CHILLY PHILLY
ICE CREAM
Philadelphia style ice cream, manufactured and distributed throughout the Philadelphia region,
for people who live, work, or play in the Delaware Valley.

INTRODUCTION - THE ORIGINS OF ICE CREAM

Contrary to popular belief, neither Dolly Madison, Martha Washington, nor any other person "invented" ice cream. Rather ice cream evolved over thousands of years. Iced beverages were known during Solomon's tenure as sovereign over Judea. The earliest accounts of an iced dairy product comes from the period of China's King Tang of Shang (618-97). The recipe included buffalo milk, flour and camphor. Although it is questionable as to whether Marco Polo introduced this food to Europe, there is no doubt that exploration and trade were responsible for the migration of the early form of this dessert to the West. These recipes appeared to have evolved into ice cream in 16th century Italy. Ice cream production matured in the 17th century with the use of salt and ice to cool the temperature of ice cream making machines, thereby creating a superior product on demand.

The ancestors of the Lenni Lenapi, the inhabitants of this region at the time of the first European settlers, most likely came from Asia, via the Bering Strait, about 10,000 years ago. They spoke an Algonquin dialect. The term "Lenni Lenapi" which literally means " common people," also carries with it the meanings of "Original people," "Men among men," and "Men of our kind." Other Algonquin speaking tribes referred to the Lenni Lenapi with the venerable description of "Grandfathers."

Henry Hudson briefly explores a body of water and names it Zuydt (South) River.

Sir Samuel Argall explores the same bay and names it after the 12th Lord De la Warr, which comes to be known as Delaware, the name ultimately given to a river, a colony, and the Lenni Lenapi tribe.

The Dutch make several futile attempts to settle in the Delaware Valley. Part of their problems arose from the Delawares not understanding the concept of private land ownership.

Peter Minuit, working for the Swedes, settled in what is today Wilmington.

The Swedes settle in several localities throughout the region, including Tinicum and Cobbs Creek, Upland/Chester, and Kingsessing.

Control of the land changes hands several times between the Dutch and the Swedes.

Quakers from Radnorshire, Wales settle in what is now Radnor, PA

The British, under Charles II, claim the area, and send Warships to the area to protect its interest.

The Quaker William Penn receives a charter from the crown for a colony on the Delaware River. The original city was laid out like a grid, from the Delaware to the Schuylkill Rivers, and from Cedar Street (now South Street) to Vine Street. Penn sells 40,000 acres to Welsh Quakers, which eventually form the townships of Radnor, Haverford, and Lower Merion.

Many early Philadelphians, including Thomas Wynne, the City's First doctor, live in caves. Within fifty years, the city becomes predominantly brick.

Penn offers Delawares (Leni Lenapi) wampum and other gifts (totalling about 1000 pounds) to extinguish their claim to the land in Bucks, Chester, and Philadelphia Counties. Contrary to the Edward Hicks painting, there was no single treaty at Shackamaxon (an English corruption of Sachemexon, or "Place of the chiefs")

Dutch speaking Quakers establish a settlement in present day Germantown.

Philadelphia has about 2000 residents

Smaller numbers of French, Italians, and Swiss enter the area. A small Jewish population also migrate to the area.

The first Delawares travel into the Ohio River Valley. The Iroquois "Six Nations" begin to exert their authority over the Delawares.

An aristocracy composed of Quaker and former Quaker families is developing in the City.

Penn's Frame of Government, which gives full legislative power to an Assembly, becomes a model for the future U.S. Constitution.

William Penn's secretary, James Logan, administers the colonies while Penn, and later his sons, are Proprietors. In addition to the skill with which he performs his duties, he is the first of the Renaissance type men who live and work in Philadelphia. He is a polyglot, a scientist, and a mathematician. He becomes rich through the trade of fur, British securities, and real estate. This latter source of wealth is at times obtained through unscrupulous activities (see the Walking Purchase). His Stenton estate in Germantown has the largest library in America at that time.

