LONG LIVE THE Milkshake!

A century after these dreamy creations came into our lives, we still can't get enough of them.

- KELSEY HURWITZ AND CAROL LEE

We've seen some pretty wild interpretations of the milkshake in recent years-outrageous versions rimmed with candy and teetering with mile-high toppings. But if anything, those concoctions have made us realize how much we love a good old-fashioned shake. The drinks have been around for more than 100 years, yet they feel as special as ever: the swirly whipped cream, the whimsical straw, the fancy fluted glass-and if you're really lucky, the metal sidecar filled with a little extra of that ice creamy goodness. See how milkshakes won our hearts, then turn the page to find recipes that are easy to make, and even easier to enjoy.

1819
A doctor in Lancaster, PA, patents a device that pumps out carbonated water, and drugstores and apothecaries start adding medicinal ingredients and fruit syrups, paving the way for future soda fountain concoctions.

1922
A soda jerk at a Chicago Walgreens makes one of the first known versions of a modern milkshake when he mixes scoops of vanilla ice cream into a chocolate malted milk.

1937
After watching his young daughter struggle to drink a milkshake from a straight straw at a San Francisco sweets shop, inventor Joseph B. Friedman patents the bendy straw.

1994
Milkshakes have a big moment at the movies: In one of Pulp Fiction's most famous scenes, Uma Thurman and John Travolta's characters share a vanilla milkshake at a diner.

1970
McDonald's introduces a green lemon-lime shake for St. Patrick's Day. The drink becomes mint flavored in the '80s, disappears in the '90s and returns by popular demand during the next decade.

1948
America gets its first aerosol whipped cream, Reddi-wip, dreamed up by a salesman in St. Louis. It's delivered door-to-door, just like milk.