The other stores heeded the clamor for genuine, wholesome, and clean breads and sweets.įor Americans in Manila, local breads would not do. Cruz district on top of its already successful Philippine ice cream shop. With money flowing in, Clarke put up a lucrative bakery and confectionary factory in the Sta. The leading salon de refrescos of the Orient -as CLARKE’S was known-also served an assortment of breads and pastries, stick candies, lollipops, and chocolates. Castro Ice cream and pastries and candies. Classic flavors like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry were also available, providing instant relief by cooling the senses. Patrons who tasted the frozen novelty swore it was the best-tasting flavor in the Far East. The ice cream proved to be an irresistible hit. One summer, the soda parlor served pink ice cream made from evaporated milk in tin cans. Wood-bladed electric fans hummed from the high ceiling to fan customers as they snacked off dainty Dresden china while attended by white-uniformed Chinese and Filipino waiters.ĬLARKE’S ice cream store was the delight of Manila residents as a new century unfolded. The first ice cream shop in the Philippines had charming, modern interiors that flaunted American soda parlor wire chairs ( batibot) that came in adult and children’s sizes. Serving western-style ice cream, confections, and breads, CLARKE’S found immediate patronage not just from thirsty and heat-weary American military men, but also from the expatriate residents of Manila. Edward de los Santos, Pinoy Kollektor Summer lovin’, had me a blast IMAGE: Vintage postcard courtesy of Arch. They craved the cold comforts of their winter, and missed the heat-soothing, ice cold drinks and desserts that were so readily available back home. Caimito (star apple), pakwan (watermelon), and certain citrus fruit juices like dalandan, kamias, and the leaves of dayap (lime) have cooling properties as well.īut Americans were strangers to these fruits. Coconut water was a favorite drink but since the nut and husk absorb heat, it was cooled first by immersing the coconut in water, as is true for other fruits. There were cool dips in river, in nearby bays and falls, of which many abound in Manila and its outskirts.īefore the advent of the “ice age” and refrigeration, natives took to drinking juices believed to have cooling effects on the body. An American child visiting turn-of-the-20 th century Manila bawled out her discomfort: “It’s not the hotness that I mind so much, mamma, but the wetness of the hotness!” Another foreigner described the humidity as “heat that blisters and burns, that withers and consumes, that seems to dry the marrow while it boils the flesh.”įilipinos, of course, had no trouble dealing with the long, sweltering summers they were born in.
The first thing that shocked the first Americans who came to occupy the Philippines was the sizzling, searing tropical climate that proved to be unbearable for many. When Clarke's, the first refreshment and ice cream shop in the Philippines, opened in 1908, it redefined how Filipinos enjoyed and comforted themselves in the year-round tropical heat.
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