A Year of Blogging: June 20, 2011

June 20 was 'Ice Cream Soda' Day. Ice cream sodas are also known as 'floats', depending what part of the country you are in. It is soda or a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water, with a couple of scoops of ice cream added to the glass. The thought of an ice cream soda brings ideas of soda jerks- the young men who operated the soda fountains. According to Wikipedia, the first ice cream soda was served in 1874 in Philadelphia, PA. When I think of ice cream sodas, I think of a simpler time. I think of the neat white and black shoes that laced up like boots. A time when a nickel was worth so much more than it is today. I'm sure we've all seen soda fountains in movies, or maybe on Food Network shows. I don't remember ever seeing one in person though. They are a relic, and I always kind of thought of ice cream sodas as a relic as well. Interestingly, Wikipedia says that ice cream sodas became so popular among teens that some states banned them. Some states only banned them on Holy Days, others flat out banned ice cream sodas. This seems a little odd, until you think of the original 'purpose' of soda. Soda was marketed as a cure-all, and was considered a controlled substance that needed regulation, similar to alcohol. So ice cream sodas were the substance abuse problem of the early 20th century. I've never cared for ice cream sodas. But I like ice cream sundaes, which actually got their start from ice cream sodas. Soda fountains had to figure out a way to earn a profit on Sundays, when they could not sell the soda. The soda fountains started selling ice cream as a food product, and called the new concoction 'sundaes' in honor of the day they were sold. So whether you kick back with a root beer float, an ice cream sundae, or for our friends in Australia, a spider; remember- moderation is best!