Penn dies, leaving his three sons to gain the Propietorship of the City.

Delawares now live mainly (1) on the Brandywine, (2) in the areas of Reading, Kutztown, Maxatawny, and (3) in the area of the Lehigh Valley, also known as the Forks.

17 year old Benjamin Franklin comes to Philadelphia. He enters the printing trade, but during the next 67 years, he makes major contributions in literature, the natural and social sciences, music, politics, and civic welfare.

James Logan and Thomas Penn apparently trick (and/or threaten) the Delawares into confirming a questionable deed purportedly owned by William Penn, dating back to 1686. The deed specifies an area bounded on one side that a man could walk in 1 1/2 days, starting at a fixed point at currrent day Wrightstown in Bucks County. The area is cleared and one of the three designated "walkers" traverses 60 miles, which, when manipulating the other boundaries, ends up driving the Delawares out of the Delaware Valley.

About half of the population in the colony is German speaking.

Population reaches 10000.

Large numbers of Irish, Scotch-Irish, and Scots arrive in the colonies. Presbyterians rival Quakers in population.

Benjamin Franklin publishes "Experiments and Observations in Electricity".

PLEASURE GARDENS

As pervasive as ice cream was among Philadelphia's wealthiest residents, it was still generally unavailable to Philadelphia's ordinary citizens. The advent of pleasure gardens, however, changed life in Philadelphia as well as other cities. Pleasure gardens were areas that catered to the fancies of large segments of the society. They proved to be a democratising influence on Philadelphia's populace. They were places where women could socialize outside of the home and where the wealthy would rub shoulders with the working classes. Cheap entertainment made these enterprises affordable to common Philadelphians. Also, the size of some of these businesses must have helped to keep prices down. Pleasure gardens were therefore the places where Philadelphia's working class would likely have been introduced to the dessert denied them by the smaller, more exclusive confectionaries.
Vanilla and lemon ice creams were generally the favorites at the pleasure gardens during their years of popularity.

THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION TO PHILADELPHIA ICE CREAM

In 1795, a successful slave rebellion on San Domingo (now Haiti) had deprived many French inhabitants on this island of their wealth. Philadelphia had become a haven for many of these newly indigent French, who had subsequently taken jobs or opened small shops in the city. A Monsieur Collot, was probably one of these newly arrived emigres. Collot advertised in Philadelphia newspapers in 1795, announcing that he had moved his business into large quarters near the German Catholic Church and would continue to make ice cream "in all the perfection of the true Italian mode." He was able to avail himself of a fresh supply of cream daily, and at least one of his fellow Frenchmen compares Collot's ice cream with that of the Palais Royal in Paris.
If it is true that Collot was a creole and the son of the former president of the High Council of Cap Francois (Cap Hailien, Haiti), then he may have also been the first of a successful line of ice cream makers of African descent in the city.

There is good reason to believe that African Americans played the dominant role in Philadelphia's ice cream business throughout the middle of the 19th century. Possibly the most influential of these tradesmen was Augustus Jackson, an African American, who worked as a cook in the White House. Legend has it that he may have been the head chef at the White House. Legend also has it that he is the inventor of ice cream, an absurdity that ultimately belittles his real accomplishments.

Jackson moved to Philadelphia in the late 1820s and started his own catering business. He made ice cream for his own customers as well as two other African American owned ice cream parlors on South Street. He ran a successful business for at least the next 30 years and became one of Philadelphia's wealthiest African American citizens.

One source claims that African Americans had a monopoly on the ice cream trade in the mid nineteenth century. The following quote may help to explain their success.

