Good Humor: Difference between revisions

|website = {{URL|httphttps://www.goodhumor.com/}}

'''Good Humor''' is a [[Good Humor-Breyers]] brand of [[ice cream]] started in [[Youngstown, Ohio|Youngstown]], Ohio, USAUS, in the early 1920s with the '''Good Humor bar''', a chocolate-coated ice cream bar on a stick sold from [[ice cream truck]]s and retail outlets. It was a fixture in American popular culture in the 1950s when the company operated up to 2,000 "sales cars".<ref name=times />

The original Good Humor company started in [[Youngstown, Ohio]], during the early 1920s and covered most of the country by the mid-1930s. In 1961, Good Humor was acquired by [[Lipton|Thomas J. Lipton]], the U.S. subsidiary of the international [[Unilever]] conglomerate. Profits declined when the [[baby boomers]] aged and costs increased because of labor issues, gasoline, and insurance. The company sold its fleet in 1978 but continued to distribute its products through grocery stores and independent street vendors. By 1984, Good Humor returned to profitability.<ref name=jones>{{cite book | last = Jones | first = Geoffrey | title = Renewing Unilever:Transformation and Tradition| year = 2005 }}</ref> Starting in 1989, Unilever expanded Good Humor through its acquisition of Gold Bond Ice Cream that included the [[Popsicle (brand)|Popsicle]] brand. Four years later, Unilever bought [[Klondike Bar|Isaly Klondike]] and the [[Breyers]] Ice Cream Company. As a result, [[Good Humor-Breyers]] is now a large producer of branded ice cream and frozen novelties, as part of the international Unilever [[Heartbrand]].<ref name=times4>{{cite news |first= Michael |last= Janofsky |title= Unilever to gain Breyers in Kraft ice cream deal|work=[[The New York Times]] |date= September 9, 1993 }}</ref>

In 1919, Christian Nelson, an Iowa store owner, discovered how to coat an ice cream bar with chocolate, inventing the [[Eskimo Pie]]. When he heard of the discovery, [[Harry Burt]] (1875–1926), owner of a [[Youngstown, Ohio|Youngstown]], Ohio, ice cream parlor, replicated Nelson's product.<ref name=dickson>{{cite book | last = Dickson | first = Paul | title = Ice Cream Book | year = 1971 }}</ref> The story is that Burt's 23-year-old daughter Ruth thought that the new novelty was too messy. Burt's son, Harry Jr. (1900–1972), suggested using a wooden stick as a convenient handle. They tried out the idea in the store's hardening room, where they discovered that the stick formed a strong bond when the ice cream crystallized.<ref name=times1>{{cite news |first=June |last=Owen |title=Eighty-five flavors or combinations now offered by familiar white cart |work=The New York Times |date=June 26, 1960 }}</ref> Burt outfitted twelve street vending trucks in Youngstown with rudimentary freezers and bells to sell his "Good Humor Ice Cream Suckers" in 1920.<ref name=times>{{cite news |first=James |last=Nagle |title=Ting-Ling! That Good Humor man is back |work=The New York Times |date=May 6, 1956 }}</ref> The first set was from his son's old bobsled.<ref name=shilling>{{cite book | last = Shilling | first = Don | title = A Youngstown Candy Maker Invented the Good Humor Bar | year = 2006 }}</ref> By 1925, Harry Burt Jr. opened a franchise in Miami, Florida.<ref name=ghc1>{{cite book | last = Good Humor Corporation | title = Street Vending District Manager Manual| year = 1971 }}</ref>

In January 1922, Burt applied for patents, which were not granted until October 1923 because the patent office thought Good Humors were too similar to Eskimo Pies.<ref name=moak /> The patents were granted only when Burt Jr. traveled to Washington, D.C., with samples to demonstrate the difference.<ref name=dickson /> When granted, Good Humor's patents were for the equipment and process to manufacture frozen novelties on a stick, but not for the product itself.<ref name=moak />

