July is National Ice Cream Month.

Collectors love ice cream-related paraphernalia. Ice cream dippers, molds, serving dishes, milkshake makers, soda fountain and ice cream-related advertising items are all popular with collectors. This tin tray advertising Burdan's Ice Cream sold for $380 at a recent Morphy auction.

Here's the scoop:

• President Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month in 1984.
• The first ice cream recipes appear in the early 1700s in England and America.
• Ben Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson all loved and served ice cream.
• Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison, is said to have served ice cream at her husband's Inaugural Ball in 1813.
• The first ice cream parlor in the U.S. opened in New York city in 1776.
• The hand-cranked ice cream freezer was patented in 1843.
• The ice cream cone was invented in 1896 by an ice cream vendor in New York City to stop customers from stealing his serving dishes. He patented a waffle mold in 1903. Ice cream cones were a big hit at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.
• Street vendors introduced the ice-cream sandwich—two wafers with ice cream in the middle—about 1899.
• It takes 12 gallons of milk to make one gallon of ice cream.
• Vanilla, chocolate, butter pecan, and strawberry are the most popular flavors.
   

Search for other ice cream related collectibles here and in Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide 2011.

Ran on July 6, 2011