The earliest reports of people enjoying flavored ice desserts come from the Romans and the Chinese. Marco Polo returned from his famous expedition¹ with fruit-flavored ices, reporting that Asians had been making them for thousands of years. These delicacies² became popular in France in the 1500s, but only among royalty³. Over the next few centuries, the process of making them evolved from hauling mountain ice to salt/ice freezing methods. Cream was introduced as an ingredient, and by the 1700s, people were enjoying a dessert that was very similar to today’s ice cream.

根据史料记载，最早享用风味冰制甜点的是罗马人和中国人。马可·波罗完成他著名的游历后，满载果味冰品而归，称亚洲人做这些的历史已有数千年。早在16世纪，这种美食就已经风靡法国，不过只限于王室内部。在接下来的几个世纪里，人们发明了盐水冰冻法，制作冰甜点不再需要从高山上凿冰。之后，奶油也成为一种制作原料，到18世纪时，人们享用的冰制甜点已经和今天的冰淇淋非常接近。

The hand-cranked ice cream freezer was first developed by Nancy Johnson in 1846. Ice was readily available from large warehouses⁴ in that era, so ice cream became a treat that could be enjoyed by almost anyone, not just the rich. Ice cream making was revolutionized again in 1851, when Jacob Fussel started the first wholesale⁵ ice cream manufacturing operation in Baltimore, Maryland. Fussel’s dairy business had excess cream and he couldn’t figure out what to do with it. He tried using it to make ice cream, and before long his ice cream business outsold the rest of the dairy.

1846年，南希·约翰逊发明了手摇冰淇淋冷冻机。那个时代的冰块来自大型冷库，随取随用，冰淇淋因此成为大众美食，而不是富人独享的奢侈品。1851年，雅各布·福赛尔在马里兰州巴尔的摩市首次批量生产冰淇淋，制作工艺再次革新。福赛尔的奶制品工厂生产的奶油过剩，他一时间不知怎么办，便尝试使用这些奶油制作冰淇淋，不久以后，他的冰淇淋销量竟超过了其他奶制品。

The business slowly evolved for the next few decades. Manufacturing methods and ingredients improved, while refrigeration technology became cheaper and more efficient. By the 1920s, home refrigerators and freezers became more common, which gave the ice cream industry another boost. Sugar was rationed⁶ in the US during World War I, but the ice cream industry convinced the government that ice cream was an “essential food”. Ice cream factories were allotted⁷ sugar rations⁸ and production continued.

在接下来的几十年里，冰淇淋产业日渐成熟。生产方式和制作原料不断改进，制冷技术也变得更便宜更高效。到20世纪20年代，家用冰箱和冰柜更为普及，推动冰淇淋产业再次崛起。第一次世界大战期间，糖在美国是定量配给的，冰淇淋行业协会说服政府冰淇淋是一种“必备食品”，冰淇淋工厂由此获得食糖配额，生产才得以继续。

Ice cream increased in popularity until the Depression years caused a drop in sales for virtually all non-essential goods. Sales increased in the years leading up to World War II before leveling off in the post-war years. The rise of the giant supermarket created demand for cheaper, mass-produced ice cream, but quality suffered. The 1960s saw a resurgence⁹ in “premium¹⁰” ice cream, while the following decades saw the market fragment into low-fat varieties for the health-conscious, including frozen yogurt, fruit bars, ice milk, fat-free ice cream, and dozens of other varieties. However, ice cream still makes up about 60 percent of the market share among frozen desserts. While ice cream is enjoyed worldwide, it has become an American tradition.

经济大萧条之前，冰淇淋日益普及，销量一路上扬，但大萧条的到来导致非必需品的销量一落千丈，几乎无一幸免。第二次世界大战爆发前的那几年，冰淇淋销量开始有所好转，战后几年则趋于平稳。大型超市的出现，为价格更低廉、大批量生产的冰淇淋创造了市场需求，但冰淇淋的品质却受到了影响。20世纪60年代，“优质”冰淇淋东山再起，接下来的几十年，冰淇淋市场细分出各种专为追求健康的人士打造的低脂系列产品，包括冰冻酸奶、水果条、牛奶冻、脱脂冰淇淋和其他数十个种类。但传统冰淇淋仍然占去冰冻甜点60%的市场份额。全世界都在享用的冰淇淋，在美国已然成为一种传统。

PS.

The ice cream mixes the sweetest and purest wish of a girl, and the bike carries the most conspicuous¹¹ and fervent¹² dream of a boy. Love will be aroused as soon as this most romantic factor adds to the simplest element.

冰淇淋融合了少女最甜蜜和最纯净的期盼，单车则承载了少年最张扬和最热烈的梦想。最浪漫的因子加上最简单的元素，怎能不碰撞出美妙的爱情?