiw_4) on Jul 14, 2019 at 5:45pm PDT

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Airliner Drive-In (@airlinerdrivein) on Jun 15, 2018 at 1:59pm PDT

21. In Italy, there are over 19,000 gelaterias (ice cream parlours) employing over 69,000 people. Most of them are small, family-owned businesses.

22. The popular phrase, “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream” comes from a song written by Howard Johnson, Billy Moll and Robert King in 1927.

23. The largest ice cream sundae ever made was made in College Station Texas, where approximately 4,000 people both made and ate the entire dish in under 30 minutes.

24. The average cow produces enough milk over its lifetime to make 7,500 gallons of ice cream.

25. Ice cream consumption increased dramatically during prohibition, as many breweries switched to making ice cream.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lauren Weise (@laurenweise) on Jun 2, 2020 at 3:20pm PDT

26. Rocky Road was originally marketed during the Great Depression as a metaphor for coping with the economic crash.

27. In Canada, more ice cream is sold in winter than in summer. Leave it to the Canadians for being different.

28. Did you know that there is a variety called fried ice cream? Yes, a scoop of ice cream is flash-fried to give it a crunchy coating. The core remains cold.

29. -13° to -11°C is the ideal temperature for scooping and serving ice cream.

30. Ben & Jerry’s employees get to take 3 tubs of ice cream home with them every day.

31. Ever gotten an ice cream headache from eating your Phish Food a little too quickly? This is what’s really going on: when something really cold touches the roof of your mouth, the blood vessels that run between your mouth and your brain tense up, trapping blood in your brain. The pressure from that extra blood causes brain pain. If it’s particularly bad, try pressing your tongue against the roof of your mouth — this warms the roof up enough that the vessels will unclench.

So there you have it, 31 interesting facts about ice cream to help you celebrate ice cream month this July! When you visit your favourite ice cream bar this month, you can share some of the facts with the people you meet and see what other interesting facts you can learn about ice cream!