People Beat The Heat At Famous Philly Ice Cream Shop
By Kristen Johanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It's National Ice Cream Day, and some people in Philadelphia are celebrating with a few scoops from Bassett's Ice Cream, located inside the Reading Terminal.
The heat brought many people indoors Sunday, like the Smith family -- on vacation from Asheville, North Carolina.
"We came yesterday, and we just want to sample everything that's here. We will probably be back everyday," says Mindy Smith.
Inside the bustling market, people lined up to grab the famous Philadelphia frozen treats. The company has been around since 1861, when Lewis Dubois Bassett made his first frozen batch in his Salem, New Jersey backyard.
He brought the sweet treat to the Reading Terminal, where his son took over and started creating different flavors. More than 150 years later, their descendant, 21-year-old Eric Bassett, is scooping the same recipe since he was 13 years old.
"It's been the same recipe for almost 100 years," he says. "We have generations of family members of people who bring their kids and sit at the same counter."
Bassett says his great-great-grandfather started mixing flavors in the same place where the shop still stands:
"He would make ice cream in the basement, he would get fresh fruit vegetables, whatever..from other merchants and make it right in the basement. The first flavor was yellow tomato, and then we made like a beet ice cream."
Now, this Philadelphia tradition is a world wide name.
"We ship to China, we are actually the number one exporter of ice cream to China in the United States," Bassett explains.
He adds his own dinner table conversation is all about ice cream:
"It's just the best, I can't get it out of my head. Everytime I walk down the steps, I take a spoon full."