"The countryman...sells an excellent article. It is really country ice cream, fresh from the farm, and although cried and sold in the streets, the market, and the public squares, it will please the most fastidious palate. The loudest criers...are the coloured gentlemen, who carry tin cans containing it, about the streets on their shoulders. They sing a most laughable, but scarcely intelligible song in praise of their lemon ice cream and their vanilla too...It is by no means unpalatable; and considering the half price at which the coloured merchants accommodate their juvenile customers, it is a pretty good fip's worth."

The same forces that ended the African American involvement in many other trades in the city also were responsible for their pulling out of ice cream manufacture. An 1838 proto-sociological study listed 5 confectioners in the city and surrounding districts. Augustus Jackson was listed among them. In a follow-up study conducted in 1849, this number had increased to 46 (a number that included cake sellers). By 1857, a third study listed 7 confectioners (along with pastry cooks). The afterward to the third study explains: "Less than two-thirds of those who have trades follow them. A few of the remainder pursue avocations from choice, but the greater number are compelled to abandon their trades on account of the unending prejudice against their color."

Population reaches 121,376.

Philadelphia has more textile factories than anywhere else in the world.

The Medical College of Pennsylvania (originally called the Female Medical College) is founded

BREYERS

Perhaps nobody epitomized the superiority of street sold ice cream in Philadelphia more than William Breyer. In 1854, all of Philadelphia county became incorporated into Philadelphia city, including the Frankford and Kensington neighborhoods where, a dozen years later, Breyer would run his business. He hand-cranked his ice cream in his kitchen and travelled through Frankford and Kensington in a horse drawn wagon. Before his death in 1882, he had opened six retail stores. His sons Henry and Fred incorporated the business, expanded it into Philadelphia's suburbs and beyond and developed the corporate logo, the sweetbriar leaf (that's right, its not a mint leaf). Both William and Henry Breyers insisted on using pure, natural ingrediants, limiting themselves to milk, cream, sugar, and flavorings. Such ice cream is known today as Philadelphia ice cream. Thomas Jefferson's personal recipe for vanilla ice cream called for eggs yolks as an ingredient. Ice creams that use eggs are called either French-style ice creams or custards. By the end of the 19th century, American ice cream manufacturers who used egg yolks in their mixture were accused of using additives. Philadelphia ice cream therefore became the epitomy of what American ice cream should be.

Philadelphia county is consolidated into Philadelphia city.

State requires separate schools for Blacks in districts with 20 or more blacks.

Robert Conrad oversees the first professional police department in the city.

The Philadelphia Athletics are founded.

With the incorporation of Philadelphia County into Philadelphia City, Philadelphia's population climbs 565,529

Peter A.B. Widener and William Elkins Lukins form the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, which buys up other lines, and eventually becomes the only transit company within the city. This Company will eventually be named Philadelphia Transportation Company.

The old Philadelphia aristoracy begins to give way to the nouveau riche that supported the Republican cause during the Civil War.

John B. Stetson founds Stetson Hats, which will eventually employ 5,400 workers in North Philadelphia.

Cheap mortgages and land expansion allows more Philadelphians to own homes than anywhere else in the country.

Streetcars are desegregated.

An agreement is reached by the U.S. government, the Cherokee nation, and the Delawares toward moving the Delawares into Oklahoma, and making them official Cherokee citizens.

The City's population reaches 674,022

The Fifteenth Amendment goes into effect, allowing African Americans the right to vote. The first test of the new law causes riots in the City.

The City's Italian population increases from 300 to 18,000. Many seek better economic conditions.

The Athletics win the championship of the National Association of Professional Baseball Players.

The University of Pennsylvania relocates to West Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia House of Correction is built, mainly for persons committing petty crimes.

There are 108,631 students, 182 schools, and about 1900 teachers in the Philadelphia schools.

Overcrowding forces many students away from schools. Teachers are threatened by a 10% pay cut, that is reversed due to strong support in the press.

Philadelphia hosts a Centennial exposition. This World's Fair promotes the age of science and the machine and exemplifies America's dominance in these areas. Germany. in particular, is influenced deeply by the exposition.

