Happiness Is an Ice Cream Sandwich [PHIL-OSOPHY]

In Israel, ice cream sandwiches are commonly known as kasata, a name that comes from the Italian cassata. In Singapore, ice cream between two biscuits is called potong. In Ireland, it's a slider and in England, it's an ice cream wafer.

Here, we celebrate the iconic ice cream sandwich, that's 120 years old. August 2 has been designated National Ice Cream Sandwich Day, and that should be a mini national holiday, in my opinion.

The American ice cream sandwich was born in the Bowery district of Manhattan in the early 1900s, when a pushcart vendor placed together skinny wafers and vanilla ice cream and sold them for a penny each to shoeshiners and stockbrokers alike. The culinary whiz kid who invented it probably had no idea what vanilla ice cream between blocks of exceptionally dark, chewy, cake-like wafers would mean to humankind!

And yes, along with tradition, there's ritual involved with the ice cream sandwich. Do you go in for the kill right from the start, or are you a slow and methodical connoisseur who licks the four edges in rotation? And what about the sticky leftover wafer that's stuck to your fingertips? And while I'm at it, I believe ice cream sandwiches should always be rectangular, not circular! Are you with me on this one?

Happy anniversary and my appreciation to the H.P. Hood Ice Cream plant out in Suffield, Connecticut, for a lifetime of warm fuzzies you've given us from your legendary, cool ice cream sandwiches.

Phil Paleologos is the host of The Phil Paleologos Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Contact him at phil@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @PhilPaleologos. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.