Expanding Opportunities

Commercial ice cream making expanded rapidly. In 1851 Jacob Fussell, a milk dealer from Maryland, was faced with an oversupply of cream. Rather than let it sour, he turned it into ice cream and sold it at a price that undercut the city’s confectioners. Recognizing the potential of the ice cream business, he opened a factory and began production. Within a few years, he had become the first significant ice cream wholesaler in the country, selling to hotels, restaurants, and even churches. When his associate James M. Horton took over the business in 1874, he became the first to ship ice cream to foreign ports. Thereafter, ice cream was a favorite dessert aboard transatlantic steamships.