The known history of Boise ice cream goes back to the late 1800s. Boise Ice Cream Co. claimed to be first wholesale ice cream business in town. We’d have to assume that there were some other small scale retail shops before then but information on those are unclear at this point. Boise Ice Cream Co. as you can see in the images below had a creamery said to be on 8th between Bannock and Idaho Streets in an area currently known as “Restaurant Row” in Boise.
Notable early dates in ice cream history:
1851 America invents the commercial ice cream freezer in Baltimore
1874 America invents the Ice Cream Soda in Philadelphia
1892 America invents the Ice Cream Sundae in New York
The pharmacy and soda fountain became the early businesses to embrace ice cream and all the associated products that could be produced by it such as shakes, malts, and floats. “Soda Jerks” became the mixologists and baristas of their era. The soda fountain was the social epicenter of young adult life in most cities. Ballou-Latimer Drug Store on 9th and Idaho Street and Heller’s Sports Shop on 10th and Bannock were some of the most notable soda fountains in the early to mid 1900s.
The dairy industry has been one of the backbones of the Idaho economy for almost 100 years. The southwest and south central part of Idaho is credited as making up a large majority of that historic production. Meridian and Boise play a big part in that history but sadly many of those farms are no longer in existence for a complex mix of reasons including the local booming population and the other politico-economic reasons. However Idaho still proudly has 500 dairies and the ones that remain are the most productive in the United States. There are still several dozen dairies in Ada County and most of the dairies in Idaho remain family run operations. Below you will see some historic images of Ada County dairies: Triangle Dairy, Allumbaugh Dairy, and Home Dairies.
The rise of the drive-in evolved with the increased use of automobiles. The Boise area was home to a large number of them during the 40s-60s. Teenage life in Boise began to revolve around the drag between many of the drive-in
Ice Cream trucks
Current Drive-ins still in operation
The current group of modern ice cream makers
