Fun, Non-Political, Ice Cream Survey

[Jessica]

I had a conversation with DH in which it came out that he had never eaten a Dreamsicle, Fudgsicle, push-up, bomb pop, or any other ice cream novelty. His town did not have an ice cream truck.

I was horrified. I love Fudgsicles still and I have lots of memories of getting my 50 cents for an ice cream treat, or splitting a double cherry popsicle with a friend.

Did you all like ice cream novelties as kids? Which ones do you remember? One of our trucks carried Mickey Mouse ice cream bars with white faces and chocolate ears. Never seen them since.

[muriel3002]

I loved Drumsticks and sno cones... sno cones were cheap, so when you didn't have much money they were the way to go....

My brother was a BIG FAN of bomb pops!!!

[MinEaston]

Chocolate eclairs! We have a local Tastee Freez that has an ice cream truck, and our office arranged for it to come here each Weds afternoon. The first & last time the truck appeared, the company paid for our ice cream, otherwise it was on our dime (or $1.50, as the case was)

I think our ice cream truck has the Mickey Mouse ice cream :D

[Chefzhat]

Originally posted by Jessica
I had a conversation with DH in which it came out that he had never eaten a Dreamsicle, Fudgsicle, push-up, bomb pop, or any other ice cream novelty.

Your DH is not alone. I've never eaten one either! They just don't look good to me. But then again, I don't care for ice cream. Call me wierd :D

[gertdog]

We most definitely had an ice cream truck in our neighborhood. He came around twice a day during the summer.

Some of my favorites:

"Missiles", which were popsicles layered red, white, and blue and shaped like a rocket. (Hmmm.)

My favorite were Push-Ups, which were usually fruit-flavored yogurt.

I also liked Nutty Buddies (I think they are sometimes called Drumsticks)- the vanilla ice cream cone with the chocolate-and-nut coating.

And the neapolitan ice cream sandwiches. Mmmm.

[MrsReber]

We have 3 ice cream trucks that come around. One only has italian ice, one has a sad selection of items and then there's the one truck that I love. The kids love it, too. It has Dora the Explorer and Spongebob. They usually sell out of the latter so we have gotten Snoopy (very good).

Jessica, it's not 50 cents anymore! I wish it was. It costs us about $6 to get ice cream for all of us. Luckily, Snoopy is only $1.50. He's obviously not as popular as the others. I like the chocoate eclair, strawberry shortcake, and toasted almond bars.

My mom bought push ups from the supermarket over the summer for all the grandkids. I had one. It was nothing like the ones from the trucks. I always loved the creamsicles. DD loves them now, too.

[aggie94]

When I was in elementary school, our cafeteria line had a freezer of ice cream novelties, and every Thursday was free ice cream day during lunch.

My favorite, which I sometimes still get when we stop at convenience stores in Texas, was Blue Bell's Fudge Bomb, which is sort of like the "missile" that Stephanie described but with fudge and banana-flavored ice creams. Mmmmmmmm.

I also remember another Blue Bell treat that I loved, which was an ice cream bar that was chocolate ice cream coated with a chocolate coating with Rice Krispy-type cereal in the coating. I don't remember what it was called, but it came in a green wrapper. :o

I recall buying ice cream from the ice cream truck from time to time as a kid (and spending between 50 cents and a dollar on any single ice cream treat), but most of my ice cream novelty memories are from school.

[jphilg]

My favorite were the orange sherbet push-ups. I would save the little bottom plunger things all summer, for reasons not altogether clear to me, now.

[LonghornGal]

mmmm... the orange sherbert push ups. I still get them - only 80 calories a pop and so yummy!

I miss the Choco Taco. Totally bizarre, only appealing to kids I'm sure. A waffle "taco" stuffed with ice cream and chocolate and I think nuts.

--Kristin

[LaraW]

Originally posted by gertdog
"Missiles", which were popsicles layered red, white, and blue and shaped like a rocket.

We always called those Bomb Pops when I was growing up. I liked them OK, but I preferred ice cream sandwiches or the orange sherbet push ups.

