Nancy M. Johnson
The first ice cream maker was invented by Nancy Johnson in 1843. It was a hand cranked freezer that set down the methods that we use today.
Jacob Fussell
In 1850, Jacob Fussell, a milk dealer, Became the "father of ice cream." He had extra cream, so he decided to build an ice cream factory. He made the ice cream in Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania, then shipped it up to Baltimore by train.
Alfred Cralle
Alfred Cralle decided it was time for ice cream to have a utensil of its own. So, on February 2, 1897, he invented an ice cream mold and scooper.
William Dreyer and Joseph Edy
During the Great Depression, Dreyer and Edy invented Rocky Road Ice Cream, chocolate ice cream with marshmallows and nuts, to give Americans something to enjoy while they suffered through hard times.
During the Great Depression, Dreyer and Edy invented Rocky Road Ice Cream, chocolate ice cream with marshmallows and nuts, to give Americans something to enjoy while they suffered through hard times.
Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins
“Not everyone likes all of our flavors, but each flavor is someone’s favorite.”
-Irv Robbins
75 years ago, Burton “Burt” Baskin and Irvine “Irv” Robbins dreamed of creating an ice cream shop that would be a neighborhood gathering place for families. However, they did not start out together. Burt opened Burton’s Ice Cream Shop in Pasadena, California. Irv opened Snowbird Ice Cream Shop in Glendale, California. By 1948, the two men had six stores between them.
In 1953, the two separate chains of stores became linked under the name “Baskin-Robbins 31 Ice Cream.” The now-famous “31” logo represented a flavor for each day of the month and featured polka dots in the colors pink (for cherry) and brown (for chocolate) that reminded customers of clowns, carnivals and fun.
Today, the logo is pink and blue, but Baskin-Robbins is still a place for families to go for delicious ice cream in 31 flavors.
-Irv Robbins
75 years ago, Burton “Burt” Baskin and Irvine “Irv” Robbins dreamed of creating an ice cream shop that would be a neighborhood gathering place for families. However, they did not start out together. Burt opened Burton’s Ice Cream Shop in Pasadena, California. Irv opened Snowbird Ice Cream Shop in Glendale, California. By 1948, the two men had six stores between them.
In 1953, the two separate chains of stores became linked under the name “Baskin-Robbins 31 Ice Cream.” The now-famous “31” logo represented a flavor for each day of the month and featured polka dots in the colors pink (for cherry) and brown (for chocolate) that reminded customers of clowns, carnivals and fun.
Today, the logo is pink and blue, but Baskin-Robbins is still a place for families to go for delicious ice cream in 31 flavors.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield
Ben and Jerry grew up together in Merrick, Long Island. They both realized that college was not their thing, so they decided to open an ice cream store. They split the cost of a $5 correspondence course on ice cream making, and invested $12,000 in their new venture. On May 5, 1978, they opened Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream in a renovated gas station in Burlington Vermont. They created flavors that they had always wanted as kids, adding in chunks of foods like nuts, cookie dough and fruits. The ice cream was so popular that they started selling to local restaurants and grocery stores, and eventually it spread to grocery stores throughout the U.S.A. and beyond.
Cora Shaw
In 2008, Cora Shaw and business partner Jason McKinney opened iCream, an ice cream, frozen yogurt and hot pudding shop, in Chicago Illinois. At iCream, customers can customize their ice cream with food colorings and flavors, but that's not all. Shaw uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the ice cream in less than a minute! She had to come up with a new business idea for a graduate school class at the University of Chicago, so she invented a liquid nitrogen ice cream recipe and opened the shop.