13 Vintage Ice Creams That Vanished Into History

Humans have been enjoying frozen treats for a very, very long time. In fact, research suggests that in ancient Greece, some street hawkers used to sell snow, which would help people stay cool amid the intense summer heat. Over the centuries, of course, we upgraded from snow and started choosing ice pops and ice creams. Georgians ate brown bread ice cream, for example, while Victorians made frozen desserts with cucumber and sweetened cream. But it was in the 20th century, thanks to electrical refrigeration, that the market really started to pick up speed. Ice cream trucks started to frequent towns and popular seaside spots, and grocery stores sold tubs of Ben & Jerry's and Häagen-Dazs in their frozen sections.

There are many reasons why so many of us love tubs of velvety ice cream and fruity ice pops. Of course, the taste is important. But it's also what that taste conjures up: comfort, joy, and nostalgia. Many Americans grew up on frozen treats served straight from the ice cream truck. Think: Fat Frog, Vampire's Secret, and Screwballs. For others, remembering movie nights at home with a rented videotape and a tub of ice cream brings back the memories. If you want to relive the glory days of ice cream and ice cream bars, below, we've listed some of the best vintage frozen desserts that you just can't find anymore. From Good Humor's ice cream truck classics to Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard, there's a nostalgic treat for everyone.

Ice cream brand Good Humor has been providing the world with tasty ice cream classics since the early 1900s. Its first ice cream bar was invented in 1920, and this was quickly followed by the world's first-ever fleet of ice cream trucks. By the 1960s, it had a portfolio of more than 85 products. Over the decades, it grew and grew, producing some of the beloved iconic ice creams and ice cream bars in the U.S. — from chocolate ice cream cones to sundaes. By the time it reached the end of the 1990s, the brand was responsible for many iconic sweet treats, including Fat Frog.

It was, well, an ice cream bar shaped like a fat frog. It was fruity, fun, and featured two chewy gumballs for eyes, which made it a firm favorite among ice cream truck customers. The popular ice pop wasn't just enjoyed in the U.S., it was also a favorite in Ireland, where it was sold under the brand name HB. Both Good Humor and HB, alongside Wall's in the U.K., are operated by Unilever. The brands are part of Heartbrand, the multinational ice cream group.

Ben & Jerry's is another iconic ice cream brand (which also happens to be owned by Unilever). It was founded in 1978 in Vermont, and has since grown into a global favorite, sold in more than 40 countries all over the world. Ben & Jerry's is known for long-running flavors like Cookie Dough and Chocolate Fudge Brownie, but over the years, the brand has also retired many flavors to its Flavor Graveyard, (which is basically just a section of its website dedicated to discontinued products), and among them is Cool Britannia.

The vanilla ice cream laced with strawberries and fudge shortbread was available throughout the mid-1990s, but it wasn't to be. In 1998, it was laid to rest for a few reasons, but one of the biggest was that British customers just couldn't get on with the mix of flavors. This was despite the fact that Ben & Jerry's created the ice cream after receiving 7,000 entries in a competition to create a "Great British Flavor."

An American won the contest with the name, which paid tribute to the patriotic (and controversial) British song "Rule Britannia," which has been criticized for its association with colonialism. The name stirred up controversy. Harold Brooks-Baker of Burke's Peerage, a London-based publisher of genealogy books, told the Tampa Bay Times in 1996: "Can't they think of something new rather than borrowing from the blood of the nation's past? I think at best it's simply silly."

Another of Good Humor's vintage favorite ice cream bars was Vampire's Secret. It was Halloween-themed, with a black exterior and a cherry sauce center, but it was available all year round, and was undeniably another summer food truck classic of the 1990s. Many customers have asked for the revival of Vampire's Secret (which were sold individually under the name "Vampire's Deadly Secret") on social media, but it has yet to make a comeback. In the U.K., a similar ice pop was sold in stores under Wall's, but instead of Vampire's Secret, it was called Dracula.

In the U.K. in 2013, Wall's started selling Dracula ice cream bars once again, which were very similar in appearance to Vampire's Secret, but a little different in flavor. They didn't feature a cherry interior, but instead were filled with strawberry jelly and vanilla ice cream. According to Florence Howell, the brand manager for Wall's Kids, the company decided to launch the Dracula ice pops due to more demand for "retro" flavors. In a statement, the brand explained that the ice cream bar "has an instant connection" with parents who remembered similar options from their childhoods. In 2024, Wall's brought Dracula back again, this time in a multipack of retro-inspired flavors.

