By Ian Miller
When you tuck into a cone (or bowl) of your favorite ice cream, do you ever wonder how it came about? Turns out, ice cream isn’t a modern invention. Let’s explore the long, fascinating history of your favorite cold treat, a journey that will take us back over 6,000 years in the past. From early experiments with refrigeration in the cradle of human civilization, all the way to modern-day chic ice cream shops, let’s see exactly how it happened.
The story of ice cream began over six thousand years ago, in Mesopotamia in approximately 4,000 B.C. Modern refrigeration was over six thousand years away, so to chill and preserve food, Mesopotamians created “ice huts”, which were dirt or stone pits dug into the ground and covered with branches and straw for insulation. Large slabs of ice from frozen rivers were cut in winter and stored inside the ice huts, which, being underground, remained cool enough to stop the ice from melting as the outside temperatures warmed. This allowed ice to be used even in the sweltering summer months, to provide cool drinks and food for the royalty.
The practice appeared in many cultures around the world. The ancient Greeks sold fresh snow at the markets to cool wine, and in Rome, the emperor Nero indulged in iced drinks flavored with honey. In Persia (now modern-day Iran), iced sweet drinks sprinkled with snow were popular among the ruling classes.
Things started to get interesting in the 16th century, when shaved-ice desserts started arriving in Europe from Asia. According to legend, King Charles I was so delighted by the “frozen snow” novelties that he commissioned his own personal royal ice cream maker and granted him a lifetime pension, so Charles could indulge whenever he wished.
So far, the desserts above have been made of snow or shaved ice and sweet flavorings, but how did that turn into the creamy, scoopable incarnation of ice cream as we know it today? Well, that came about one century later, in the 1700s, when “iced cream” began appearing in cookbooks in France and England.
Writes the eponymous Mary Eale in Mrs. Mary Eale’s Receipts (1718): “Take Tin Ice-Pots, fill them with any Sort of Cream you like, either plain or sweeten’d, or Fruit in it . . . set in your Pots of Cream, and lay Ice and Salt between every Pot, that they may not touch; but the Ice must lie round them on every Side; lay a good deal of Ice on the Top, cover the Pail with Straw, set it in a Cellar where no Sun or Light comes, it will be froze in four Hours, but it may stand longer; then take it out just
as you use it.”
From here, it wasn’t long before the “iced cream” began making its slow march across the world, coming to the United States in the colonial period (and no, it wasn’t invented by Thomas Jefferson). The first ice cream parlors opened in New York, selling ice cream to the public. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson were all known to have regularly eaten it. (Old George famously spent over $200 one summer on ice cream – that’s over $15,803.71 today! In a SINGLE summer! Guy had a SERIOUS sweet tooth; that must be why he had dentures made of whale bone….)
The history of one of the world’s most classic treats is a long and savory – no, wait, a sweet – experience. Remember that the next time you pick up a spoon: you’re not just indulging in your sweet tooth, you’re eating HISTORY, one delicious bite at a time.
Sources:
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Barksdale, N. (2023, April 17). “Who Invented Ice Cream?” History.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025, from https://www.history.com/
articles/where-do-ice-cream- sorbet-frozen-desserts-come- from -
Goff, H. Douglas. “Ice Cream History and Folklore”. Dairy Science and Technology Education Series. University of Guelph. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014.
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Eales, Mary (1985) [1718]. Mrs. Mary Eales’s Receipts. London: Prospect Books.
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“The History of Ice Cream – International Dairy Foods Association”. www.idfa.org.
Archived from the original on 19 February 2015.
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913-284-804410460 W 103rd Street
Overland Park, Kansas 66214
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