If you're following @GoodHumor and @RZA's new ice cream truck jingle collab, here's some black history for you:
Ice cream & ice cream parlors have been rooted in racism in the U.S., even though vanilla cultivation was revolutionized by a black pre-teen in the 1800s. A thread.
Ice cream & ice cream parlors have been rooted in racism in the U.S., even though vanilla cultivation was revolutionized by a black pre-teen in the 1800s. A thread.
It isn't random chance that ice cream trucks still play music rooted in blackface minstrelsy.
Early U.S. ice cream parlors played music to keep patrons entertained, often using the Regina music box, which played, among other things, minstrel music. npr.org/sections/codes…
Early U.S. ice cream parlors played music to keep patrons entertained, often using the Regina music box, which played, among other things, minstrel music. npr.org/sections/codes…
Then in 1920, Harry Burt created the 1st ice cream on a stick+the 1st ice cream truck. He decided to add music to bring back the nostalgia old ice cream parlors.
To avoid copyright claims, he used music in the public domain. Enter ye old minstrel songs: medium.com/@luckypeach/tu…
To avoid copyright claims, he used music in the public domain. Enter ye old minstrel songs: medium.com/@luckypeach/tu…
Interestingly, around this same time, Black people in the Jim Crow South weren't allowed to buy vanilla ice cream except on July 4th.
This was largely by custom and not by law.
@KosherSoul lays this out culinary racism here: theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
This was largely by custom and not by law.
@KosherSoul lays this out culinary racism here: theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Dr. Maya Angelou mentions this in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings:
"People in Stamps used to say that the whites in our town were so prejudiced that a Negro couldn't buy vanilla ice cream. Except on July 4th. Other days he had to be satisfied with chocolate."
"People in Stamps used to say that the whites in our town were so prejudiced that a Negro couldn't buy vanilla ice cream. Except on July 4th. Other days he had to be satisfied with chocolate."
Audre Lorde also recounts this racist, weird Jim Crow phenomenon in her autobiography: Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. Her family visited Washington DC around July 4th & her parents wanted to treat everyone to vanilla ice cream. But, the soda shop waitress refused to serve them. 
What's the most mind-blowing about all of this is that we literally wouldn't have vanilla ice cream without the innovation of a black child named Edmund Albious.
Edmund was born into slavery in 1829 on the island of Réunion between Mauritius & Madagascar. When he was 12, he invented a technique for cultivating the vanilla plant, revolutionizing vanilla cultivation & making it possible to grow vanilla beans away from their native Mexico.
*lays out this culinary racism* - Twitter we need that edit button! I'm wearing my mask!
The backstory to vanilla: Early Europeans LOVED tlilxochital, which they learned about when Spanish explorers colonized Mexico in the 1500s (which we know as vanilla).
The plant was carefully guarded and cultivated by the Totonacs, a Mexican civilization from Veracruz.
The plant was carefully guarded and cultivated by the Totonacs, a Mexican civilization from Veracruz.
The Totonacs were highly secretive for their process of cultivating the vanilla pods.
They didn't want the Spaniards to learn their process and wouldn't teach them, so the Spaniards just stole the already-cultivated pods and smuggled them out of Mexico.
They didn't want the Spaniards to learn their process and wouldn't teach them, so the Spaniards just stole the already-cultivated pods and smuggled them out of Mexico.
The Europeans couldn't get enough. The European royalty drank it in hot chocolate, flavored soups with it, and used it for all kinds of medical treatments, including for snake bites, stomach issues, and impotence.
nationalgeographic.com/science/phenom…
nationalgeographic.com/science/phenom…
Demand for vanilla was INCREDIBLY HIGH, so this was big business at the time. The Spaniards continued to steal plants from Mexico for a while, but then they decided to try to grow the plants in Europe and other colonized locales around the world.
They completely failed.
They completely failed.
This was a long-term failure. For +320 years, they couldn't figure it out.
then, in 1836 a Belgian botanist figured out that the vanilla plants in Europe weren't being pollinated. Mexico had a specific bee species as vanilla plant pollinators.
Europe didn't.
then, in 1836 a Belgian botanist figured out that the vanilla plants in Europe weren't being pollinated. Mexico had a specific bee species as vanilla plant pollinators.
Europe didn't.
Europeans still wanted to figure out how to pollinate vanilla plants, especially the French. They stole the Totonacs' process (literally including the bees), but still couldn't do it efficiently.
At the same time (around 1820), the French were sending vanilla plants to Réunion.
At the same time (around 1820), the French were sending vanilla plants to Réunion.
But, the vanilla vines in Réunion were sterile because no insects would pollinate them. The plant would grow, but there were no beans. No beans meant no vanilla extract and nothing worth selling.
Enter Edmond Albius, an enslaved orphan working on the plantation of Fereol Bellier-Beaumont in Réunion. In 1841, he figured out how to pollinate the vanilla orchid.
After Bellier-Beaumont learned about Edmond's vanilla pollination innovation, he wrote his fellow plantation owners & had Edmond travel around Réunion teaching them the process.
Prior to that year, Réunion exported no vanilla. Within 50 yrs, it had outgrown Mexico to become the world's largest vanilla bean producer.
Today, ~80% of the world's vanilla comes from Madagascar, Réunion's next door neighbor. Vanilla is the world's 2nd-most expensive spice.
Today, ~80% of the world's vanilla comes from Madagascar, Réunion's next door neighbor. Vanilla is the world's 2nd-most expensive spice.
The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Vanilla Bean Market is expected to be around US$ 35.7 Billion by 2025.
Edmond never saw any of this wealth. He actually died destitute. But, he's the reason we can enjoy vanilla, including in ice cream.
It's entirely appropriate for @GoodHumor and @RZA to reimagine the ice cream truck jingle. We owe at least that it to Edmond Albius.
It's entirely appropriate for @GoodHumor and @RZA to reimagine the ice cream truck jingle. We owe at least that it to Edmond Albius.
@karenhunter and @carlahall recently had a great conversation about vanilla and Edmund Albius on YouTube. I highly recommend you watching if you’re interested in this history lesson:
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