Harry Burt died in 1926, and two years later his widow sold her interest to the Midland Food Products Company, owned by a group of Cleveland businessmen.<ref name=moak /> They changed the company's name to the Good Humor Corporation of America and started selling franchises with a $100 down payment.<ref name=dickson /> Cora Burt retained the license agreement with Popsicle.<ref name=moak /> Thomas J. Brimer (1900–1978) purchased the Good Humor franchise for the Detroit territory and by 1929 opened his second plant in Chicago.<ref name=time1>{{cite news |url=http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,749160,00.html |title=Business: Good Humor |work=[[Time Magazine (magazine)|Time]]|date=September 30, 1935 }}</ref> The mob demanded $5,000 protection money and destroyed part of the Chicago fleet when Brimer refused. The resulting publicity helped put Good Humor on the map.<ref name=dickson />

Brimer's father-in-law was a friend of [[Michael J. Meehan]] (1891–1948), a controversial New York stock speculator<ref name=sobel>{{cite book | last = Sobel | first = Robert| title = A History of the American Stock Exchange, 1921–1971| year = 2000 }}</ref> who made a small investment in Brimer's operation. When Brimer paid a 25% dividend in 1929, Meehan financed the acquisition of 75% of Good Humor of America for $500,000.<ref name=time1 /> Meehan's wife, Elizabeth Higgins Meehan, was the registered owner of the stock along with Mrs. [[John J. Raskob]], the wife of another New York stock speculator.<ref name=times3>{{cite news |title= M.J. Meehan: Once Stockbroker|work=The New York Times |date=January 3, 1948 }}</ref>

The Meehan family's Good Humor Corporation of America operated in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Detroit, and Chicago. There were also three major franchises: Good Humor of Baltimore/Washington (operated by the Brimer family), Burt's Good Humor (operated by Harry Burt Jr. in Tulsa, Oklahoma), and Good Humor of California.<ref name=ghc1 /> In addition, distributors served Cleveland, Philadelphia, Albany,<ref name=times /> Dallas<ref name=times1 /> and Miami.<ref name=times5>{{cite news |title=Good Humor in Sedate Company |work=The New York Times |date=April 27, 1961 }}</ref> In 1931, Good Humor reported a net profit of $452,105, almost as much as Meehan paid for the company.<ref name=times9>{{cite news |title=Corporation Reports |work=The New York Times |date=January 13, 1933 }}</ref>

Good Humor was successful because it provided customers an inexpensive diversion during the Depression. In addition to trucks, the company used push carts, bicycles, shoulder boxes, and even a boat. At most branches, the season was six months, April through September. Jobs were scarce and Good Humor found all the employees it could use, despite an 80-hour work week and paramilitary discipline.<ref name=dickson /> Women were not hired as vendors until 1967.<ref name=times20>{{cite news |first=Penny |last=Schwartz |title=The ice cream man wasn't one |work=The New York Times |date=July 16, 1972 }}</ref> A vendor could be fired for not smartly saluting a customer or saying "Good Humor Ice Cream" instead of the proper "Ice Cream Good Humor" as the company regarded the “Good"Good Humor”Humor" itself as a noun with “ice"ice cream”cream" being descriptive.

<ref name=dickson /> Vendors attended classes for two days at the beginning of the season<ref name=times1 /> and the rules were spelled out in a handbook titled "Making Good at Good Humor.".<ref name=dickson /> While vendors were paid commissions only, it was not unusual for a driver to clear the princely sum of over $100 per week.<ref name=time1 />

To promote the product, customers won a free Good Humor if they found "lucky stick" stamped on the stick of their ice cream. One in twelve was a winner.<ref name=dailynews>{{cite news |first=Lenore |last=Skenazy |title=Can't beat it with a stick |work=New York Daily News |date=May 24, 1995 }}</ref> However, in 1939 the [[Federal Trade Commission]] outlawed the promotion as an illegal lottery.<ref name=times8>{{cite news |title=Lottery methods banned |work=The New York Times |date=March 20, 1939 }}</ref> The company was more successful in attracting favorable publicity by parking trucks outside of motion picture studios. Over the years, Good Humor appeared in over 200 movies. In 1950, [[Jack Carson]] starred in the feature motion picture [[The Good Humor Man (1950 film)|''The Good Humor Man'']].<ref name=ghc1 />

In 1937, Michael Meehan became the first broker banned by the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] for [[stock manipulation]] and transferred his enterprises to his sons.<ref name=times3 /> Two years later, 21-year-old Joseph A. Meehan (1917–1972) became the youngest broker with a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and chairman of Good Humor Corporation, a position he held until 1961.<ref name=times10>{{cite news |title= Joseph A. Meehan, 55, long a leading Wall St. figure|work=The New York Times |page=November 24, 1972 }}</ref>

