Despite the apparent public dissatisfaction with a few concerning ingredients in some ice creams , there’s still cause to celebrate the deliciousness of ice cream as a whole. With that in mind, the frozen treat has — still unofficially — it’s own holiday.
Back in 1984, President Reagan proclaimed the month of July National Ice Cream Month, and said that the third Sunday in particular would be National Ice Cream Day. That being the case, the “holiday” has been around a while, but the media seems to be reviving it quite a bit this year.
Ice cream deserves its own day for good reason. Back when Reagan made his statement, he added that 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.”
So how did America celebrate ice cream this year? Here’s a few highlights:
Ripley’s Believe or Not had fun by offering passers-by some very unconventional flavors of ice cream outside their store in Times Square. Some of the most unwelcome flavors included mustard with hot dogs and herring. A couple blocks away, Ben and Jerry’s offered up much better flavors, such as chocolate, cookies and cream, and many other favorites.
Hockessin, Delaware, did the holiday up right with a fair, including face-painting, BBQ, and the whole nine yards. They even held an ice cream eating contest and turned the day into a fundraising event to help feed the poor.
Blue Bell has just introduced a brand new ice cream flavor called Magic Cookie Bar, a sweet ice cream loaded with graham cracker crust pieces, chunks of dark chocolate, roasted pecan pieces, and toasted coconut, all surrounded by a caramel sauce swirl, just in time for the celebration.
Feel like having fun and got some time to kill? Follow the links at the end of this clip and enjoy: