July might not be the hottest month of the year on average, but it is the right time of year for ice cream. That’s because it’s hot enough that we can all enjoy the cooling effect of this dairy confection, but it’s not so hot that our ice cream instantly becomes a puddle. That’s probably why someone had the foresight to make July National Ice Cream Month.

This is the perfect time of year to enjoy a nice scoop of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, spumoni, mint chocolate chip, or cookie dough ice cream. There are about a thousand other varieties of ice cream that can also be enjoyed during this month, so all people have to do is find the ones that really speak to them.

The History of National Ice Cream Month

As we did our research for National Ice Cream Month, we noticed that U.S. President Ronald Reagan seemed to have created a lot of food holiday months during his tenure. We’re not sure just how many, but we do know that he created a few. We know that he created National Frozen Food Day and Catfish Day, as well as National Peach Month.

So, he was pretty busy. Of course, we wouldn’t be talking about his penchant for creating food holidays in this article if he hadn’t also created National Ice Cream Month. He created this month in 1984, citing that ice cream was not only delicious but also nutritious as well.

Facts About Ice Cream

We love fun factoids about ice cream almost as much as we enjoy ice cream itself, so we decided to list some of our favorites below for everyone to enjoy. We think the following facts will go well with a nice bowl of ice cream.

• To make just one gallon of ice cream, it takes about 12 pounds of milk.
• During the 18th century, vanilla was a rare and, therefore, expensive flavor.
• Contrary to popular belief, vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor.
• Chocolate is the second most popular ice cream flavor.
• Industrial ice cream production began in the mid-19th century.

Observing National Ice Cream Month

Enjoying a bowl or a cone of ice cream is the best way to observe this month, especially if a person decides to top it with hot fudge, caramel, strawberry preserves, or whipped cream.

This brings us to another way of enjoying this holiday: having a banana split. With that being said, no matter what frozen confection a person decides to enjoy, they should let everyone on the Internet know about it using the hashtag #NationalIceCreamMonth.