In the 13th century Marco Polo, bard and adventurer brought with him to Europe from the Far East recipes for water ices said to be used in Asia for thousands of years. The first frozen dessert is credited to Emperor Nero of Rome. It was a mixture of snow (which he sent his slaves into the mountains to retrieve) and nectar, fruit pulp and honey.

In 1700 Governor Bladen of Maryland served ice cream to his guest, but the first ice cream parlour in America opened in New York City in 1776. Dolly Madison created a sensation when she served ice cream as a dessert in the White House at the second inaugural ball in 1812.

Italo Marchiony sold his homemade ice cream from a pushcart on Wall Street. He reduced his overhead caused by customers breaking or wandering off with his serving glasses by baking edible waffle cups with sloping sides and a flat bottom. He patented his idea in 1903. Others link the ice cream cone’s invention to the 1904 world’s Fair in St. Louis. An ice cream vendor there reportedly didn’t have enough dishes to keep up with demand, so he teamed up with a waffle vendor who rolled his product into cones.

In 1843, New England housewife Nancy Johnson invented the hand – cranked ice cream churn. She patented her invention but lacked the resources to make and market the churn herself. Mrs. Johnson sold the patent for $200 to a Philadelphia kitchen wholesaler, who by 1847 made enough freezers to satisfy the high demand.

However, the first commercial ice cream plant was established in Baltimore in 1851 by Jacob Fussell.
Ice cream novelties such as ice cream on sticks and ice cream bars were introduced in the 1920’s