History Bytes: Here’s the Scoop…

June 28, 2016

Image:  Ice cream scoop used at  Westall’s Ice Cream shop, 64 Bridge Street. The key at the top of the scoop rotates two metal strips located inside, which helped to efficiently serve the ice cream. Circa late 19th century. NHS 96.42.15.

Advertisements featuring ice cream from the 1901 Newport Directory, Sampson, Murdock, & Co. NHS Library.

Advertisements featuring ice cream from the 1901 Newport Directory, Sampson, Murdock, & Co. NHS Library.

Newport’s first “ice cream saloons” appeared in city directories as early as 1865. Classified as “Confectionery and Ice Cream Saloons”, it is unclear how many of the eleven businesses listed actually sold ice cream. The frozen novelty became more and more common throughout the 19th century, however, receiving a boost in popularity after Jacob Fussell launched the first American ice cream factory in Baltimore, MD in 1851. By 1901, Newport was home to seven designated ice cream saloons, from Simon Koschny’s First Class Confectionery at 230 and 232 Thames St., to A. Fenton Genuine Homemade Candies on Bellevue Avenue.

Prior to the invention of industrial refrigeration in the 1870s, ice cream was made and sold by confectioners mostly on a small scale, since the process was quite laborious, and involved cutting blocks of ice from lakes during wintertime and storing them in ice houses for use during the summer. Though still considered a luxury around the time “ice cream saloons” began cropping up, Newport’s wealthy Gilded Age residents were certainly no strangers to treating themselves.

For those interested in learning more about the history behind ice harvesting (and how one man turned frozen water into a fortune), the podcast 99% Invisible did a wonderful episode entitled “The Ice King”. Lilly Pond was Newport’s local source of ice during the ice-cutting era. For more information about ice harvesting within Newport specifically, check out this History Byte from February 2015.

This History Byte was written by Michelle Montalbano, Digital Initiatives Intern

The Newport Creamery Trail, a Newport Creamery promotional brochure, circa 1950s. NHS Library.

The Newport Creamery Trail, a Newport Creamery promotional brochure, circa 1950s. NHS Library.

Newport Creamery Trail_open

Recipe (or “receipt”) for ice cream, found in an unattributed recipe book from the Newport Historical Society’s Collection. Circa mid-19th century.

Recipe (or “receipt”) for ice cream, found in an unattributed recipe book from the Newport Historical Society’s Collection. Circa mid-19th century.