In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month. The third Sunday in July is National Ice Cream Day. An invitation to indulge in pleasure if I ever heard one! I just discovered the best destination to indulge our sweetest national obsession: the Museum of Ice Cream, on Broadway a block below Houston.

World Ice Cream Consumption Trends

Americans are second in the world when it comes to eating this frozen delight: we average 5.5 gallons a year! New Zealand has the highest ice cream consumption per person, at 7.5 gallons per year. Third is Australia, followed, surprisingly, by a number of countries above the 49th parallel: Finland, Sweden, Canada, Denmark, and Ireland.

The Founders of the Museum of Ice Cream

The Museum of Ice Cream (MOIC) is Maryellis Bunn’s sweet daydream come to life. Previously head of forecasting and innovation at Time Inc., and a consultant on design and business strategy for Facebook, Bunn wanted to create an interactive, multi-sensory playground with no age limits. The museum offers all-you-can-eat ice cream with the price of admission, as well as a series of gloriously pink-lit, photogenic rooms that bring out the fun gene.

Bunn partnered with Manish Vora, a former investment banker and CEO, in 2016. They pooled their money to finance a pop-up exhibit in the Meatpacking District. The combination of ice cream in every form imaginable, family-friendly exhibits, and a light sprinkling of learning opportunities made their “experium” a hit. In 2019 they opened their flagship location in Soho.

Ice Cream and Cocktails

Now MOIC has seven US locations and one in Singapore, which is seeing an increase in the popularity of the sweet frozen treat. If you’re tired of getting lost in the poorly-signaged, ginormous Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOIC might be for you. It caters to all ages, and that means cocktails! You can order a cocktail the minute you walk in the door—not after an hour of trying to find your way to the Met’s Petrie Court Café while battling hundreds of visitors.

Fun and Photo Opps

MOIC is a simple one-way trip, culminating in their Willy Wonka-inspired three-story slide. It is safe for all ages, and you can even keep your high heel slides on (as I did). I screamed the whole way down, but came to a gentle stop, shoes intact.

There’s nothing like screaming like a fool to loosen your inhibitions! So, naturally, people are ready to shuck their shoes and jump in the sprinkle pool once they land at the bottom of the slide. It might seem stupid, but it is surprisingly fun. And that captures the essence of the Museum of Ice Cream—sweet, simple fun.

Fun Ice Cream Facts

I did learn something—but not too much! I’d never encountered dippin’ dots, for instance. Have you? These ice cream beads are flash-frozen using liquid nitrogen, which gives them a smoother, denser, creamier texture than ordinary ice cream. MOIC has two flavors—cookies’n’cream, and a blueberry sherbet for non-dairy treat lovers.

The museum has an interactive room devoted to interesting historical facts about ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s was founded in 1978, after Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenberg took a $5 correspondence course in ice cream making. They invested $12,000 ($4,000 of it borrowed) to open their first ice cream scoop shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont.

In 1983, on the way to ice cream superstardom, Ben and Jerry used their ice cream to build the world’s largest ice cream sundae in St. Albans, Vermont. Called “The Vermonster,” the sundae weighed 27,102 pounds!

For my Canadian friends, I must add that five years later, in Edmonton, Alberta, a new Guiness World Record was set: On July 24, 1988, Palm Dairies concocted a 54,915 pound sundae!

Ice cream king Mike Rogiani constructed the sundae with two 45-foot semi-trailers filled with 350-pound slabs of ice cream in 63 flavours, a five-tonne truck filled with 45-gallon drums of sundae toppings, two forklifts, four electric power jacks, and an empty swimming pool!

Presidential Ice Cream Trivia

MOIC also has plenty of presidential ice cream trivia. Former president Barack Obama scooped ice cream at a Baskin Robbins in Honolulu in the summer of 1978. He remembers, “My first summer job wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it taught me some valuable lessons: responsibility, hard work, balancing a job with friends, family, and school.” I can relate—my first job was pouring Frostys at Wendy’s. And I’m still working on that balancing act!

Here’s a presidential trivia question: Who’s favorite ice cream is chocolate chip? Answer:  Joe Biden. Do you know the current president’s favorite flavor? A little homework assignment for you!*

Quirky Ice Cream Flavors

If you visit MOIC, you’ll learn about quirky flavors like Alaska’s Akutaq (caribou fat, salmonberries, fish, and tundra greens) and Missouri’s brown sugar-covered cicada ice cream. But I promise, all MOIC’s flavors on offer are vegetarian!

When I was living alone in the wilderness of British Columbia, I learned to make “soapberry ice cream,” which is actually quite bitter but has a beautiful pink foaminess. This photo shows my friend Ada and me at Monkey Valley in August 2008. My friend Kim Ashley took the picture. The three of us did a “visioning” retreat together, and then enjoyed this wild treat from the land. Survival tip: Keep on the lookout for bears when the soapberries are ripe!

Happy Ice Cream Memories

I hope this story has stirred some happy memories for you! One of my early ice cream memories is from my childhood in Vancouver, home of 40-year-old La Casa Gelato, a Guinness World Record holder for ice cream flavours, with 238 flavours in store and 588 flavours to date! (They deserve the Canadian spelling for that accomplishment!) Their most unusual flavour is probably durian.

It was a warm summer day and my sister Kim and I were wearing pale blue sundresses patterned with sprigged flowers that my mom made for us. Mom was wearing a more grown-up version of the dress and I thought she was truly the most beautiful woman in the world. My Mom’s friend had lent us her convertible, and we were going to drive downtown to surprise my Dad at his office. On the way, Mom got Kim and me chocolate cones at Dairy Queen as a special treat.

We were so happy, sitting in the back seat of the convertible with the sunlight pouring on us, eating our cones. Of course, the ice cream melted in the sun and dripped on our pretty pale blue dresses. Was Mom mad! A visit to MOIC to dip in the sprinkle pool would have set things right.

This article first appeared in Chelsea News and other papers in the Straus News group.

Style Notes

I found my ice cream-toned outfit at Crossroads Trading. Total cost after trading in a few items too: $38!

What I Wore

• Rose pink capri pants by Banana Republic. Crossroads Trading, 47 W. 13th St.
• Floral and leopard mash-up print blouse with soft cowl neck in shades of dusky rose, tan, caramel, and dark chocolate by Dress Barn. Crossroads Trading.
• Crocodile-patterned slides in dusky pink, tan, caramel, paprika, and dark chocolate with triangular chunky heel by So Me. Crossroads Trading.
• Silver and amber sun necklace. Gift from my sisters.
• Amethyst, silver, and chocolate leather bracelet by Uno de 50. The Oculus, 185 Greenwich St.
• Sparkly lucite hoop earrings. The Met Store, 1000 5th Ave.

Playlist

Rock’n’Roll Hits – 50s – Live Performances

* Presidential trivia answer: Cherry vanilla