Bossier Parish Library Column: National Soft Ice Cream Day

Bossier Parish Library Column – 34
Annie Gilmer, Community Engagement Librarian   


This heat may be influencing my topic choice this week, but who doesn’t enjoy a soft-serve ice cream at times? With that thought in mind, we’re celebrating National Soft Ice Cream Day, which is held on August 19th.

Soft serve came about due to, what in the end, turned out to be a happy accident when Tom Carvel set out in his ice cream truck in Hartsdale, New York to sell his ice cream to those out enjoying Memorial Day weekend in 1934. After getting a flat tire on his truck, he pulled into a parking lot to assess the damage and knew that his product would melt before he managed to fix the tire; looking at the soft ice cream, and seeing passing vacationers, he decided to see if they’d buy it. Turns out they loved the soft ice cream, and the popularity sparked an idea for Carvel. He set up a stationary location to sell his soft ice cream after this experience, and two years later Carvel opened an ice cream store in the location where his truck broke down, and went on to patent both a super low-temperature ice cream machine and his secret ice cream formula.

While the novelty of soft-serve ice cream did cause a dip in hard ice cream sales initially, both eventually found their places in the market. Today you can find just about any ice cream flavor your heart, or taste buds, may desire and this holiday gives you an excuse to give in to the craving, beat the heat, and enjoy this cold treat. And, in case you’re not a fan of soft serve, there are apparently 20 ice cream or ice cream related random holidays throughout the year, most of them fall in July, which is also National Ice Cream Month.

Questions? Email us at: [email protected] 
 
Website: https://www.bossierlibrary.org/ 
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bossierlibrary 
 
Library Hours: 
Central
Monday – Thursday, 9:00am – 8:00pm 
Friday, 9:00am – 6:00pm 
Saturday, 9:00am – 5:00pm 
Benton 
Monday – Thursday, 9:00am – 7:00pm 
Friday, 9:00am – 6:00pm 
Saturday, 10:00am – 2:00pm 
Haughton 
Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 6:00pm 
Saturday, 10:00am – 2:00pm 
Aulds/East 80/Plain Dealing/Tooke 
Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 6:00pm 
History Center
Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday, by appointment
 
Library Locations: 
Aulds Branch 
318.742.2337 
 
Benton Branch 
318.965.2751 
 
Central Library 
318.746.1693 
 
East 80 Branch 
318.949.2665 
 
Haughton Branch 
318.949.0196 
 
History Center 
318.746.7717 
 
Plain Dealing Branch 
318.326.4233 
 
Tooke Branch 
318.987.3915 
 
New & Coming Soon: 
All Them Dogs: A Novel by Djamel White (Fiction; Book, eBook, eAudiobook)

The Cloak and Dagger Club: Book 1 by Jackie McMahon (Fiction; Book)

Dawn of the North: Ashen Series, Book 3 by Demi Winters (Fiction; Book, eBook, eAudiobook)

Exodus: The Helium Sea: Archimedes Engine Duology, Book 2 by Peter F. Hamilton (Fiction; Book, eAudiobook)

Furious Violet: A Novel by Sarai Walker (Fiction; Book)

The Half Life: A novel by Rachel Beanland (Fiction; Book, eBook, eAudiobook)

An Infinite Love Story: A Novel by Chanel Cleeton (Fiction; Book, eBook, eAudiobook)

Lady X: A Novel by Molly Fader (Fiction; Book, eBook, eAudiobook)

Last Night was Killer: A Novel by Mary Pauline Lowry (Fiction; Book)

The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts: Marlow Murder Club, Book 5 by Robert Thorogood (Fiction; Book)

Natural Disaster: A Novel by Lisa Owens (Fiction; Book)
Pretty Dead Things: A Novel by Kelsey Cox (Fiction; Book, eBook, eAudiobook)

Prince of Swords: Arcana Academy, Book 2 by Elise Kova (Fiction; Book, eBook, eAudiobook)

Scary Movie Night: A Novel by Miranda Smith (Fiction; Book, eBook, eAudiobook)

The Subtle Pleasures of Indiscretion: An Isabel Dalousie Mystery, Book 16 by Alexander McCall Smith (Fiction; Book)

A Tangled Magic by Andrea Eames (Fiction; Book, eBook, eAudiobook)

Witch Season: Broken Coven, Book 1 by Julia Bianco (Fiction; Book)