Old Familiar Memories - Photo 155

Ice Cream Truck

Good Humor is an American brand of ice cream novelties sold from ice cream trucks as well as stores and other retail outlets. Originally, Good Humors were chocolate-coated ice cream bars on a stick, but the line was expanded over the years to include a wide range of novelties. The Good Humor company started in Youngstown, Ohio, during the early 1920s and covered most of the country by the mid-1930s. Good Humor became a fixture in American popular culture, and at its peak in the 1950s the company operated 2,000 "sales cars."

Good Humor became unprofitable beginning in 1968. An increase in gasoline prices during the early 1970s made the situation worse. After absorbing losses for ten years, in 1978 Good Humor decided to sell the fleet and become a distributor itself. The trucks were sold for $1,000 to $3,000 per vehicle, and many of the former Good Humor vendors became independent business owners.