Growing Up With Ice Cream Part 2

So I’ve mentioned a few delicious (and NOT nutritious) frozen treats I enjoyed as a kid before, but since summer is back in full force, I figure it’s time to discuss a few more…

Nutty Buddy

Nutty Buddy! These were one of my absolute favorites when I was a kid. My family used to own and run a speedometer service/driving school and I would often have to spend the day there during the summer when I was too young to stay home alone. Right across the street was a convenience store and my dad and I would make the trek over there just about everyday to get one of these.

Most people are probably more familiar with the King Cone/Giant King Cone from Good Humor, which look exactly like a Nutty Buddy. But there’s a slight difference- the Nutty Buddy waffle cone was always a bit soft and chewy, whereas the King Cone’s waffle cone is crunchy. The cone was always so soft you could actually unwrap it. I would do that, ball it up, and eat it. Wow… I forgot how much I loved doing that! It’s a difference that makes the Nutty Buddy one of my favorite ice cream treats of all time!

I haven’t seen these since the early 90s and unfortunately, a quick online search reveals they aren’t made in large numbers anymore and the original makers of it went out of business in 1998, but the Nutty Buddy does live on with small distribution thanks to Purity Dairies!

Creamsicle/Dreamsicle

Hot dog! A dreamsicle! I guess that’s the generic term though? Ah, but who cares? When that sherberty orange and vanilla-y vanilla come together, it truly IS a dream! I really don’t have a preference of Popsicle’s Creamsicle over any over dreamsicle, but buyer beware of really cheap imitators- sometimes they don’t get the orange flavor right and it ends up tasting like frozen orange juice, which is too strong to make this sweet treat.

Fudgsicle/Fudge Pop/Fudge Bar

Again, the name doesn’t really matter. Just as long you as you’ve got that frozen fudge!

Bomb Pop/Firecracker/Captain America

The name I’m familiar with growing up is Bomb Pop. But Popsicle makes them as Firecrackers and also as Captain America for their Marvel Superheroes Popsicles. Or at least they *did* make it as Captain America, Iron Man has seemingly replaced him with a new flavor thanks to his hit movie. Honestly, I remember eating these a lot when I was little, some parent always had them in stock, but I wasn’t a big fan of them. As I’ve gotten older, my palette has become a bit more sophisticated so I can now enjoy the cherry, lime and blue raspberry flavors to the fullest.

LifeSavers Pop

Well, this isn’t the ORIGINAL LifeSavers pop. This is what Popsicle is currently making, but I’m pretty sure they made the original as well, which was produced back in the 80s. I remember going to my grandparents house and hanging out in the basement and they would always have a freezer full of these things. They were a bit odd though, kinda tangy. The current pops feature all the flavors together in layers, but with the original incarnation, you one flavor per pop (but all the flavors were sold together in one box). The 5 Original Flavors represented: cherry, lime (which was gross as a popsicle much like it is a a candy as well), lemon, pineapple and orange.

Mickey’s Parade Mickey Mouse Bar

Ah… another treat from my days of hanging out at my family’s business. Believe me though, Mickey didn’t look this good when you took him out of the wrapper. Usually, these “face” novelty pops looked distorted upon opening the package, like someone beat them with a stick, they were on drugs or they just plain melted at some point before making it back into the freezer. Still a classic though.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pop (w/ Bubble Gum Eyes!)

Believe it or not, these things were still recently being made. I’m sure there was some gap between the original run that the more recent cartoon inspired one, but they were still around nonethless. I’m not sure if this picture I found is from the originals or newer ones, but it’s virtually the same. Happy face, bandana, bubble gum eyes. I usually threw the bubble gum eyes away. They were just too hard. This was definitely a must have ice cream treat if you a young boy circa 1990. It was Turtle-mania!

Special thanks to Good Humor for the use of many of these images, check’em out at www.goodhumor.com, there’s tons of ice cream bars and novelty pops there that are sure to remind you of some misspent summers.