We didn't have an ice cream truck in our neighborhood. I'm not aware of any ice cream trucks in my hometown. Our current neighborhood has one, though. I was so excited to hear it a few years ago. I've only ever bought one or two things from it, but its still nice to know that they still exist.

[RebeccaT]

I loved them all! My favorites were probably Push-ups (I saved the plunger, too, Jen!) and Drumsticks. I also really loved Mayfield ice cream sandwiches (I'd lick the sides until I couldn't reach the ice cream anymore, and then I'd peel and eat the sandwich like an Oreo).

[lorilei]

The Mickey Mouse ears!! Oh, yes. I remember those. They were my favorite. My second favorite was probably the infamous fudgsicle. And then the icecream sandwich (preferably soft and cardboard-like).

We weren't allowed to get icecream from the icecream truck very often -- but when we did, it felt like an event.

I still have fond memories of hearing the trinkling little sounds of the truck as it drove around the neighborhood on the hottest days of summer...

[Alethea]

I remember begging to get push-ups, creamsicles, or drumsticks from the ice cream truck.

When I was growing up my parent's had a summer house on a lake in the Adirondacks (sp?), and I remember that I HAD to have a supply of chocolate and strawberry dixie cups. In the evenings my dad and I would sit on the dock, fishing and eating dixie cups. To this day if I walk down a dock and hear it creaking and feel it dipping in the water, I instantly remember the taste and texture of that little wooden spoon, and hear that funny scaping noise it made in the corners of the dixie cup.

[lorilei]

Originally posted by Alethea
To this day if I walk down a dock and hear it creaking and feel it dipping in the water, I instantly remember the taste and texture of that little wooden spoon, and hear that funny scaping noise it made in the corners of the dixie cup.

That resonates beautifully, Alethea. Thanks for sharing :)

[Jessica]

Originally posted by MrsReber

Jessica, it's not 50 cents anymore! I wish it was.

Well, I kind of figured as much. It's been a long time since I was nine years old. :)

[HRJ]

Oh yes -- the ice cream truck! We lived down the block from a playground, so the ice cream truck came down our street several times a day during the warm weather. :) Sometimes we'd run down the block to catch it in front of the park (my brother and I would race each other to see who got there first); otherwise, we'd wait out front with the neighboring kids, and flag it down as it drove by.

We'd get Good Humor -- my favorite was the chocolate eclair.

Even better, was Mister Softee -- was that just a NY thing? (It had soft-serve ice cream). They had these double cones that branched off into two "holders" -- so that you ended up with two "peaks" of ice cream . (I'm not doing a very good job explaining it, I know.) Then they'd dip the whole thing in sprinkles. Vanilla ice cream with chocolate sprinkles was known as a "Black Cat." Chocolate ice cream with chocolate sprinkles was called a "Shaggy Dog."

We also had a truck that used to stop at the playground called the Chow-Chow Cup. It served "Chinese food" -- really, some vile-looking concoction that they tried to pass off as "chow mein." My mother wouldn't ever let us eat it, so I don't know how it tasted. The side of the truck was decorated with these really stereotypical characatures of Asians -- typical for the mid-'60s, but, in retrospect, totally offensive. Even as a kid, I thought a roving Chinese food truck was an odd concept.

Helene

[MrsReber]

The good old days! Who ever thought I'd be old enough to say that.

I was surprised to find that I could get stuff off the truck for $1 still, but it certainly wasn't as good as the more decadent stuff. Also, I stopped the truck one day and only had a bunch of change. The guy cut me a deal on the ice cream! I didn't know we could bargain with them.

[Canice]

We didn't have an ice-cream truck when I was a kid, but you could buy novelties at lunchtime at school or on the very best day of the week, HOT DOG DAY!

Dixie cups! I'd forgotten! Could only get those on hot dog day, and they went fast. My favorites were cho-chos, sidewalk sundaes, and fudgsicles (loved the crispy icey outer layer). I always wanted the vanilla/chocolate bars; Missiles, Push-Ups, and 50-50 Bars (creamsicles?) were always a disappointment.

