By Logan Langlois
NASHVILLE, TN — In between bites, licks, and sweet slurps of the ever-sweet treat that is ice cream, have you ever stopped to think of where this creamy delight came from? Dating all the way back to 4th century Persia in modern-day Iran, many ice cream flavors are created out of boundless whimsy and ingredients; however, that wasn’t exactly the case when it comes to modern ice cream manufacturing techniques. The father of ice cream, a Black man named Augustus Jackson, would go on to change cold delicious history.
Born in Philadelphia on April 16, 1808, Jackson began working at the United States White House at the age of nine and would go on to serve under three presidents during his 20-year career from 1817-1837. During his service, Jackson would normally add salt to the ice he was using to make ice cream during the churning process. Jackson also found ways to make the cream freeze better while sitting in the freezer, both techniques of which along with a variety of others would go on to change how ice cream is made to this day.
Jackson would eventually be able to move home to Philadelphia to start his own catering and confectionery business. After his move, Jackson proved to be a savvy businessman, earning the respect of one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Philadelphia. Much of this was because he never stopped innovating after leaving the White House.
At the time, most ice cream was being made with eggs in the recipe, but not Jackson. He created an eggless recipe, along with mixing salt into the ice as he had always done during his White House days. The salt continued to boost the quality of his flavors, improved still by Jackson’s habit of lowering the temperature of his creations to keep them colder for a longer period of time, something that greatly assisted the packaging and shipping process.
During this time the Jim Crow laws were in full swing, and Black citizens found themselves unable to do the most basic of everyday things, like purchasing vanilla ice cream. Though not an explicit rule laid out in Jim Crow laws, the buying conditions of the laws often created circumstances in which the Black community was unable to purchase the ingredients for vanilla ice cream, or even the ice cream itself. Black people were often denied vanilla ice cream every day except July 4th, a note that rings darkly ironic when considering it was an enslaved man, Edmond Albius, who revolutionized the cultivation of vanilla to begin with.
During this time, Jackson would prove to be one of the only sellers of quality ice cream to Black Americans, including the Black community’s favorite flavor of butter pecan, selling it for $1 a quart in packaged metal tins to Black Philadelphian ice cream parlors. Previously, ice cream was only afforded by the rich, but with the reduction in cost Jackson earned through his new technique, his brand new “Philadelphia style” ice cream became affordable to the masses. Jackson would also eventually go on to sell his ice cream to individual customers and vendors.
No evidence currently exists that Jackson ever patented the recipes he used or any of the techniques that he originated. He would share his idea with five other Black ice cream parlor owners in Philadelphia, most of whom found great success in their own right well into the 19th century until being driven out of business by racial prejudice. Agustus Jackson would pass away on January 11, 1852, at the age of 43. The Forgotten Black History of Modern Ice Cream Technique
