Ice Cream and Ices: A New Era for Ice Cream

Appears in
Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

By Andrew F. Smith

Published 2004

  • About
By the end of the 1930s, ice cream was back and selling better than ever. New manufacturing and refrigeration methods changed the business. Ice cream was produced in a continuous stream instead of separate batches, making it possible to turn out more of it faster than ever. Grocers began installing refrigerated cabinets that kept ice cream frozen, and householders started replacing their iceboxes with refrigerators complete with tiny freezer compartments. Packaged ice cream would not gain significant market share until after World War II, but the trend had begun.