John Jacob Astor was born July 17, 1763, in Walldorf, Germany (near Heidelberg). He came to the United States after the American Revolution and began trading furs, shipping them to Europe via New York. Business was good, and Astor was well on his way to making his fortune when he got a boost with …
In 2010 Jennifer Harbster, my co-blogger, did a post about ice cream that mentioned the beginning of National Ice Cream Month in 1984, but I ran across this advertisement in Chronicling America that ran in the Washington Times on May 26, 1920. This was long before Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month …