[Terri_A]

I certainly enjoyed my fair share of push-ups and bomb pops as a kid, and now as a mom it's still fun. We have an ice cream truck that comes around most afternoons / early evenings. My 2 1/2 year old is already well acquainted to the sound of "Pop goes the Weasel" playing from a truck and what that means. Of course, these days, we tend to get popsicles or the Dole Fruit Bars and occasional dreamsicle. It makes for such a great evening...sitting in the front yard with my daughter, eating a fruit bar chatting with the neighbors ( whose dogs get ice cream sandwiches!)!

[claire797]

Originally posted by Terri_A
We have an ice cream truck that comes around most afternoons / early evenings. My 2 1/2 year old is already well acquainted to the sound of "Pop goes the Weasel" playing from a truck and what that means.

Same here. He always seems to come when we're taking walks and when I don't have any money with me.

Sometimes, we do flag him down. The last thing we bought was a big Sponge Bob ice pop which was lemon-flavored and frankly, somewhat disappointing. I think we'll go for a Bomb pop next. It will be eaten outside, that's for sure.

[BarbaraL]

We had a Good Humor truck when I was a kid. I loved the ice cream bars that had the chocolate candy-type stuff in the middle. One bar had this hard chocolate stuff in the center, surrounded by vanilla ice cream and coated in chocolate cake-like stuff; I think it was called "chocolate fudge cake". The other was vanilla ice cream (maybe with little chocolate chips?) with a hard chocolate outside coating, and the wonderful hard chocolate stuff in the middle. I remember that, as I got older, the chocolate stuff in the middle got smaller and smaller.

[Wendy w]

Oh the memories! My dad and I used to walk over to the dairy on summer nights to get fudgsicles or dreamsicles. My mom used to keep either pushups or bon bons in her freezer. Bombpops always overwhelmed me because they would melt before I could finish. I've never had one of those "Mickeymousesicles" because they were after my time. :o Does anyone remember pink ladies? They were strawberry ice cream with coconut on them?

[MrsReber]

I wasn't too thrilled with Spongebob, either. He is low cal, though. So is Dora. I have to take the gumball eyeballs out so the kids don't get them. DD keeps eating the gum.

Our one ice cream man plays a very evil song. I don't know what it is, but I won't buy from him. It sounds weird and he comes around as it's getting dark. I don't trust that one!

[AndreaU]

Yes, happy memories of the ice cream truck!! We lived in a development FULL of kids, so he was sure to stop in almost every day in the summer.

My favorite was the Nutty Buddy. I needed something creamy; I couldn't handle sweet fruity flavored things. (No bomb pops for me- that was my sister's thing.)

Now, you're going to laugh (DH does every time I reminisce!), but our ice cream truck played quite an unusual tune... It was- I SWEAR, my mom & dad will attest to it- the theme from The Godfather! What kind of freaky mob-run neighborhood did I live in?????

(If you can't recall the tune: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002OG5/qid=1098829398/sr=2-2/ref=pd_ka_b_2_2/102-5248560-6540930 Scroll down and click on #7 to listen.)

[AndreaU]

Did I scare everyone away with the Godfather thing... sorry! :o

[pilgrim719]

Originally posted by AndreaU
Did I scare everyone away with the Godfather thing... sorry! :o

I'll save the thread for you! :p

I never had an ice cream truck where I grew up, but when I got my first job out of college they payed for one to come to the parking lot one hot day during the summer. That was so cool for me!! :D It was a Good Humor truck, and I got a Strawberry Shortcake (like the Chocolate Eclair, only with strawberry filling). That was a tasty treat! Sadly, though, I have no idea what most of the ice cream treats are that you all have mentioned. I did have a Fudgsicle once because my mother bought a box at the store, and that was pretty good, but I like the creeamy stuff better I guess. :)

Kari

[GalNC]

I used to love the ice cream man! My favorite was the italian ices, the drumstick (nutty buddy) or the rocket pop (red/white/blue). Even now as an adult, when I hear the ice cream truck coming, I'll say to DH, Oh we should get ice cream! Of course, we never have though!