We All Scream for Ice Cream (Sundaes)

Here’s an interesting tidbit… According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Profile America… One of our favorite ice cream concoctions was invented on this date (July 8) in 1881 to bypass the law strict Sabbath laws that limited what folks could buy on Sundays. (These laws used to be called “Blue Laws.” The ice cream sundae was the brainchild of drug store owner Edward Berner of Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

Berner was unable to fill a customer's order for a flavored soda water because soda couldn’t be sold on a Sunday back then. Berner improvised, putting chocolate syrup — then used only to flavor soda water — on top of ice cream in a dish. The result was the first ice cream "Sunday."

While drug store soda fountains are gone, there are more than 11,500 ice cream shops across the country, keeping over 90,000 employees busy making yummy delights for customers worth $3.2 billion a year. 

While most blue laws have been repealed some still exists… for example, here in Texas Car dealerships must remain closed on either Saturday or Sunday, at the option of the dealer. Many state liquor laws also restrict or even forbid the sale of alcohol on Sundays.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau via PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1hbw1)