• Each American consumes a yearly average of 23.2 quarts of ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, ices and other commercially produced frozen dairy products.
  
• The Northern Central states have the highest per capita consumption of ice cream at 41.7 quarts.
  
• More ice cream is sold on Sunday than any other day of the week.
  
• Children ages two through 12, and adults age 45 plus, eat the most ice cream per person.
  
• The average number of licks to polish off a single scoop ice cream cone is approximately 50.
  
• In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day.Vanilla is the most popular flavor of ice cream in the United States.

The History of Ice Cream and the Cone

• The true origin of ice cream is unknown, however reports of frozen desserts have been reported as far back as the second century B.C.
  
• The first official account of ice cream in America was recorded in 1700 from a letter written by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen.
  
• In 1812, Dolley Madison served a magnificent strawberry ice cream creation at President Madison's second inaugural banquet at the White House.
  
• The first ice cream cone was produced in 1896 by Italo Marchiony. Marchinoy, who emigrated from Italy in the late 1800's, invented his ice cream cone in New York City. Around the same time a similar creation, the cornucopia, was independently introduced at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
  
• Stephen Sullivan of Sullivan, Missouri was one of the first independent operators in the ice cream cone business. In 1906, Sullivan served ice cream cones at the Modern Woodmen of America Frisco Log Rolling in Sullivan, Missouri.

Source: International Ice Cream Association, 888 16th St., Washington, D.C. 20006 International Dairy Foods Association, 1250 H Street, NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20005