The first American commercial ice cream factory opened in 1851

Ice cream was first produced commercially, that is, not on demand by customers, in 1851 when a cunning Quaker milkman saw a chance. Jacob Fussell created ice cream in the little Pennsylvanian town of Seven Valleys using extra milk and eggs. What he couldn't sell locally, he shipped to Baltimore on the recently built railroad. By 1854, there was enough of a demand in Baltimore for Fussell to move his ice cream production there. The commercial ice cream industry in the United States was established in Baltimore's Fussell's Ice Cream Factory in 1854. Ice cream wasn't just a luxury enjoyed by the wealthy anymore.

Despite the Civil War, Fussell's steadily increased his business over the following ten years.

Throughout the following ten years, Fussell's steadily increased his business despite the Civil War and its effects on train traffic. He had ice cream factories running in New York, Boston, and Washington City by the middle of the 1870s. Because he produced in large quantities, he could sell his goods for less money than ice cream made nearby, and business expansion was steady. Still, the requirement for ice throughout the packing, shipping, and storage stages restricted ice cream sales and transportation. Even now, the shelf life of ice cream is still only a few months, especially during the hotter seasons.

However, by the time of the country's centennial in 1876, ice cream was a common dish rather than a treat enjoyed only by the affluent. To develop a regional ice cream manufacturing interest, local dairies and confectioners united. In both big cities and small communities, ice cream was available from specialist vendors, general retailers, dairy shops, and drugstores. It saw a spike in popularity following the Civil War, along with other mass-produced goods intended for ostentatious consumption.