Boston Cooler

Vernors Ginger Ale and vanilla ice cream in a float — James Vernor's 1866 oak-aged Detroit formula, named for Boston Boulevard, Detroit — not Boston, Massachusetts.

The Boston Cooler is a float beverage whose name belongs to Detroit, Michigan rather than to Massachusetts — one of the more charming geographic misnomers in American food culture. The drink combines Vernors Ginger Ale, which is specifically associated with Detroit, with vanilla ice cream in a float format. Vernors was created by James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist and druggist, who had developed a ginger ale formulation before the Civil War and stored it in an oak cask before departing for the war. When he returned and opened the cask in 1866, the aging in oak had mellowed and improved the drink significantly; Vernors began commercial production and the brand became deeply embedded in Detroit culture. Vernors is distinctive from standard ginger ales in its more assertive ginger character, produced by a longer production process than modern commercial ginger ales, and its vanilla overtone from the oak aging history. The float combination of Vernors with vanilla ice cream was popularized through the Detroit soda fountain culture of the early 20th century, with Fred Sanders — the German-American confectioner who established a Detroit candy and ice cream business in 1875 and is sometimes credited with the first American ice cream soda — among those associated with its spread. The name Boston Cooler is most plausibly attributed to the Boston Boulevard neighborhood of Detroit, a prestigious residential street in the city's historic district where the combination was reportedly popular.