After World War II, the company moved into the expanding suburbs to serve the baby boomers. Fifty-five percent of Good Humor's customers were age twelve or younger,<ref name=times1 /> and trucks now accounted for 90% of the company's sales. By 1956, the company's fleet grew to 2,000 trucks, all purchased since the war.<ref name=times /> That year, Meehan hired 32-year-old [[David J. Mahoney]] (1923–2000) as president of Good Humor. Mahoney was the head of the advertising firm serving Good Humor and later became the president of the large Norton Simon conglomerate.<ref name=times11>{{cite news |first=Eric |last= Nagourney |title=David Mahoney, a business executive and neuroscience advocate |work=The New York Times |date=May 2, 2000 }}</ref> In his five years at Good Humor, his sales increased by 36%.<ref name=times12>{{cite news |first=Alfred |last=Zipser |title=Good Humor Man's new boss |work=The New York Times |date=April 30, 1961 }}</ref>

By 1960 Good Humor expanded and included 85 different treats: sundaes in chocolate, butterscotch, and strawberry; single-serve cups in apricot and honeydew; and more.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.delish.com/food-news/a47233/facts-about-good-humor-ice-creams/|title=11 Things You Need to Know Before You Eat Good Humor Ice Cream|last=Bellomo|first=Rheanna O'Neil|date=May 13, 2016-05-13|website=Delish|language=en-US|access-date=March 26, 2020-03-26}}</ref>

The Meehan family faced estate planning issues because Mrs. Elizabeth H. Meehan was advancing in years.<ref name=times17>{{cite news |title=Elizabeth Higgins Meehan |work=The New York Times |date=December 11, 1963 }}</ref> In 1961, they agreed to sell Good Humor of America to Thomas J. Lipton, a subsidiary of [[Unilever]].<ref name=times10 /> Lipton also purchased Good Humor of Baltimore/Washington from the Brimer family.<ref name=times14>{{cite news |title=Thomas Brimer, founder of Good Humor |work=The New York Times |date=January 1, 1979 }}</ref> In a separate transaction, the other franchises agreed to stop using the Good Humor name. Of the distributors, only Philadelphia survived as a company branch. Lipton created a grocery division to sell Good Humor products in supermarkets.<ref name=ghc1 />

Mahoney left the company after the acquisition, and Lipton executives soon characterized Good Humor as a "problem.".<ref name=times18>{{cite news |first=David |last=Dworsky |title=Executive aimed at top position |work=The New York Times |date=August 20, 1967 }}</ref> Much of the fleet purchased after the war was nearing the end of its useful life. As baby boomers matured, sales on many suburban routes declined.<ref name=jones /> While almost from the beginning Good Humor faced competition from companies such as [[Jack and Jill Ice Cream]], [[Bungalow Bar]], etc., it was not until the advent of soft ice cream trucks operated by companies such as [[Mister Softee]] that competition impacted sales.<ref name=ghc1 /> Insurance costs increased because courts found ice cream vendors responsible for pedestrian accidents while crossing streets to and from the truck.<ref name=time3>{{cite news |url=http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,834229,00.html |title=Food & Drink: Sticky Business |work=Time Magazine |date= August 13, 1965}}</ref>

Good Humor replaced some of its older conventional trucks with large vans designed to compete with Mister Softee. Many of these "inside sales cars" are still operating. The size of the fleet gradually declined, and by the early 1970s the number of trucks was 1,200.<ref name=ghc1 /> Good Humor also worked with the [[National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]] to equip vending trucks with school bus “stop”"stop" swing arms to reduce pedestrian accidents.<ref name=dunlap>{{cite book | last = Dunlap an Associates | title = Experimental Field Test of the Model Ice Cream Truck Ordinance in Detroit| year = 1978 }}</ref>

