Milkshakes Started As Medicine And They Still Work Pretty Good To This Day!

Welcome to September 12th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate chocolate medicine and a real game changer. 

In the late 1800s milkshakes were served in pharmacies as a tonic or medicine.  These sturdy eggnog type drinks were spiked with whiskey and other ingredients that were thought to be medicinal.  By the 1900s, a more wholesome drink was offered with either chocolate, vanilla or strawberry syrup and none of the alcohol.  Malt powder made its debut in the 1870s but both malts and milkshakes hit their stride in the 1920s. By this time ice cream and blenders were more popular and elevated the milkshake to its frothy heights!  Today we’re back to serving shakes as a health food with added protein powder and superfoods. On National Chocolate Milkshake Day, it’s just fine to celebrate with whipped cream and chocolate sauce to make the medicine go down.

In 2018 the film industry grossed over 41 billion dollars worldwide.  Not too shabby.  But it might surprise you to learn that during that same year, video games sales were over 152 billion!  If you’re not quick with numbers, that’s nearly four times as much!  Pretty impressive for an industry that started with a game called Pong which consisted of two lines and a dot that bounced back and forth between them.  Since then, we’ve been introduced to Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario Brothers.  Every year the games get more elaborate and generate more revenue in an already booming market.  On National Video Games Day, celebrate the pastime that is now bigger than all other forms of digital entertainment combined. 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.