National Ice Cream Cake Day and the Broken Down Truck That Started It All
Today is National Ice Cream Cake Day.
Ice cream cakes have become a familiar sight at birthday parties and celebrations, but their history can be traced back to an unexpected event in 1934.
Tom Carvel was selling ice cream from his truck in Hartsdale, New York, when it broke down. Rather than watching his inventory melt, he began selling the softer ice cream to passing customers. They loved it. That chance roadside incident eventually led to the development of Carvel’s soft serve ice cream, the opening of his first store, and later the introduction of the Carvel ice cream cake.
For today’s photograph, I chose one of Carvel’s original round ice cream cakes. Chocolate and vanilla ice cream are separated by the company’s signature chocolate crunchies, then finished with whipped frosting and colorful sprinkles.
Sometimes the story behind the food is every bit as interesting as the food itself.
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A Surprise Launch from Vandenberg
Last night, while photographing another SpaceX launch out of Vandenberg Space Force Base, I zoomed in closer than usual. To my surprise, what I captured wasn’t a satellite at all — it was a blueberry popsicle achieving orbit.
Over the years I’ve photographed many launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base — Falcon 9s carrying Starlink satellites and other missions lighting up the California coast. Those photographs have become some of my most widely licensed images. But this was the first time I’d seen a frozen dessert slip into low Earth orbit.
Doing some checking, I discovered today is National Blueberry Popsicle Day. The popsicle itself has an orbit of its own in history — first invented in 1905 by 11-year-old Frank Epperson in Oakland, California, after he accidentally left a mixture of powdered soda and water out to freeze overnight with a wooden stick in it. From a backyard accident to a household name, and now apparently to space — a fitting trajectory.
Thank you to my friend Bob Lilac for this launch alert.
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