Soft Serve Ice Cream History
It's hard to imagine a world where soft-serve ice cream isn't available out of a metal machine, perfectly swirled in a cone or dish. Ice cream shops serve it in almost every town, but nearly 80 years ago, it didn't exist. Does this Spark an idea?
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Historical Discrepancy
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According to "Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla: A History of American Ice Cream," the invention of soft-serve ice cream, sometimes referred to as frozen custard, took place sometime in the mid-1930s, almost 200 years after ice cream first made an appearance in the United States. But there seem to be two primary competing claims to the invention of soft-serve ice cream. In one version, the founders of the Dairy Queen chain created this variation on the frozen treat. In another, a man named Thomas Carvelas (or Carvellus) stumbled upon soft-serve ice cream.
The Dairy Queen Story
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According to the book "The Cone with the Curl on Top," a history of Dairy Queen, J.F. McCullough and his son, Alex, opened an ice cream shop in 1927 in Davenport, Illinois. In the early 1930s, they moved to an ice cream factory in Green River, Illinois, and decided to find out if customers preferred ice cream before it was completely frozen, which was how they liked it best. The colder ice cream had less flavor than the softer version, they felt. After an experimental, all-you-can-eat sale in Kankanee, Illinois, where they found the softer ice cream was a success, they bought a machine from a street vendor in Chicago in 1939, had a machine company tweak the design, and sold their frozen custard exclusively to a store run by Sherb Noble in Joliet, Illinois, in 1940. They nicknamed the store Dairy Queen. They bought a second store in 1941, and a third that spring.
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Carvel's Story
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According to National Geographic and The Nibble magazine, Carvelas sold ice cream on the street in New York. After a flat tire in Hartsdale, New York, caused his ice cream to begin to melt, he sold the partially melted product as a new treat---and his customers loved it. He opened Carvel Frozen Custard in Hartsdale in 1934 and began to build a series of frozen custard shops along highways. He built a soft-serve machine in 1939.
What Happened Next
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The McCulloughs continued to improve the design of their soft-serve machine and expand their business. Carvel continued to expand its chain aggressively, too, as did another competitor, Tastee-Freez. By 1956, soft-serve ice cream consumption was increasing 25 percent every year, according to the U.S. Department of agriculture. That same year, Tastee-Freez had 1,500 stores, and Carvel had 500, according to "Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla: A History of American Ice Cream."
In 1984, Dairy Queen introduced the Blizzard treat, a mix of soft-serve ice cream and toppings, and sold 100 million the first year.
Soft Serve Today
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Today, Dairy Queen is a chain with nearly 6,000 stores across the world. Tastee-Freez still operates more than 50 locations, in addition to selling its products through the Wienerschnitzel fast food chain, and Carvel has more than 500 locations and sells its products in supermarkets.
Soft serve ice cream is also available at independent ice cream shops, restaurants and concession stands across the country, and consumers can even purchase ice cream makers to make their own frozen custard variations at home.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Soft serve ice cream was invented nearly 80 years ago, and multiple people lay claim to its origins. Image source: Petr Kovar, sxc.hu
