Past Collection – Ford Good Humor Ice Cream Truck

History – (Excerpt from goodhumortrucks.com)

The Good Humor trucks
The Good Humor man, entered and exited the street side for safety, and there is no door on the drivers side for that reason. Trucks of this style (called hoppers, or jump trucks) were made until 1969 when they discontinued this style truck and went to the step van style trucks. Since the step van trucks were more efficient, and comfortable to work out of, most of these trucks were junked, or sold off by the distributors.

The Good Humor Man
The original Good Humor man wore all white with a black Sam Brown belt, black shoes, a coin changer, and a police style hat. The reason for this was to give a sense of safety and cleanliness.

There was a handbook for all drivers on how to dress and act, and all the drivers were employees of Good Humor. (Click here to see copies of original Good Humor drivers handbooks)
The Good Humor man tipped his hat to the women, and salute the gentlemen. He was instructed to shave every day, no beards or goatees, and his hair had to be above the collar.

These trucks were made for selling ice cream.
Good Humor trucks were made for one thing, selling ice cream. The freezer boxes are very well insulated, and designed to last.

The start of Good Humor ice cream.
It was 1920. Harry Burt had just created the Jolly Boy Sucker, a lollypop on a stick. Later, while working in his ice cream parlor, Burt developed a smooth chocolate coating that was compatible with ice cream. Unfortunately, the new combination was too messy to eat. Burt’s young son, Harry Jr., suggested that his dad take some of the wooden sticks used for the Jolly Boy Suckers and freeze them into the ice cream. The first ice cream on a stick was born.

The name Good Humor came from the belief that a person’s “humor” or temperament was related to the humor of the palate (one’s sense of taste).

To market his Good Humor Bars, Burt sent out a fleet of 12 chauffeur-driven trucks with bells to make door-to-door deliveries. The Good Humor Man was born.

The trucks were shipped from Ford, with the front end only, to Hackney Brothers body who installed everything from the dash back.

There is a compressor mounted where the passenger seat that gets plugged into 220 overnight and it freezes to -20. The freezer box has cold plates mounted on the ceiling, front, and sides inside the freezer box that keeps it below 0 all day without any additional power.