Good Humor was unable to solve its labor problems. The company was unionized early in its history and was struck on several occasions. For example, in 1950 the [[International Brotherhood of Teamsters|Teamsters]] shut down Good Humor's New York operations for three weeks during the critical month of June.<ref name=times15>{{cite news |title=Ice cream strike ends |work=The New York Times |date=July 2, 1950 }}</ref> Beginning in the 1950s, the labor pool dried up and Good Humor operated over half of its fleet with seasonal employees, mostly college students. On average, new employees lasted two to three weeks because of the long hours. The entire industry, except Good Humor, stopped using commissioned employees and became distributors who leased trucks to the drivers and sold them their products wholesale. Good Humor adopted this system wherever possible but was prevented from converting most branches because of union contracts.<ref name=ghc1 />

Good Humor became unprofitable beginning in 1968.<ref name=jones /> An increase in gasoline prices during the early 1970s worsened the situation.<ref name=times6 /> After absorbing losses for ten years, in 1978 Good Humor closed its street vending operations and became a distributor.<ref name=jones /> The trucks were sold for $1,000 to $3,000 per vehicle, and many of the former Good Humor vendors became independent business owners. As one reported, "I make sure I shut off the engine when I stop now that I'm paying for the gas."<ref name=times6>{{cite news |first=Francis |last=Clines |title= Ding-a-ling revival in a melted empire|work=The New York Times |date=March 24, 1979 }}</ref> Many former competitors also became distributors of Good Humor products.<ref name=jones />

With the trucks sold, Good Humor focused on the grocery division, and the company returned to profitability by 1984.<ref name=jones /> Unilever, the world's largest marketer of ice cream products, decided to achieve a similar market position in the US through acquisitions. In 1989, Unilever purchased Gold Bond Ice Cream of Green Bay, Wisconsin, which owned [[Popsicle (brand)|Popsicle]]. In 1993, Unilever bought [[Klondike Bar|Isaly Klondike]], maker of another chocolate-coated ice cream bar invented in Youngstown in the early 1920s. Also in 1993, Unilever acquired the [[Breyers]] Ice Cream Company and combined these operations into the renamed [[Good Humor-Breyers]].<ref name=times4 /> Since 2000, Good Humor has been one of numerous Unilever ice cream subsidiaries to use the international [[List of Unilever brands#heartbrand|Heartbrand]] for its logo.<ref name=goodhumorbreyers>{{cite web|url= http://www.icecreamusa.com/|title= Good Humor-Breyers Corporate Web Site|access-date= 2009-03-March 20, 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090326150530/http://www.icecreamusa.com/|archive-date= 2009-03-March 26, 2009|url-status= dead}}</ref> It removed the Heartbrand in 2009 but brought it back as part of its logo from 2014 onwards.

In June 2020, Good Humor collaboratoredcollaborated with music producer [[RZA]] to create a new jingle for [[ice cream truck]]s to play, to replace "[[Turkey in the Straw]]", since that song had been paired in the past with racist lyrics. (Good Humor does not directly operate any trucks, but the company wanted to discourage drivers from playing the song.)<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/08/14/902664184/an-ice-cream-truck-jingles-racist-history-has-caught-up-to-it|title=An Ice Cream Truck Jingle's Racist History Has Caught Up To It|author=Natalie Escobar|website=npr.org|access-date=August 14, 2020}}</ref> The resulting composition was released in August 2020.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=broo2NZmiDE Good Humor x RZA: A New Ice Cream Truck Jingle for a New Era], YouTube, August 13, 2020</ref>

In the parlance of the original company, a "Good Humor" was a three-ounce chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream bar on a stick.<ref name=times /> By 1960, the product line had grown to 85 flavors or combinations. Other "Good Humors" included chocolate-coated chocolate (also called "chocolate [[Malted milk|malt]]") and chocolate-coated strawberry plus bars coated in toasted almond, coconut, chocolate cake, strawberry shortcake, and chocolate éclair. Weekly specials came in a wide assortment of flavors, including a red, white, and blue Good Humor for the Fourth of July.<ref name=times1 /> Among the specials that did not become popular were Oregon [[prune]] and California [[Common fig|fig]] Good Humors. The company even experimented with tomato [[Sorbet#American terminology|sherbet]].<ref name=times16>{{cite news |title=Bell-jingling ice cream vendors back with high hopes for a sweet season |work=The New York Times |date=April 16, 1952 }}</ref>

* [[Donald F. Duncan, Sr.]]

*[http{{Official website|https://www.goodhumor.com/ Good Humor official website]}}