Frappes

A frappe is what Bostonians call a thick blend of ice cream, milk, and flavorings—known more commonly as a milkshake. The word comes from the French verb frapper, which means “to shake.” A frosted is another name for a milkshake, as is a velvet. Around the turn of the twentieth century, when ice was a new commodity, a frosted was soda with ice in it, according to Ed Marks of Lititz, Pennsylvania, founder of the Ice Screamers, a national group devoted to ice cream memorabilia. Rhode Islanders call their version of the milkshake a cabinet. Some other New Englanders use “frappe,” but the word seems to be primarily a Boston locution. In Boston, “milkshake” means a glass of milk with flavorings, shaken until frothy and containing no ice cream. This was the original definition of a milkshake. In the 1880s and 1890s, ice cream was added only occasionally. Milk shakes containing ice cream became more common around 1915.