WASHINGTON -- With the nation's capital in the middle of an early summer heat wave, one way to cope with hellish temperatures in the upper 90s is to enjoy some delicious ice cream -- though you may have trouble scoring some Good Humor ice cream treats like Toasted Almond, Candy Center Crunch and Chocolate Eclair bars.

More satisfying than air conditioning, more decadent than a swimming pool, ice cream has long been popular among Washingtonians, including those who crave the cold treat at times when "blizzard" takes on a much more literal meaning.

By chowing down on a cone, cup or bowl of your favorite flavor this summer, you are partaking of a time-honored D.C. tradition that everyone from politicians to Senate pages to military servicemembers have enjoyed.

Here, courtesy of the Library of Congress' digital archives, is a look at ice cream in D.C. from days gone by.

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  • Ice Cream in the Capital

    Two Department of Agriculture employees, Mary E. Sarber and Luella Dever, taste-test ice cream made with salt-preserved cream, 1939.

  • Ice Cream in the Capital

    Sen. Earnest W. Bigson of Vermont digs into his favorite dessert in 1936. The senator was a reputed "ice cream fiend," according to the Library of Congress.

  • Ice Cream in the Capital

    The International Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers presents a giant ice cream cake for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, received on his behalf by Secretary to the President Marvin H. McIntyre in 1937.

  • Ice Cream in the Capital

    Sen. Allen J. Ellender of Louisiana and his wife enjoy an ice cream party with Senate pages.

  • Ice Cream in the Capital

    Sgt. George Camblair has a frozen snack at Fort Belvoir, Va., in 1942.

  • Ice Cream in the Capital

    The ice cream truck visits a Greenbelt, Md., federal housing project in 1942.

  • Ice Cream in the Capital

    Polar bear statues welcome customers at an ice cream stand along Route 1, near Washington, D.C., in 1940.

  • Ice Cream in the Capital

    The Good Humor truck makes a stop in Washington, D.C.

  • Ice Cream in the Capital

    An early ice cream truck in Washington, D.C. around 1918.

  • Ice Cream in the Capital

    Owen E. Williams of the Bureau of Dairy Industry demonstrating his groundbreaking method of preserving sweet cream for ice cream using table salt

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