So old man Bayne was talking to me earlier about a new ice cream that sounds delicious. Pretzels & ice cream! Why not? Pretzels already work with yogurt. So that got me thinking about ice cream, and ice cream I grew up loving, in particular.
So with summer coming to close, here’s a look back at the frozen treats that played a part in my life as a kid (and maybe yours as well):
Klondike Bar
It just wouldn’t be a trip to the grocery store with mom without picking up that six pack of Klondikes. She seemed to be obsessed with’em. What would I do for a Klondike bar? Well, I certainly wouldn’t run around doing backflips like they did in the commercials, but I wasn’t a fan of the stuff. Chocolate + vanilla ice cream, how could it go wrong? I think the problem lied somewhere with the chocolate, it just seemed a bit “off” to me and somehow soaked it’s “offness” into the vanilla ice cream.
Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich
I live by the ice cream sandwich and I’ll die by the ice cream sandwich! As long as it looks like it’s pictured above, it’s great. Some companies try to get cute with frilly round designs and such, but the generic rectangle-shaped grocery store brand is just perfect. This is one of those products where I think the brand name versions just can’t get it right (just like frozen pizzas). Back then, as now, I could easily tear threw a box of them in just a few days. I can’t get enough. Later on in life, I was introduced to the chocolate, neapolitan, and strawberry versions, but vanilla still is the King Sandwich. I will say this though about one of the brand names, the Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich is a nice variation. I’m thinking these were around back in the 80s as well, but I may just have my wires crossed and be thinking of the Big Stuf Oreo that I also scarfed down as kid.
Chilly Willy/Fla-Vor-Ice
These two are pretty much the same thing, except for some reason, my mind has decided Chilly Willys were the better ice pops. I guess it was the kid’s face on the box and wrappers that sold me, he really looked like he was enjoying the pops! I always assumed the kid was chilly Willy, but it has recently come to my attention that the pops were named for the cartoon penguin. I’m pretty sure they don’t make Chilly Willy anymore (and I couldn’t find any pics).Fla-Vor-Ice was around back in the day right alongside Chilly Willy, as both were rolled out in huge numbers once summer started creeping up. A few years ago, mistaking Fla-Vor-Ice and Chilly Willy as one in the same, I picked up a box of Flavs only to be disappointed by the flavor when it immediately reminded me of the existence of the superior Chilly Willy brand. Fla-Vor-Ice (the makers of Fla-Vor-Aid, by the way) is readily available where I work for only $1 a box. Seems they used to cost more when I was younger, but I guess you can only charge so much for frozen sugar water in this far less innocent day & age. By the way, I like the old packaging where you could see the actually tubes of colored sugar water.
Come to think of it, maybe the kid was on the old Fla-Vor-Ice packages. Hm. Oh well, I can’t delete now! My only complaint about this plastic freeze pops containers is that if you eat a lot, the wrappers start cutting into the side of your mouth.
Kool-Aid Homemade Pops
No, I’m not talking about Kool-Aid Kool Pops, I’m talkin’ bout plain ol’ frozen Kool-Aid. Man, was this a summer crowd pleaser! All you have to do is mix up the Kool-Aid, pour the Kool-Aid into the container of your choice (I preferred the ice tray for Kool-Aid ice cubes), and freeze it. It was awesome. I remember my mom pouring an ice tray full of cherry Kool-Aid ice cubes into a big bowl and me going to town on them. There was also old fashioned frozen-in-a-cup way to do it by sticking a popsicle stick in it, plus they actually made plastic containers just for this sort of homemade freeze pop thing! I’m thinking they’re used to be a Kool-Aid brand of ice cream bars, but I may be wrong. They would’ve been fudge-like in texture, but with like vanilla & fruit flavors, like a smoothie frozen treat. Maybe I’m imagining.
