Ice Cream Shortage Leaves Customers in a Bad Humor

If you’re anything like me, your ears instinctively perk up at the sound of the tinny music blasting from a set of speakers atop a truck unlike any other – one bearing frozen confections on a stick. Since the 1950s, the Good Humor man has been a fixture in neighborhoods across the country, but this summer, you might have a harder time getting hold of your favorite ice cream novelty, according to the Wall Street Journal.

An unseasonably long spring, along with the closing of a major Good Humor plant in Maryland, has left many Good Humor trucks with a shortage of many favorite ice cream bars, including Toasted Almond, Chocolate Éclair (my personal favorite) and Oreo. “I can't get hold of a Good Humor Toasted Almond to save my life," says Travone Franklin, owner of the Ice Cream Dream truck in Manchester, Connecticut.

 Interestingly, grocery stores won’t be as affected, as the treats made for the trucks are larger and are assembled at a different location than the store-bought version.  But, can you believe it? It’s a summer drama made for Shakespeare – boy meets ice cream, falls in summer love, loses touch with his beloved Strawberry Shortcake over the long, cold winter, then, as summer approaches, the heartbreak of love lost is just too much to bear. The tragedy just writes itself. Instead of an authentic Good Humor Toasted Almond Bar, Franklin was offered a knock-off by his distributor, but he refused. "I just can't sell that to people," he says.

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Have you ever been disappointed by the lack of a favorite summer treat?