Summers in the 1950s included gleaming white Good Humor trucks whose jingling bells announced that frozen treats had arrived. I’d beg my parents for change and dash to the curb for a creamsicle or toasted almond bar.
The drivers wore crisp white uniforms and matching caps, presenting a clean, wholesome look, and if you were lucky, he’d take you for a short ride and let you ring the bell. This may have been illegal, as there was no door on the passenger side and you had to hang onto the window frame. My friends and I never gave it a second thought when he’d ask one of us to run to the candy store for a pack of cigarettes—so much for wholesome!
In the 1920s, Harry Burt, Sr., a confectioner based in Youngstown, Ohio, became the first ice cream vendor to move from pushcarts to motorized trucks. His Good Humor trucks’ signature jingle bells were taken from his son’s bobsled. As for the name, Burt believed a taste of one of his treats couldn’t help but put you in “good humor.”
When I was a child we had a refrigerator with a freezer barely the size of a small bread box, although this was a step up from the iceboxes of the 1930s. In northern climes the ice harvest was an annual event—now a history lesson rather than practical reality. Huge chunks of ice were cut from frozen ponds and taken to icehouses, and then chopped up into more manageable sizes for individual iceboxes.
Icebox cakes were popular at the time so you wouldn’t have to use the oven in summer. This recipe is for modern refrigerators.
Summer Icebox Cake
- 3 cups cold heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 20 full-sheet (5”x2.5”) graham crackers
- 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- Optional: additional berries and star sprinkles for garnish
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the cream, sugar and extracts together on medium-high speed until peaks form.
Spread a small amount of the whipped cream in a thin layer at the bottom of an ungreased 9×13-inch pan. Layer graham crackers on top, breaking them apart as needed to make one even layer.
Spread approximately 2 cups of whipped cream on top of the graham crackers and layer the sliced strawberries on top. Follow with another layer of crackers, 2 more cups of whipped cream, then the blueberries. Add one more layer of crackers and a final layer of whipped cream. Top with optional garnishes.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 48 hours.