Date: 1986-06-19
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. ice cream has a strange mystique about it. Research has just revealed that adults will serve ice cream to the youngsters as a reward while preferring to call their own 66 percent household consumption on indulgence. And thats a pretty good wordIndulgence. But frankly. its luxury of taste belies the reasonable price for which it sells. For $2.50 you can purchase a halfgallon of pretty good ice cream and per serving thats a fine price for the nutrition and plain good eating. I mention this in conjunction with todays Capitol Hill ice cream party sponsored by the good people at the International Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers. And of course in July we celebrate National Ice Cream Month and National Ice Cream Day on Juy 13. Nothing could be more important for the diet than calciumespecially as we grow older and our bones need the strengthening. And I cannot think of a more pleasant way to injest this substance than through the eating of ice cream. A dozen important vitamins and minerals lurk In the frozen dessert that has topped $8 billion in retail sales in this country. The Roman Emperor Nero began a fad for frozen delicacies when he sent runners to the Italian mountaintops to get ice so his cooks could freeze selected fruits. their juices and honey. In 1845. Nancy Johnson of New Jersey invented a handcranked ice cream freezer and thus began the national love affair with ice cream. At what point in American history did this country see the highest level of individual. per capita consumption of ice cream? 1985? Noit was in 1946. There had been a dairy rationing order during World War II. and when the war was over Americans went ice cream crazy. consuming an average of 20 quarts apiece in 1946. Ice cream is important to Americas dairy farmers. Nearly 1 of every 10 gallons of fluid milk goes into the production of ice cream and related products each year. Within the dairy processing industry. about 18.000 people are employed in the manufacture of ice cream products. So you can see how important ice cream is to our dairy farmers. ice cream manufacturers. grocery stores. and neighborhood parlors. And speaking of parlors--I hope my colleagues have a chance to come over into the Russell Senate Courtyard for our ice cream party today and have a ceremonial scoop or cone of their favorite flavor. And one last history note: Ice cream was eaten in the dish up until 1904 when the first ice cream cone was served up at the St. Louis Worlds Fair. It was an accident because the vendor had done land office business and used up all of his glass dishes. A fellow vendor offering a thin. waferlike Middle Eastern pastry at his booth gave the ice cream vendor an ideaand there you have it. The first makedo ice cream cone. How good it is. Mr. Speaker. it is my happy privilege to invite all of our colleagues and staffs to the Russell Senate Building this afternoon. where we will have our version of Ice Cream Day. and I hope that everyone will come to enjoy the national pastime. A man once said. "The finest things In life are the love of your fellow man in your heart. electricity and running water in your house. old dogs. little children. and watermelon ice cream." So I hope you will join us this afternoon at the Russell Senate Building to enjoy that pastime.