Nancy Maria Donaldson Johnson

Nancy Donaldson was born in 1795 to Dr. Lothario Donaldson and Mary 'Polly' Rider in New York. Little else is known about her actual past, however she is assumed to have been born in New York, Maryland, or Pennsylvania.[2] She was a housewife, living in Philadelphia and she was a game changer.[3] She served with her sister Mary as a missionary for the Port Royal Experiment. She married Professor Walter Rogers Johnson. She lived in Philadelphia in 1843 when she filed for her patent. She was the inventor of the first hand-cranked ice cream churn and Her simple invention launched a “disruptive technology” that made it possible for everyone to make quality ice cream. She adopted two children. She died in Washington, D.C. in 1890.[4]

Johnson had invented the hand cranked ice cream churn as a way to solve the problem of the amount of time it took to make ice cream. Ice cream was originally made using very intensive labor and it often took one individual hours to make. Johnson essentially provided another way to make ice cream faster and easier than by hand. Prior to Johnson’s invention, ice cream was made using the “pot freezer” method.[5] This method was not a very productive method of making ice cream as it was known to be unpredictable, and often provided lumpy results. Johnson enhanced the ice cream making process by creating an appliance that used hand-cranked spatulas inside a cylinder to scrape ice crystals from the walls of the cooled container. She added holes to the spatulas to make it easier to crank.[6]

After Johnson's invention became public, many stores and shops opened up to the idea of selling ice cream to people of all classes, as the process to make ice cream became easier and cheaper. In September of 1846, she filed a patent for this ice-cream maker and revolutionized ice-cream making, allowing it to become a commodity that one could easily make and sell. Johnson’s innovation revolutionized the ice cream industry. Ice cream is now one of the most popular deserts worldwide, and it wouldn’t be this popular today if it wasn’t for the churn. Prior to this invention, ice-cream was a rare treat which was enjoyed primarily by those of the upper class. It was a treat; not feasible to have everyday. In order to eliminate the labor intensive work required to make ice-cream, Johnson created a system that allowed the ingredients to be agitated without human intervention. No longer did someone need to spend hours manually stirring the mixture.[7]

Over 150 years later, and Johnson’s invention is still used today. The seemingly simple technology behind her idea has been utilized and improved over the decades to become what it is today. With all of the new improvements and the increasing popularity, ice cream has now grown to become a huge industry. It is a treat which is enjoyed across America and around the world. Without Johnson’s hand cranked ice cream churn, ice cream would not be a common desert enjoyed by many, but rather a desert limited to only those of the upper class. [8]Johnson received $1500 during the course of her life for her patent.[9] However, she didn't enforce the patent, and William G. Young produced the Johnson Patent Ice-Cream Freezer in 1848.[1]

• Patent US3254A