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1966 Good Humor Truck Survivor!

Nothing makes kids pour out of a neighborhood in zombie-like fashion than an ice cream truck. Where I grew up, all the ice cream trucks were old decrepit step vans or former U.S. Post Office vehicles that had seen their better days. Running them were guys in dirty T-shirts who looked as if they didn’t have running water at home and were allergic to soap. Thank goodness the ice cream was pre-packaged! Up north, the ice cream sellers had a bit more class. The 800-pound gorilla of ice cream sales was Good Humor, and the company built up their business by using semi-customized trucks like this 1966 Ford currently for sale here on eBay.  With a buy it now price of $65,000, is there a well-heeled ice cream lover out there ready to put on a white uniform and fulfill their destiny as the next Good Humor Man?

According to their website, Good Humor was started in 1920 by confectioner Harry Burt.  Always looking for a way to make money, Burt came up with a radical concept of a bar of ice cream covered in a layer of chocolate and frozen to a stick.  After bribing the patent office with a five-gallon pail of ice cream bars, he got his patent and his business grew from the original twelve trucks to a fleet of thousands of trucks, carts, and even flocks of unique tricycles with coolers on the front.  The operation was so well organized that vendors were trained for three days on the proper way to sell Good Humor products.  Becoming a legend of their own, the trucks were a symbol of the company even after insurance woes and high fuel prices drove the products to only a grocery store and independent contractor existence.

Too bad that the tradition couldn’t continue.  These trucks with their distinctive bodies must have been just the thing to make kids of all ages dig into their pockets to pay for a cool treat on a sweltering hot day.  The life of a salesperson must have been pretty rough though.  Drivers had to work long hours jumping in and out of the driver’s seat to make their rounds and vend the product.  The good news was that they were aided by sleigh bells at first and, later, by a sound system that penetrated the walls of every home in suburbia.  America will never be the same without Good Humor trucks like this one prowling the streets.

The Good Humor truck we see here has been rescued from a seven-year stint in a museum.  The seller tells us that the whole rig is in original condition.  This includes the iconic Good Humor signage on the sides.  Furthermore, all of the bells and whistles work as well as the freezer.  Looking at the pictures, my guess is that a lot of areas have been repainted or refurbished to make the truck presentable for its museum time.  The sound system also does not look like it is of 1966 vintage either.  You have to have some wattage to be heard over the sounds of video games these days.

Under the hood is a venerable Ford inline six cylinder engine, which could be had with either 240 or 300 cubic inches of displacement.  With the only major difference between the two being a longer stroke on the 300 cubic inch engine, it is hard to determine what is in this truck.  Given that these were company-owned trucks, the owners most likely selected the lesser engine.  Either way, these inline sixes were perfect for the role.  They have stellar reputations for having both gobs of low-end torque and being utterly reliable.  It is not unusual at all to see one of these engines with over 300,000 miles.  I cannot imagine how many miles an ice cream truck racks up in a year.

With a buy it now price of $65,000, the new owner will have to sell tons of ice cream bars to break even.  While it would be a cool idea to use it to sell cold drinks and ice cream out of at car shows, chances are the next owner will want it as a reminder of their younger days.  I hope they drive it around some, ringing the bells and playing the music for all to hear.  If a few ice cream bars get sold on the sly, then so be it.  Traditions must be kept up.

Comments

  1. Avatar Michael

    Nice find. The GH driver in my neighborhood in NY was named Ben and man was he ever grumpy. We didn’t care. The ice cream made up for it. Toasted Almond was my personal favorite.

    Like 12
    • Avatar Rube Goldberg Member

      Grumpy? Hmm, I’d think that’s hardly the image they’d want for the Good Humor company.

      Like 3
  2. Avatar Dave Mc

    Loved the movie “Nice Dreams”

    Like 7
    • Avatar Jeepster

      Yep !
      the first rated “R” movie I got to see at a theater as a kid. Mom got two tickets for me and a buddy in 6th grade. a few teenagers were escorted out before the show because they had tickets for Lone Ranger, ha.

      Silly entertaining lizard type movie, wonder where that ice cream truck is now Dave ?

      Like 3
  3. Avatar Steve R

    It’s cool, I’d be hard pressed to call it $65,000 cool.

    When I first saw the trucks picture it made me think about the late-60’s comedy movie of the group of friends robbing the Washington DC mint.

