MENU

Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts Category Main Page Articles & Reviews      Main Nibbles Main Page Articles & Reviews of Fine Foods From A to Z   Product Reviews Main Page Foods, Beverages, Books, News & More

July 2006
Revised November 2008

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Ice Cream

The History of Ice Cream & The Ice Cream Cone

Page 6: The Invention Of Frozen Custard

This is Page 6 of an eight-page article. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.

1919: Frozen Custard

• Credit for the accidental invention of frozen custard is often given to Tom Carvel. However, the real credit seems to belong to the unheralded Archie C. Kohr, who re-configured an ice cream machine in 1919 and added eggs to the recipe to create a light and fluffy product that “tasted just like a custard.” He was a big success at Coney Island in New York City, and while he did not become a household name, Kohr Brothers is still selling frozen custard made from Archie’s original recipe, and has stores in 10 states. You can read more about it here.
• The history books generally give credit for launching the category of frozen custard, or soft-serve ice cream, to Thomas Carvellus, who sold ice cream from the back of his vending truck. As the story goes, he got a flat tire in Hartsdale, New York during the 1934 Memorial Day Weekend; his ice cream started to melt so he started to sell it the partially melted, creamy stuff as something new. It was a huge hit and soft ice cream was born—or perhaps, born again. He opened a modest Carvel Frozen Custard store in 1934 in Hartsdale, and in 1936, according to the company website, he opened another ice cream store named Carvel, and went to work developing ice cream machinery. He built his first soft-serve ice cream machine in 1939—20 years after Archie Kohr and his futuristic-looking machine above at left. Carvel was a true innovator: he was the first to offer “buy one, get one free”; the first to franchise an ice cream store; and his patented glass building was copied by McDonald’s. Dairy Queen opened its first soft-serve ice cream store in Joliet, Illinois in 1940. Carvel’s Flying Saucer sandwich was introduced in 1951.

Continue To Page 7: Ice Cream Novelties

Go To The Article Index Above

© Copyright 2005-2009 Lifestyle Direct, Inc.  All rights reserved. Images are the copyright of their respective owners.