The Oldest Ice Cream Brand In The US Once Relied On The Power Of A Mule

Bassetts Ice Cream, recognized as the oldest ice cream company in America, is located in Pennsylvania. Proudly operated as a fifth-generation family-run business, Bassetts prides itself on solely using local dairy from Pennsylvania, even shipping its products nationwide (per the website for Bassetts Ice Cream). While other large ice cream brands sell egg yolk ice cream, Bassett, to this day, highlights the flavor of the cream by leaving out the eggs (Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED)). So, although it's known as the oldest U.S. ice cream company, things must have changed since its humble beginnings, right?

Modern-day technology has changed the way most businesses operate. Emails, mobile phones, websites, social media — the list is endless and shows how the way in which people conduct business is entirely different than it once was. This is also true in the food industry, where machines have taken over a lot of the work people or even animals once did. Bassetts Ice Cream was founded in 1861 — when Abraham Lincoln was in office — and its original ice cream was created by mule power (via Bassetts Ice Cream). Yes, you read that correctly: A mule was making the ice cream.

Although the mule has been gone for a while, it was one of the key components of the initial success of this long-time ice cream company, which was founded by Louis Dubois (Paste Magazine). The mule, which walked in circles around a churn, was used to make the ice cream Dubois sold out of a carriage in Philadelphia. The mule continued to be used to make ice cream until Bassetts Ice Cream, due to popular demand, opened its first brick-and-mortar location in 1892 (per Bassetts Ice Cream). Even though Bassetts moved away from mule power when making ice cream, the company still values the mule's immense help in kick-starting this family business and continues to be proud of their homemade ice cream.

Although many things have changed since Bassetts first began, its original shop with its now 125-year-old marble countertop is still scooping up ice cream. While the family prides itself on its roots, they've worked hard to expand the company's business to sell its ice cream wholesale and across the nation. No matter how much they stay true to their ancestors' dreams, Bassetts Ice Cream is always looking for ways to innovate and move into an even more successful future (Pennsylvania DCED). Bravo, Bassett Ice Cream, and cheers to another 160 years!