Bassetts Ice Cream of Philadelphia is America's oldest ice cream company.
Louis Dubois Bassett was a Quaker school teacher and a farmer who lived in Salem, New Jersey. In 1861 he began making ice cream at home. By 1885 he was selling ice cream in Philadelphia.
In 1893 Louis Dubois Bassett moved his ice cream production to the Reading Terminal Market at 12th and Arch Streets and also opened a retail store there. This store is still in the same place in the Reading Market, and has the original marble counters.
In 1935 Bassetts shipped 10 quarts of ice cream on a freighter from New York to the American Embassy in Tokyo. The ship went through the Panama Canal. While it took several weeks to make the trip, the ice cream arrived in good condition because it had been packed in dry ice.
In 1959 Bassetts made 50 tubs of Borscht Sherbet for Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. (Borscht is made from beets).
In 1996 Bassetts introduced their Ice Cream Sandwich.
Bassetts celebrated their 140th anniversary in 2001!
Today, Bassetts Ice Cream remains a family owned business.
Please continue to the next page to read about our field trip to Bassetts.
|
|
|
