Ronald Reagan proclaimed July as National Ice Cream Month in 1984.
The proclamation was issued during Reagan’s presidency and encouraged people in the United States to celebrate ice cream as a wholesome and popular food. It also designated the third Sunday of July as National Ice Cream Day. The observance is associated with the U.S. ice-cream industry and is not a worldwide official holiday.
Reagan’s proclamation reflected the scale of ice cream’s place in American food culture. By the 1980s, supermarkets, parlors, restaurants, and mobile vendors had made frozen desserts widely available across the country. July was a natural choice because it falls during the Northern Hemisphere’s warm summer season.
National Ice Cream Month is sometimes confused with International Ice Cream Day or with promotional days created by individual brands. The specific presidential observance asks for July, while the related day is tied to the third Sunday of that month.