Soda fountains reached their height of popularity in the 1940s & 1950s, where the ice cream soda became a staple. While there are few true soda fountains left today, the culture lives on in homes, restaurants, and ice cream parlors across America.

One of the first sundae recipes was published in the Modern Guide for Soda Dispensers in 1897 in the United States.  While there is no definitive timeline for the sundae’s origins (although many towns even today claim that sweet piece of history), it is generally thought that sundaes were created to skirt the Sunday Blue Laws that in many states prohibited the selling of soda water on Sundays.  The result?  No ice cream sodas, a very popular treat of the day.  But take out the soda water, and what’s left?  The sundae (with a clever turn of letter by some obviously pro-soda water wag).

So that’s how the hot fudge sundae became such a sensation.  Now all you have to do is get out the ingredients in the recipes below, make a homemade batch of ice cream and fudge (we’ll leave the whipped cream for you to figure out.  Hint:  whip heavy cream until it peaks and add sugar and a splash of vanilla; cherry optional) and sit back and enjoy 5,000 years of history.