    Steve R

    Like 8
    • Avatar Mike

      “Who’s Minding the Mint?” (1967)

      Like 2
    • Avatar Robert Sweeney

      “Who’s Minding The Mint?”, starring Jim Hutton, Dorothy Provine, Milton Berle, Joey Bishop, Jack Gilford, Victor Buono, and Bob Denver driving the ice cream truck. Funny movie.

      Like 2
  4. Avatar RichS

    Love the “THIS VEHICLE PAYS YOUR SALARY – TAKE CARE OF IT” sticker on the dash.

    Like 13
  5. Avatar classic Steel

    I’m retired buy my truck please😳

    I hope you sell it as it looks great 👍

    I see humor in price though 💰💰💰💰👀

    Like 6
  6. Avatar Watch out for looney ice cream man

    My neighborhood has the run down sketchy guy with a rusted out van😟

    Like 2
  7. Avatar Beatnik Bedouin

    In Los Angeles back in the 1950s-60s, Good Humor trucks were primarily early 1950s Chevies. Hearing the chime as the trucks rolled around the neighbourhood is one of my favourite childhood memories (along with the Helm’s Bakeries trucks’ whistles). I’m glad I lived through that era…

    This one seems rather overpriced to me; perhaps one for a collector/museum rather than an enthusiast?

    Like 1
    • Avatar Mountainwoodie

      On the East Coast in the sixties these seemed everywhere. An interesting metaphor for the deterioration of a civil society. From a guy in a near white uniform driving an immaculate ice cream truck to today’s blue smoke belching vans with misapplied graphics, poor spelling and a driver who appears to live in a culvert under the freeway. Blade Runner here we come.

      Like 3
  8. Avatar RoKo

    Seems about $50000 overpriced.

    Like 2
  9. Avatar Bob c.

    I believe the one in “Who’s Minding The Mint?” was an International. Bob Denver drove it.

    Like 1
  10. Avatar SAM61

    I would buy this for my grandkids if I had an estate….it would be poolside and out for local carshows, etc.

    Hopefully the seller will include a gas pedal for $65 large or discount $20 bucks for a barefoot gas pedal.

    Swap out the Ike plate for Nixon or Humphrey.

    Like 2
  11. Avatar JW

    In our town we didn’t have Good Humor trucks but at 17 years old I drove a “Eskimo Ice Cream” truck for the summer, dealing with kids who couldn’t make up their minds or didn’t have enough money helped me decide the job was not for me.

    Like 4
  12. Avatar Kenny

    In my old neighborhood we had both Mr. Softee and the Good Humor man trucks running around. The Mr. Softee truck was a tall Ford Stepvan with a glass window on the passenger side that the driver worked out of. You could get different sized cones of soft-serve ice cream in either chocolate or vanilla or a twist which was both flavors twisted together on one cone… He showed up around 4 to 4:30 PM in the afternoon. The Good Humor truck looked just like this one and showed up later in the evening around 7:30 to 9:30 every night. It was usually just getting dark when he showed up. The driver or G.H. man was always the same guy named Carl. He was a real nice guy with long curly hair, everyone young and old loved him and called him by name, even the greasers of the neighborhood respected him and never gave him any grief. When I remember him, I think of Recardo Montalbon the actor. He sounded like him and even looked like him. I remember the shiny polished stainless steel change machine he wore around his waist. His thumbs were super quick to give change with that thing. Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching was the sound it made. It stuck out against his white uniform pants, thick black belt and the white uniform shirt he wore every night. .He was on that route for years and years. Everyone knew who Carl was, even our parents knew him. He was around since the early 1950’s and finally retired in the mid to late 1970’s as he was pretty old by then and the gas price inflation was hitting hard too at the time with gasoline prices tripling to $0.75 cents a gallon from $0.25 practically overnight. Another thing that changed with the times. The Mr. Softee truck was still around for years to come but everyone really missed Carl and the Good Humor truck. I still hear and see the old Mr.Softee trucks running around town in the summer nowadays though they painted over the “ee” part of the Mr. Softee sign (very poorly I might add) and it just says “Mr. Soft” now. You can still see the “ee” part if you look closely at it. and they are all foreigners driving them. Arab or India Indians, I can’t tell the difference. Probably copyright laws had something to do with the name change…

    Like 10
    • Avatar Ching-A-Trailer

      How do you know all these drivers are foreigners? Many Americans have accents and dark skin. Nothing wrong with that. Or do you assume they’re foreigners because they are willing to work long hard hours with no appreciation for what they do??

