Ice cream is a comfort food, right up there with macaroni & cheese and tater tots, so it’s no surprise that the sweet treat played a key role in comforting our nation and our troops during World War II. It was so important to our comfort that during that trying time, the U.S. War Department listed six items essential for keeping troop morale high. Ice cream was on that list.
To help supply ice cream to soldiers and sailors fighting in the Pacific, the U.S. Navy built an “Ice Cream Barge” – a ship whose sole purpose was to make and distribute ice cream to the tune of 1,500 gallons an hour!
But while our brave men and women overseas were enjoying ice cream (and deservedly so), the rationing of milk, sugar and other supplies meant ice cream shortages back home. Ice cream shops still managed to satisfy our sweet tooth thanks to some quick thinking and experimenting with different recipes. When the rationing was lifted after the war, American’s worked overtime to get their fill of ice cream, consuming it in record amounts – 20 quarts per person in 1946 alone!
Tags: ice cream, turkey hill
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If you’ve got a technical question about the ice cream making process or some other inquiry about the nuances of America’s favorite treat, chances are Ernie has the answer. He might not be able to answer all questions, but he’ll try his best and some may be featured on the Ice Cream Journal.
I remember the rationing, stamp books and trading civilian women did to make a treat for their family, it made you feel your sacrifice was helping the war effort.
Wouldn’t all of our troops from the US & Canada enjoy a treat of your ice cream.If there was only a way to get it there.
Sure wish we could soldiers.
nice history lesson ice cream is always a favorite thing in this household and with the economy the way it is we still will not cut back on ice cream.
Hey, hey this sounds like the prize for me!!! Love Turkey Hill Duetto’s! And of course prolly 15 regular flavors too.
That was an interesting historical tidbit. Wouldn’t it be great if our troops could all be home to have an ice cream with us today?
Nothing like eating Turley Hill Ice Cream on a rainy day inside! Of course you end up eating the whole container but this is okay just go and buy another one!
maybe you make a dehyraded product for the soliders to make a dish of turkey hill ice cream ,when time allows
We used to make snow cream – scooped up fresh snow and stirred in a little milk from the cows on our farm and added a little vanilla – yummy! Maybe that could be a new nostalgic flavor for your line for winter – Snow Cream! I like the chocolate and coconut duetto flavor – reminds me of eating fresh coconut purchased from a vendor in Pisa, Italy. God bless our troops – may they all come home safe and sound and get to enjoy a cone of their favorite flavor of Turkey Hill!
What a day for celebrating America and ice cream!
My father served in the Pacific during WWII-and I don’t recall him ever mentioning having ice cream during his service there. We sure made up for that after he got home-Thank you for the information-keep it coming. We need to be thankful every day for the U.S.A.
What is more American than apple pie (served a la mode with Turkey Hill vanilla ice cream of course)!
Thanks for the info on the Ice Cream Barge. I too have learned something new!I cannot imagine life without ice cream, esp Turkey Hill’s Nutty Neopolitan!!
We love Turkey Hill ice cream, especially the Lemon Shortbread that is now only available seasonally and not often found in our stores when it should be there. Wish you would make more of that flavor, my kids eat the entire carton in one sitting!
We love turkey hill ice cream. My family especially enjoys the lemon shortbread when we can find it. Wish you made more of that each year!
When we visited the USS NC, they had an ‘ice cream parlor’ for the troops on board and they told us what a treat it was for the men. That surprised me.
Very interesting piece of history that I did not know…….I will definitely use this when we have a trivia game….I will tell them the winner will get Turkey Hill Ice Cream!!!!
I celebrate every day with Turkey Hill Ice Cream. Just found Lemon Pie – Great
Keep up the good work, and the history lessons. Is it still made the same way today as back then?
Wow! An ice cream ship!
During the war, my mother worked in an ice cream factory in Philadelphia. We grew up eating ice cream as a special treat. She would tell us stories of working at the factory and how she met our father while at work.
Icecream is a great treat and turkey Hill does it great.
It was an excellent idea for our nation to provide ice cream to American soldiers overseas.They were fighting for America’s liberty and democracy.They deserved the best food our country had to offer.
I guess we sure love our ice cream!
considering the shortages, this is still a lot of ice cream, 1,500 gallons an hour!
That’s amazing for ice cream to be distributed in 1946 that rapidly. It sound like there were some hungry soldiers and salors that wanted to cool off w/ a cool treat!
God Bless our troops. Wish there was a way we could send some Turkey Hill to the troops. I am sure they would enjoy it. They certainly deserve that and much more.
If any people deserve to be treated with something as comforting as ice cream, those who are defending this great country top the list. God bless those who have done so in the past and those who continue the tradition.
What better way to eat ice cream in the heat of the summer than to get Turkey Hill vanilla ice cream scoop it into a large glass and then add chocolate milk to the glass. Don’t stir just scoop out the ice cream with some chocolate milk and you get a refreshing cool treat. For a change peanut butter ice cream is also good with chocolate milk.