Beginnings and Innovations
The first ice cream trucks were simply trucks that carried ice cream. In the early 1930s, Paul Hawkins invented a system that allowed ice cream trucks to play music.
Ice cream trucks originated in the United States, Italy, and France. The ice cream truck jingle is a short, catchy melody played to attract attention.
The Good Humor Revolution
In 1920, Harry Burt of Youngstown, Ohio created the first ice cream bar on a stick. He delivered them via truck, calling them “Good Humor Ice Cream Bars." The evolution of ice cream trucks shows the popularity of ice cream through the years.
During the nineteenth century, ice cream cart vendors sold ice cream from small carts in cities. Patrons would eat ice cream from a dish, then return it.
Modern Ice Cream Trucks
While you can buy ice cream in stores, the ice cream truck brings it to your neighborhood. A hot summer day feels incomplete until the familiar jingles grow louder as the truck nears.
In the 1950s, ice cream trucks became modernized with refrigeration and gasoline-powered engines. Two brothers from Philadelphia, William and James Conway, saw the potential for mobile soft-serve machines.
As the demand for ice cream grew, so did the ice cream truck industry. These trucks were a staple of New York City and Philadelphia and quickly became a fixture of American culture.