Tuesday, June 28, 2011

July Screams for Ice Cream!

By Michelle Plummer of Winners Drink Milk

July being National Ice Cream month is quite an honor, but do you know why we celebrate this great treat?



Proclamation 5219 -- National Ice Cream Month and National Ice Cream Day, 1984

July 9, 1984 By the President of the United State of America

A Proclamation

Ice cream is a nutritious and wholesome food, enjoyed by over ninety percent of the people in the United States. It enjoys a reputation as the perfect dessert and snack food. Over eight hundred and eighty-seven million gallons of ice cream were consumed in the United States in 1983.

The ice cream industry generates approximately $3.5 billion in annual sales and provides jobs for thousands of citizens. Indeed, nearly ten percent of all the milk produced by the United States dairy farmers is used to produce ice cream, thereby contributing substantially to the economic well-being of the Nation's dairy industry.

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 298, has designated July 1984 as ``National Ice Cream Month,'' and July 15, 1984, as ``National Ice Cream Day,'' and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of these events.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 1984 as National Ice Cream Month and July 15, 1984, as National Ice Cream Day, and I call upon the people of the United States to observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth.

Ronald Reagan              [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:32 a.m., July 10, 1984]

….so now we know why and what and who about this day!  What else can we learn as we stroll down the sidewalk licking our cone, or enjoy a malted on a Sunday drive?

  • It takes twelve gallons of milk to make one gallon of ice cream
  • The United States has an average of 48 pints of ice cream per person, per year
  • It takes an average of 50 licks to finish off a single scoop ice cream cone
  • The invention of the ice cream cone goes back to 1904 in St. Louis at the world fair.
  • Vanilla is the number one selling flavor of ice cream
  • The top five ice cream producing states are California, Indiana, Ohio, Texas and New York
  • Children age 2 through 12 and adults over 45 eat the most ice cream
  • More ice cream is sold on Sundays than any other day
  • Ice cream is an 11 billion dollar retail industry
  • 98 percent of homes in the United States have ice cream in them

The largest ice cream manufacturer in the world is in Indiana.  Edy’s Grand Ice Cream is located in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  Edy’s is the owner of the largest ice cream maker in the world.

As I write this, I am wondering, did President Reagan have a bit of sweet tooth?  Wasn’t he also the President who kept jelly beans on his desk?  Just think if jelly beans brought down a wall, what can ice cream do?

1 comment:

Nathan Miller said...

Ha. Very hip article. Short sweet and informative! But yes. Our dearest Mr. Regan was a dessert aficionado, and new a good sweet treat when he saw one. Still one of the best presidents we've had!