African American population grows from 25,000 to 40,000.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is founded.

The City's population reaches 847,170

A sizable number of Polish and Hungarian immigrants come to Philadelphia.

Affordable housing, comparatively high wages, good working conditions, and superior worker benefits cause less worker strife in Philadelphia than in other large cities.

The City's Jewish population increases 9-fold due to pogroms in Eastern Europe. Many Settle in the river wards south of Spruce Street, displacing many African Americans.

Less than 1% of the population is Quaker.

Textile and garment workers join socialist unions.

The Philadelphia Phillies begin play in Philadelphia.

A central school board is formed in 1883.

The Jewish Exponent is founded.

Edwin Fitler is elected mayor. A good mayor in otherwise corrupt times.

Temple University, intended as a "Workingman's University" is chartered by Russell Conwell, the minister of the Grace Baptist Church.

The City's population reaches 1,046,964

Edwin Stuart is elected mayor. Another good mayor in otherwise corrupt times

The Free Library is founded in 1891 through donations from George Pepper, Andrew Carnegie, and Peter Widener. William Pepper, the legendary provost of the University of Pennsylvania provides leadership there in its early years.

Drexel University is founded by Anthony J. Drexel to provide a technical education to young working class people, regardless, of gender.

Bryn Mawr is founded by Joseph W. Taylor as a women's college that would serve as a complement to Haverford College and would promote women's rights.

There are 212 miles of trolley tracks in the city

Strike by railway conductors against Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company during Christmas earns strikers slightly higher wages and the limitation of the workday to 12 hours.

W.E.B. DuBois' The Philadelphia Negro is published.

The Octavia Hill Association is founded to provide housing and to lobby for legislation that would address the housing needs of indigent Philadelphians.

Frederick Taylor, the founder of Scientific School of Management, is one of the few employers to hire African Americans to work alongside white workers.

Pennsylvania Railroad is responsible for the Main Line, the railroad line cutting through some of the original Welsh communities of Merion, Narberth, Wynnewood, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr.

Ladies Home Journal founded by Cyrus H.K. Curtis.

Cyris H.K. Curtis buys the Saturday Evening Post.

Henry Houston, a railroad magnate, develops holdings in Chestnut Hill.

Pennsylvania Railroad is the largest corporation in the country.

With government programs for the poor virtually non-existent, religious groups and politicians take responsibility for providing food, clothing, and shelter.

Philadelphia becomes a major publishing city. Peterson's Saturday Evening Post and the Lippincott Company are examples of the elite publishing houses in the city at that time.

The diversity of industries, such as beer, brooms, candies, cigars, cigarettes, ice cream, and pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding and railroad manufacturing mollifies the effects of severe economic downturns in the city.

There is inadequate water and sewer lines as well as road repair, due to corruption.

The Philadelphia Orchestra is established.

The City's population reaches 1,293,647

JACK & JILL

Over the years, many fine Philadelphia ice cream companies have come and gone out of existence. The most successful Philadelphia ice cream company of modern times is Jack & Jill, founded by Max Schwartz in the early part of this century, who peddled his ice cream in a box that he carried on his shoulder as he walked through the streets of Philadelphia. Over the years, the business has expanded into vending distributing, and the manufacturing of premium ice cream and novelties.
The business continues to be family run, with Max's son, Jay, at the helm.

The city still consists of neighborhoods that appear to be like separate villages.

The area of Philadelphia is the largest of any other city in U.S.

The City sponsors its first Mummers' Parade, a tradition with its roots in Europe and its American roots most probably in the Swedes' celebration of the Christmas and New Years holiday in Tinicum and Kingsessing.

Owen Wistar's "The Virginian" is published.

The Athletics win the American League pennant.

The commentator Lincoln Steffens writes that "Other American cities, no matter how bad their Condition may be, all point with scorn to Philadelphia as worse..."

