With smooth vanilla ice cream, coppery root beer, and frothy foam, a root beer float is an all-American classic. Root beer was manufactured, bottled, and sold starting in 1880, and legend has it that thirteen years later, the root beer float, which is sometimes referred to as a black cow, was first invented. After glancing out the window late one night, Frank Wisner of Cripple Creek, Colorado, was inspired to float a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of his glass of root beer. 
