On August 2nd, National Ice Cream Sandwich Day encourages us to cool off with one of our favorite frozen treats. Whether it’s vanilla, strawberry or Neopolitan between two chocolate wafers, the dessert sure will hit the spot on a hot summer day.
The original ice cream sandwich sold for a penny in 1900 from a pushcart in the Bowery neighborhood of New York. Newspapers never identified the name of the vendor in articles that appeared across the country. However, the ice cream sandwiched between milk biscuits became a hit. Soon, pushcarts popped up around the city and country during the summer months selling the portable treats. Early pictures show beachgoers at Atlantic City getting their ice cream sandwichs for 1¢ each.
Once ice cream sandwiches became popular, recipes for home cooks filled the papers. The sandwich layers included everything from angel food and sponge cake to shortbread cookies. Restaurants offered the ice cream sandwich as a decadent dessert for travelers. By 1940, grocers sold sandwiches made with crispy wafers.
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