100,000 garment workers strike, 10,000 of whom are children. Although the strike fails, it highlights the horrors of child labor.

The Public School Reorganization Act frees the school system from the wards and the ward leaders.

The Athletics win the American League pennant.

There are almost as many parochial and private schools in the city as there are public schools.

The Athletics win the World Series.

The Athletics win the World Series.

Rudolph Blankenburg becomes mayor and ushers in four years of reform. At the end of his term, Philadelphia reverts back to machine politics.

Leopold Stokowski assumes the baton for the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Athletics win the World Series.

The Athletics win the American League pennant.

The Phillies win the National League pennant

Billie Holliday is born at Philadelphia General Hospital on April 7.

George Kelly wins a Pulitzer Prize for his play, "Craig's Wife."

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway, emulating the Champs d'Elysses in Paris is completed.

Philadelphia Warriors is founded as an expansion team of the American Basketball Association, Organized the previous year.

The Philadelphia Art Museum opens its Benjamin Franklin Parkway home to the public.

Jazz saxophonist and composer Benny Golson is born on January 25.

The City's population reaches 1,950,961

The Philadelphia Eagles are founded

Leopold Stokowski leaves the Philadelphia Orchestra. Eugene Ormandy assumes the baton.

Jazz pianist McCoy Tyner is born on December 11.

Jazz saxophonist Byard Lancaster is born on August 6.

Jazz legend John Coltrane moves to Philadelphia at age 17.

The first large-scale fully operational electronic computer is completed at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Philadelphia Warriors win the first league championship of the newly formulated National Basketball Association.

The Eagles win the league championship

The Eagles win the league championship

The Phillies win the National League pennant

Voters approve a new City Charter, designed reform city government and to end political patronage.

Voters elect Joseph Clark as Mayor, the first Democratic mayor in nearly 100 years.

The City's population reaches 2,002,512

The Eagles win the league championship

The State passes the Philadelphia Educational Home Rule Charter, The Charter (2) gives City Council the ability to tax, allows the Mayor to appoint 9 board members from a list of recoomendations by a Citizens Panel. Mark Shedd is the first superintendent under the Charter. He begins the establishment of "alternative schools" in the city.

Philadelphia Flyers are one of the new teams to augment the ranks the the National Hockey League.

The 76ers become the National Basketball Association champions.

The City's population reaches 1,927,863

The Philadelphia Flyers win the Stanley Cup.

The Philadelphia Flyers win the Stanley Cup.

The first major confrontation with the "back to nature" group MOVE, ends with the death of a police officer and the destruction of their headquarters in Powelton Village.

The Phillies win the World Series.

The Eagles represent the National Football Conference at the Superbowl.

Eugene Ormandy retires and Riccardo Muti takes over the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Phillies win the National League pennant.

The second major confrontation with the "back to nature" group MOVE, ends with a fire that destroys 62 houses and the death of 6 MOVE members and 5 MOVE children.

The Phillies win the National League pennant.

Wolfgang Sawallisch takes over as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The world class concert hall, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, opens in Mid-December.

Christoph Eschenbach becomes the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Arts, opens in Mid-December.

The National Constitution Center opens on July 4.

The Eagles represent the National Football Conference at the Superbowl.

For over half a century, Philadelphia has been a major force in Rock music. Groups such as Lee Andrews and the Hearts and Danny and the Juniors defined Rock & Roll in the late fiftees. Soloists such as Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell were idolized by teenagers across the country. Dee Dee Sharp, Chubby Checker, the Dovelles, the Tymes and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells epitomized the excitement of the music in the sixtees. In the late sixtees, the Delphonics and The Philly Sound, propounded by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and characterized by such artists as the O'Jays, the Soul Survivors, the Intruders, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Archie Bell and the Drells made Philadelphia an important city for soul music. In the late ninetees, the Disco Biscuits were formed in the city, which advanced the music of jam bands in the country.