Changes

The key change to ice cream was improvement in electrified refrigeration, or specifically freezing, that spread after World War II globally. The need for having to obtain ice became unneeded after the 1870s. This was because of the development of the electrified freezing process. However, the technology was not perfected until the 1920s, what became the continuous-process freezer, that enabled ice cream to be more easily made and become globally prevalent. Electrification in many regions became only widespread after World War II, which meant that for many regions ice cream only became common after the war. Throughout the 20th century, new developments in various flavors and types, such as the banana split (introduced in 1904), emerged. Another important innovation was the use of more air in the cream and ice mixture, that created a "softer" looking ice cream or what we call soft ice cream that is popular today. The Ice Cream company Dairy Queen seems to have brought this innovation. Seaweed and other agents are still used for thickening; agar is now more commonly used in as an emulsifier or help give ice cream a greater consistency.<ref>For more on 20th century developments, see: Goldstein, D. (Ed.). (2015). <i>The Oxford companion to sugar and sweets.</i> Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, pg. 348.</ref>