Spray whipped cream or “Instantwhip” was invented at the University of Illinois during the depression by Charles Getz, a graduate student in the Chemistry Department and student of Professor George Frederick Smith. Getz found that milk would foam if pressurized carbon dioxide was forced into it. This led to the compressing of whip cream into a container under pressure.
Getz found that the carbon dioxide altered the taste of the whip cream. After numerous experiments, he discovered that nitrous oxide was the solution to the problem because it did not change the taste of the whip cream like carbon dioxide. This led to the evolution of instant whip cream in a can in the early 1930s. Professor G. Frederick Smith then used Getz’s patented method to create Instantwhip Foods.
– Noyes Laboratory. Where Getz developed Aerosol Whip Cream.
Charles Getz and the Instant Cream Whip Machine, Photograph, ca. 1932-35, Photographic Subject File, 1868-, Record Series 39/2/20, Box FAC – 4, Folder FAC – 4 GE, University of Illinois Archives.
Department of Chemistry. (n.d.). George Frederick Smith (1891-1976). Retrieved November 17, 2014 from http://www.chemistry.illinois.edu/about/illini_chemists/smith.html (Updated link here).
Instant Cream Whip Canisters and Cream, Photograph, ca. 1932-35, Photographic Subject File, 1868-, Record Series 39/2/20, Box FAC – 4, Folder FAC – 4 GE, University of Illinois Archives.
News@Illinois.edu. (2013, Dec. 19). WHIPPED CREAM? Retrieved November 17, 2014 from http://illinois.edu/blog/view/1561/108019