      Like 4
    • Avatar Rodent

      I would be embarrassed to drive a truck that said “Mr. Soft” on it.

      Like 8
  13. Avatar JimmyJ

    Im with roko
    Better have 50 grand in the freezer!

    Like 3
  14. Avatar Steve A.

    That thing brings back some great memories! 🤗

    Like 2
  15. Avatar dave brennan

    These are both of the trucks that roamed long island in the sisties. My cousin ,bill downs, was the Mr. Softee man.we also had good humor in our neighborhood. After ice cream, he opened a donut shop in Babylon, n.y. used to stop in on the way home from school.

    Like 2
  16. Avatar Rube Goldberg Member
  17. Avatar Rube Goldberg Member

    And what say we start the day with the talented Van Halen,
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2RKWJD5ops

    Like 2
    • Avatar Ken

      Ugh. The worst song on their debut album.

      Like 0
  18. Avatar Ron

    My neighborhood had the good humor truck like this one A mister softy truck and a Bungalow Bar truck but Good humor was my favorite. We used to jump up on the truck and ring those bells which were attached to a cord you pulled through the top of the windshield frame.

    Like 2
  19. Avatar OIL SLICK

    We had a GH man running one of these or variations of in our area for at least 25 yrs. His name was Jack and he was kind of an odd guy but everyone knew him, and I mean everyone.
    He wore the white uniform and the coin changer but he did have competition. GH was a bit more money but better.

    I wonder what happened to him as he was pretty old but a staple in our neighborhood for a long time.

    Like 2
  20. Avatar show73 Member

    In 1972 the Air Force sent us to Okinawa, Japan. We lived off base at first, one day my brothers and I hear that familiar sound from down the street and go running, only to find a garbage truck.I was one bummed out 12 year old.

    Like 3
  21. Avatar tommy

    I think these were called California bodies, anyone else recall that?

    Like 0
  22. Avatar Johnny Calabro

    In Brooklyn, NY I owned a Good Humor truck and route from 1984 until 1994. I had a Grumman body style with a 1974 Ford 300 straight six engine – complete with oil-bath air filter. The miles on that engine didn’t reflect the years and years of idling!

    That engine will last forever if taken care of!

    $65,000 is way too much (unless he includes a route and a Food Vendors Permit)

    Like 9
  23. Avatar Jack Quantrill

    I can still that repeating GH jingle! Da da da da da da da da! Could be heard two blocks away, then the begging for dimes began. My fave, mint chocolate chip. Once in awhile you would find a stick printed with “free one”.

    Like 2
  24. Avatar David Miraglia

    Along with Mister Softee truck, brings back a lot of memories.

    Like 2
  25. Avatar Moparman1123

    Like others, here in north NJ we had both the GH and Mr. Softee trucks running through our town, although Frankie the GH man seemed to hit our street more often. The truck in this find is pretty much the same as Frankie’s truck.

    My favorite GH bar was also the Toasted Almond.

    I forwarded this BF to my two sisters this afternoon and we had some fun reminiscing. I saw one of these on a street at the Jersey shore last summer and spend a few minutes checking it out before hitting the beach.

    Like 1
  26. Avatar ctmphrs

    This looks like the truck Wayne of Chasing classic cars bought for his daughter

    Like 1
  27. Avatar Dave T

    I believe this truck has been for sale numerous times. I mean, how many survivors of this year of Ford are still out there? Last time I saw one similar, it was overpriced in the 50K range.

    Like 0
  28. Avatar Paul

    You think For $65000 the engine bay would be a lot more detailed or cleaned? And the truck should be full of ice cream.

    Like 0
  29. Avatar Robert P.

    Those who believed this truck is overpriced are correct. This model Ford Good Humor Truck was built by Hackney Brothers in Wilson, NC until 1969. Good Humor did start using step in vans as early as 1962. The last of the trucks built for Good Humor were built in 1977. After that the company sold their fleet of trucks. Most of those who bought them were their original salesmen. They purchased them with their routes and the distributors protected them by not selling product to anyone who did not have a route.

    Like 0

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