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No beer? no problem. Better refrigeration, coupled with innovations in the manufacture and sales of frozen food, help guide people to choose this "refreshing and tasty food."

When Congress passed the Wolstead Act in 1920, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States, the Act almost destroyed the alcohol industry. But it helps to give a sweet boost to the emerging ice cream business.

According to the US Treasury Department, between 1919 and 1929, the federal tax on distilled spirits plummeted from US$365 million to less than US$13 million. The few breweries that survived the end of Prohibition in 1933 have undergone transformation-producing everything from ceramics and agricultural equipment to American cheeses, candies, and maltose syrup. Iconic breweries such as Anheuser-Busch and Yuengling have switched to ice cream production to some extent.

"As men seek an alternative to a drink at a local salon, many people eat ice cream more often," Anne Cooper, author of "Chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla: The History of American Ice Cream," Funderburg writes that it is estimated that consumption increased by 40% between 1920 and 1929. A song at the Pacific Ice Cream Manufacturers Conference in 1920 declared, "The days when my father was a fool are gone." Now, what he brought home was not beer, but a piece of ice cream.

The Anti-Salon League is the most powerful alcohol-prohibition lobby, eagerly supporting the dairy industry, trying to attribute the growth of the ice cream market to itself. The organization’s yearbook report in 1921 stated: “It is believed that the substantial increase in ice cream consumption is largely due to the fact that stimulant-hungry men can easily switch to this refreshing and tasty food.” Using it, consumers and milk The better for the manufacturer. " 

Other factors driving the ice cream boom include the expansion of soda machines, improvements in refrigeration methods, and innovations in ice cream production. The latter two are particularly helpful in bringing frozen desserts to the national market, through the competitive development of new single service products, such as chocolate ice cream sticks, popsicles and ice cream filled Dixie cups.

Read more: 10 things you should know about Prohibition

A bartender who provides soda water to customers, c. 1920.

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As sugary beverages became the most popular alcohol substitute in the United States in the 1920s, companies such as Coca-Cola grew into behemoths, soda machines replaced salons and became a place for people to gather in public to socialize. In 1922, the New York Times estimated that there were more than 100,000 soda fountains in the United States — most of which were located in pharmacies — with sales of $1 billion. But ice cream plays a key role in supporting soda, because fountain bartenders are different from salon bartenders, and they make a drink that blends the two together-such as Coke floats. Some people became more creative: the owner of the Aspen soda fountain in Colorado used the law to allow pharmacies to sell medicinal alcohol to make Aspen Crude, an ice cream cocktail mixed with bourbon.

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A song at the 1920 Pacific Ice Cream Manufacturers Conference declared, "The days when my father was a slave are gone forever"-now, instead of beer, he brought home a piece of ice cream.

A man who sells frozen food at a street stall, c. In 1922.

The popularity of ice cream during Prohibition coincided with the development of more efficient soda machines and private household refrigeration methods, as well as the development of labor-intensive methods of making ice cream. The countertop freezer allows busy soda fountain operators to store large amounts of ice cream, but the process of making ice cream with a manual crank can be a daunting task. In 1926, the inventor Clarence Vogt (Clarence Vogt) from Louisville, Kentucky created the first commercially successful continuous process freezer, enabling the mass production of ice cream on an industrial scale. Vogt's machine allowed the raw materials to be poured in from one end of the machine and the ice cream came out from the other end, which led to the "real mass marketing" of ice cream and the proliferation of prosperity that began with Prohibition. According to "Ice Cream Lover’s Companion" Book author Diana Rosen (Diana Rosen) said.

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In the 1920s, several entrepreneurs were developing their own innovative products to help make standardized frozen foods that were less messy and more portable, so that they could be sold in large numbers in amusement parks, boardwalks, and other large public places. In January 1922, a teacher named Christian Nelson in Iowa applied for a patent for Eskimo Pie, a single-serve vanilla ice cream covered with a thin chocolate shell . Harry Burt, a Chicago-based candy maker, became the first person to add Good Humor sticks to this chocolate ice cream, and in 1923 applied for a patent for his process and machinery. Burt has revolutionized the industry by launching a fleet of refrigerated trucks. Lively "humorous men" in white clothes distribute bars, cones and cups directly to communities across the country.

In 1923, Dixie Cups was put on the market, offering two ice cream flavors in 2.5 oz disposable paper cups. That year, the A&P grocery chain placed ice cream cabinets in its 1,500 stories, allowing consumers to buy their favorite frozen foods in the food market.

In 1924, Frank Epperson's popsicle company applied for a patent for the process of making flavored sorbet on a stick. This is a famous invention that Epperson made when he was young about 20 years ago and persisted. In 1924, his booming popsicle company reported sales of 6.5 million pieces. In the end, the frozen food on the stick became the subject of many controversial copyright infringement lawsuits. After Epperson's major shareholder reached a deal with Good Humor, the inventor of the popsicle divested his company, sold his patents and left the frozen food business.

The ice cream craze fades

By the late 1920s and early 1930s, the ice cream industry suffered a double blow: the Great Depression and the abolition of Prohibition. After that, “in World War II, milk and sugar quotas further suppressed the enthusiasm for ice cream,” wrote ice cream author Gail Damero! The whole spoon. The industry soared again after the war, but it was the spark of the ban and the temporary dissolution of one industry that helped elevate another industry to unprecedented heights—an impact that changed the American ice cream industry forever.

Read more: Why the candy bar market exploded after World War I

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