National Ice Cream Day

Locals have been enjoying this cold creamy treat for many more years than that. Once a mainstay of local business, independent dairies flourished up and down the Lackawanna Valley. Woodlawn, Grayce Farms and Burschel were but a few whose horse-drawn wagons, and later delivery vans, carried milk, butter and other staples to households each day.

Ice cream, though, was another matter. For many years, it held the status of a luxurious treat that had to be made and enjoyed in small quantities and eaten right away. In the days before modern refrigeration, ice was cut from local ponds or lakes in winter, Gouldsboro being a common spot locally. The ice was stored underground or in wood-frame houses insulated with straw.

The advent of insulated ice houses in about 1850 allowed ice cream manufacturing to develop into a viable but small-scale industry, but ice cream making itself remained a laborious and time-consuming process. Milk, cream, sugar and flavoring were mixed in a container. The container was then placed into a vat containing crushed ice and salt. As the ice melted, the salt kept the water temperature below the freezing point, allowing the milk mixture to freeze. To get a smooth, creamy consistency, the ingredients had to be continuously churned by hand.

By 1900, the ice cream business was flourishing, and the Ice Cream Manufacturers Association of Pennsylvania was organized in 1907.

Locally, partners Smith and Samson started their business in Dunmore about 1914. One of their early advertisements promises: “We will supply you at short notice with ice cream in all flavors, all quantities, of the finest quality.” The promise reflects the advances that increased the efficiency of ice- cream making. But the fact that this promise was a selling point also reminds us that, in 1914, most ice cream making was still a time-consuming process that could not be rushed.

The dairy industry was so important that local dairies became household names, and many lasted for generations. Henry H. Burschel started his business on Hampton Street in Scranton in 1880. It wasn’t until 1946 that it abandoned horse-drawn wagons in favor of delivery vans. Burschel served 39 routes within a 25-mile radius of Scranton, delivering milk, butter and cheeses. But the only place to get the company’s ice cream was at its Burschel Dairy Ice Cream Store, located at the dairy itself. The firm stayed in business until about 1979.

Smith’s Ice Cream remained a local favorite. By 1924, they had moved to a larger, more modern facility at 1101 Wyoming Avenue in Scranton. By about this time, modern freezers and equipment allowed for ice cream making on a large commercial scale. Smith’s delivered to Wilkes-Barre, Hazelton and Stroudsburg, as well as to Middletown, Newburgh, Port Jervis and Liberty, N.Y. By 1928, Pennsylvania produced 14 percent of the nation’s ice cream, and we consumed more than 50 million gallons of ice cream annually, an average of five gallons per person.

Sadly, milk deliveries and trips to some of these old-time dairies for a scoop or two of our favorite ice cream remain only in our memories. Smith Ice Cream was taken over by the Hershey Co. Woodlawn and Grayce farms both eventually fell under the umbrella of the giant Dairylea. What remained of the old Burschel Dairy was destroyed by fire in 1994.

But some old favorites, like the Montdale Dairy, have been joined by newer dairies such as Manning’s. In honor of National Ice Cream Day, why not pay one of them a visit? They are still there to serve up a cold, creamy scoop of this summertime treat.