[2] 7-Up and Sprite are standard lemon-lime sodas, but we go for the best: Boylan’s. It’s all natural, and it shows (photo © Boylan Bottling).

[3] Not a lemon-lime fan? You can make any flavor float with the soda of your choice. Here, orange soda and vanilla ice cream create a “Creamsicle” ice cream soda (photo © Jarritos Mexican Soda | Unsplash).

[4] A milkshake differs from a float by substituting milk for the soda water, and blending of the ingredients together (photo © Friendship Dairies).

[5] A New England frappe. See how it’s different from a milkshake, below (photo © L.A. Burdick).

[6] Want to make your own strawberry ice cream? Here’s a recipe (photo © Straus Family Creamery).

June 20th is National Ice Cream Soda Day, another word for a float.

A glass is filled with soda; then scoops of ice cream are added, which have the effect of floating in the soda. Hence: ice cream float. You can add whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry (similar to photo #1), or just enjoy it au naturel* (photo #3).

When was the last time you had an ice cream soda?

Today’s recipe, from QVC’s David Venable, is more layered than most.

A typical strawberry float is made with strawberry soda pop and two scoops of strawberry ice cream, with an optional garnish of whipped cream and a whole strawberry.

Before the general availability around 1900-1910†, people got their refreshing soft drinks at soda fountains. Soda water from the fountain tap and strawberry syrup from a pump were used to create the strawberry sodas.

But the most essential ingredient is strawberry ice cream!

While the servants of wealthy families had long hand-whipped heavy cream and crushed strawberries in a bowl of ice (the ingredients were combined in a smaller bowl that was nestled in the bowl of ice), the first printed reference to strawberry ice cream dates to 1813.

It was then that First Lady Dolley Madison served strawberry ice cream in the White House, for the second inauguration banquet of President James Madison.

In fact, she is credited for originating the flavor [source].

It took until 1874 for a soda jerk to invent the ice cream soda.

Below:

> David Venable’s strawberry ice cream soda recipe.

> The differences between a frappe, ice cream soda/float, milkshake, malted milk, and smoothie.

> The year’s 9+ ice cream drink holidays.

> The history of bottled soft drinks.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of the ice cream soda.

> The history of ice cream.

> The history of strawberries.

> The year’s 50+ ice cream holidays.

> National Strawberry Ice Cream Day is January 15th.

> More strawberry recipes.

> National Strawberry Day is February 27th.
 
 
RECIPE: STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM SODA (A.K.A. FLOAT)

Ingredients For 2 Servings

 
Preparation

1. STIR together the jam and water in a mixing bowl. Set aside. In another mixing bowl…

2. STIR together the soda and Jell-O. Set aside.

3. DIVIDE the strawberry ice cream between two large glasses. Top the ice cream with the soda mixture, then the whipped topping, dividing both evenly between the glasses. Drizzle the jam mixture over the top and garnish each with a whole strawberry.

> Here are more David Venable Recipes on QVC.
 
 
FOOD 101: Why are some brands of strawberry ice cream are almost white with red flecks of strawberry, while others are unquestionably pink?

Red food color is sometimes added to give the strawberry ice cream a deeper color and provide the consumer with a more “strawberry” experience. Good brands don’t add color.
 
 
THE YEAR’S 9+ ICE CREAM DRINK HOLIDAYS: FLOATS (A.K.A. ICE CREAM SODAS), MILKSHAKES & MALTED MILK

 
Plus, while they’re not ice cream drinks, they’re cousins:

 
 
Now that you know the holidays, do you know the difference between a float, a frappe, a malt, a shake, and a smoothie?

The answer follows.

 
 

[6] A rainbow of smoothies (photo © Sun Basket).
 
________________

*In France, au naturel means cooked or served plainly. When used to refer to people, it means nude.
 
†Bottled soda/soft drinks first appeared in Europe in 1783, with Johann Jacob Schweppe creating the first commercial bottled carbonated mineral water (unflavored soda water). In the U.S., flavored, sweetened carbonated drinks became popular in the early-to-mid 1800s, with mass production of bottled soda water starting around 1835. By roughly 1900–1910, bottled carbonated soft drinks were commercially available to everyday Americans, with the crown cap (1892) and automated bottle production (early 1900s) being the pivotal enabling technologies.

The Crown Cork Bottle Seal, patented in 1892 by William Painter, a Baltimore machine shop operator, was the first very successful method of keeping the bubbles in the bottle. In 1899, the first patent was issued for a glass blowing machine for the automatic production of glass bottles. In 1899, the creator of Coca-Cola sold the national rights to bottle the drink to Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead. They started a national network of bottlers, creating the basic franchising format by which the soft drink industry is still run.

Thus, by the early 1900s, bottling technology made it possible for soda to be sold in bottles naationwide, and consumed by consumers outside of pharmacies. The 1920s brought six-pack cartons and automatic vending machines; bottled soda was fully mainstream and a grocery staple. Alas, soda fountains began their long, slow decline. As a coda, Prohibition, which began on January 17, 1920, gave the soft drink industry a huge boost as consumers were forced to turn to sodas instead of bars.

Today, 36% of Americans drink regular carbonated drinks weekly, with 28% drinking diet carbonated drinks. Per-capita carbonated soft drink consumption was about 41.9 gallons per person in 2025 [sources: CDC, Grand View Research, Western Grocer]/
 
 

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