press release from WSDPC:
July is National Ice Cream Month. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan made the designation recognizing the popularity of ice cream in the United States (90% of the nation’s population consumes ice cream). He also appointed the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day. This year it falls on July 17th.

With over two-hundred family owned dairies in the Puget Sound region it follows that the area has some excellent gourmet ice cream options including West Seattle’s Husky Deli (4721 California Ave. SE, Seattle), which began making ice cream in 1932 and has the distinction of being the area’s oldest creamery.

“The ice cream is handcrafted and we only use good stuff like locally grown fruit from the farmer’s market or from Skagit County,” says Husky Deli’s Jack Miller.

The Husky Deli story actually begins in the depth of the Great Depression. A few years after opening, Jack’s grandfather, Herman, put an ice cream machine in the front window and began selling "Huskys," an ice cream cone (like a nutty buddy), to the public school lunch program. The "Huskys" allowed the Millers to survive the depression. And in 1937 the store was named after the ice cream cones that kept the family business going.

While Coffee Oreo is the customer’s favorite flavor, Miller is quick to point out they have a “whole bunch of good ones” at the family owned and operated shop.

Husky Deli features 55 flavors and there are two basic ice cream categories at Husky; regular and gourmet. Regular includes Vanilla (the most popular in that category), chocolate chip and Rocky Road. Beyond Coffee Oreo, the gourmet section features Raspberry Decadence, Rum Truffle and Strawberry Grand Marnier. There are also seasonal and specialty creations.

“There are a lot of flavors that come and go,” added Miller. “The flavors we offer have stood the test of time. We don’t follow fads.”