Sambo Jackson

Sambo Jackson invented Ice cream in 1917. Mr. Jackson loved custard, and for fun, one summer's day he put it on ice. Once frozen, he found it tasted even better. He soon started selling it for a dollar a quart. Although other frozen deserts existed before this time, the idea of Ice cream by the quart can certainly be attributed to Sambo Jackson.

From the Cleveland Advocate. vol. 03 no. 45. 3/17/1917:

"The following acknowledgement of the origin and invention of ice-cream is from the Old Bay Line Magazine for January, 1917:

"It is about 100 years since the first ice cream was invented by Sambo Jackson, a *Negro confectioner in New York. Custards were Jack's specialty. One hot day he put a tin of custard in a bucket of cracked [ice] to cool it. Of course the custard froze. Jackson tasted it, made some more, like it so did his neighbors, so did his customers, and finally he evolved the froze custard into modern ice cream selling it in quart tines at a dollar a tin. He died rich, which considering that he was an inventor, is more wonderful than his invention."

*The above article is taken from the public record of 1917, and we apologize for the term "Negro confectioner", we leave it here for historical purposes only. Mr. Jackson was an inventor and a business man, and a clever one at that, the color of his skin was irrelevant to his accomplishments.

Cleveland; Superior St., 1873
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This is not a print of Sambo Jackson, it is a print from Cleveland in 1873 many years before Sambo invented Ice cream.

Sambo Jackson invented Ice cream in 1917. Mr. Jackson loved custard, and for fun, one summer's day he put it on ice. Once frozen, he found it tasted even better. He soon started selling it for a dollar a quart. Although other frozen deserts existed before this time, the idea of Ice cream by the quart can certainly be attributed to Sambo Jackson.