Flintstones Push-Up Pops
Okay, you can have Push-Ups pops, any flavor, and that’s great. But I’m talkin’ ’bout cartoon mascot representation here in the form of Fred & Barney. Those Flintstones sure did bring the goods when it came to pushing products, not only do they sit above all others as the #1 vitamin in the history of the world, they also have sherbert! I’d even go as far to say that I like sherbert more than I like ice cream. The orange push-ups were always my favorite, but I know later on they added a raspberry flavor. These things were so good they had me licking the carboard wrapper and plastic bottom just to get a final taste. The worst part? When it fresh from the freezer and you’re not patient enough to let it soften. I stabbed myself many times with the plastic stick trying to push that pop!
Snow Cones
Ohhhhh…. snow cones! Who doesn’t love a snow cone?! They truly are a rare and special treat that can usually only be found at fairs, theme parks, special events, etc.. but I’m starting to see them in malls too. I remember having the Snoopy Snow Cone Maker (which they still produce to this day!) and loving it, although it was hard to get a decent amount of snow from it. To this day, I gotta have a snow cone whenever I see one. The best flavors, in my opinion, are blueberry & cherry (aka – blue & red). And if you mix’em? You’ll get a nice purple bluecherry flavor! The only bad thing about snow cones, then and now, is that most companies insist on using those cheap papercones to scoop them in, which makes things messy and usually the snow cone starts to drip through the paper before you’re finished. A recent trip to Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH, proved that some places are getting away from it though when they served me a HUGE amount of snow in a big plastic cup that almost resembled a big martini glass/flying saucer hybrid! There are also “sno balls”, which are more like actual powdered snow. But I prefer snow cones ice chips over fine sno ball ice.What ice cream did you grow up eating?
I think the Ben and Jerry’s flavor Chubby Hubby has pretzels in it. It’s not too bad.
Very informative article. Thanks.
I was thinking about Chilly Willy and discussing it with my friend today and yours is the only site on the entire Internet I found that mentions them. I agree that Chilly Willy is far superior to Flav-vor-Ice. There is a noticable difference, but like you, I can only rely upon my childhood memory to recall that difference.
Jeffrey –
Yes indeed, Chilly Willy was great. I don’t even eat ice pops like that anymore, I’ve been too disappointed chasing any brand that I’d hope would be of Chilly Willy quality. I gave up. I’m surprised there’s not much mention of it online, I couldn’t find any either at the time of my article.
Perhaps it was regional? I grew up in Virginia.
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flav-or-ice was the ruler for sure. What about chocolate ears mickeys?
http://metalmisfit.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/growing-up-with-ice-cream-part-2/
Sno-cone stands are quite popular around these parts. They’re only open in the summer though, I think. They serve them in styrofoam cups, and I think the ice is the “snow” kind like you mentioned instead of ice chips. So I guess they’re actually sno-balls.
My favorite flavor is salty frog, aka unsweetened lime juice and salt. Because I’m a weirdo. Dang, I need to go get me one of those suckers.
Fla-Vor-Ice is decent, but I prefer making my own Kool-Aid and freezing it.
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in which looks delicious!!! and very easy. and if funk says it’s as good as the red sox capturing the series, well I’m without words! digging out my icecream producer, Anna Codispot
Hi – I know this is rather late, but Chilly Willy was absolutely a separate entity. I spent every summer eating them one after another. The box was yellow and the boy was drawn somewhat angularly and had black hair in a jagged part. The box was cut out and you could see the box inside (so you could try to maximize the # of cherries.) Chilly Willys were shorter and fatter than Flav-o-ice and infinitely superiour. Not only were the flavors better, but even the consistency of the ice was better. Chilly Willies were kind of mushy, whereas Flav-o-ices were flaky. It’s tough to describe, but you might know what I mean…. I’ve looked For CWs for years and years, but have never seen them since I was a child. I know I didn’t make them up because a friend of mine spotted an abandoned truck that had the Chilly boy painted on the side and snapped a picture, knowing I’ve looked for so long. Incredibly, I have no idea where that picture went – adding to the CW curse!! I grew up in NC and am pretty sure it was just a regional thing.