In the 1960s, The Beatles were at the peak of their fame, and "Beatlemania" was rife. This fan culture (characterized by screaming girls and women) wasn't just limited to the famous British rock band's shows and performances, but it also made its way to the ice cream world. In that decade, U.S. ice cream giant Baskin-Robbins, which has its own line of ice cream shops across the country, launched its own tribute to Beatlemania with a new flavor, aptly titled Beatle Nut. It consisted of pistachio ice cream, chocolate, and walnuts (hence the name).

Just like the famous four, Beatle Nut was a hit before it was retired to Baskin-Robbins' "Deep Freeze" (the brand's own take on Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard). It was nearly resurrected in 2011, when Baskin-Robbins announced a new competition to bring back one of its vintage flavors. Beatle-Nut was one of 30 flavors in the running for a revival, but in the end, Pistachio Almond Fudge (another favorite flavor from the 1960s) won the vote.

Another entry from Good Humor is Bubblegum Swirl, a 1990s ice cream truck favorite. The clue is in the name, but this bar consisted of a bubblegum-flavored ice cream bar with a swirly blue and pink pattern. The frozen dessert, which was designed to taste like gumballs (but didn't actually contain any, unlike Fat Frog) is not available anymore, but there are some similar versions sold outside of the U.S.

In the U.K. frozen food grocery store chain Iceland, for example, you can find a very similar ice pop, named Bubblegum Swirl Lollies. This version is made with ingredients like skim milk, spirulina, and beetroot concentrate, which helps to create that signature cotton candy-esque swirly pattern. Like Good Humor's original version, these popsicles aren't available in the U.S., but anyone who is in the mood for a bubblegum frozen sweet treat can check out Baskin-Robbins' Pink Bubblegum, which comes with pink bubblegum-flavored ice cream and bits of candy.

Pennsylvania brand Turkey Hill has given the world many different ice cream flavors since it was first founded over 85 years ago. Right now, you can choose from a range of options like Black Cherry, Cookie Butter, and Homemade Vanilla, for example. In 2017, it also announced a competition to bring back some of its oldest flavors, and in the running was Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, which, as the name suggests, was developed to taste just like the popular dessert pie. The frozen dessert, which was launched in the mid-1990s and retired in 2001, featured strawberry ice cream, which was packed with shortbread pieces and rhubarb swirls.

Unfortunately, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie didn't win the contest, so it's currently still locked in Turkey Hill's flavor vault. In the end, it lost its round to Sticky Bun, another favorite from the late 1990s. This flavor featured cinnamon ice cream with sticky bun pieces and caramel swirls.

Edy's has been making ice cream since 1928 when it was first launched by its founders, ice cream maker William Dreyer and candy maker Joseph Edy. Today, the company operates under both names (it's known as Edy's to the East of the Rocky Mountains and Dreyer's to the West), and offers an extensive range of popular ice creams, including classics like Cookies n' Cream and Mint Chocolate Chip.

In the 1980s, Edy's launched its Grand Light range of ice creams, which were 93% fat-free. This was on-brand for the era, when the U.S. government was urging everyone to significantly reduce their fat intake for health reasons. The range stuck around until the early 2000s — it was replaced by a new line of ice creams called Slow Churned in 2004. The move helped increase its sales, and Slow Churned was a huge success. Grand Light is no more, but Slow Churned is still around today, offering reduced fat flavors like Caramel Delight and Chocolate Chip.

Bubble Play, another ice cream truck staple from Good Humor, was first offered back in the 1990s. Unlike Bubblegum Swirl, it did contain a gumball (in the shape of a baseball), which sat in a cherry-flavored ice pop, which was shaped like a baseball glove. It wasn't the easiest frozen treat to eat, due to the unique shape and the combination of bubblegum and ice pop, but it was still a mainstay on ice cream truck menus throughout the 1990s.

Bubble Play isn't widely available in U.S. stores or ice cream trucks anymore, but Good Humor does offer plenty of ice cream bars and popsicles in its absence. There's the Strawberry Shortcake Bar, for example, which is covered in (you guessed it) cake, and filled with strawberry and vanilla ice cream. There's also the ultra-refreshing Solero Lime Bar, the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich, and the Chemisse Coconut & Pineapple Bar.

Another entry for Turkey Hill is its Death By Chocolate flavor, which, as the name suggests, was as chocolaty as chocolate ice cream gets. It was offered for most of the 1990s (from 1992 until 1998). The flavor was also put forward for potential revival in 2017, even managing to make it to the final eight of the Turkey Hill social media contest. In the end, the frozen dessert — which consisted of dark chocolate ice cream with dark chocolate chips and brownie batter fudge — lost out to Caramel Brownie Overload (a favorite in 2000) in one of the final rounds.

Other vintage favorites from Turkey Hill include Pecan Snapper (made with butter pecan ice cream and pecan pieces), which was offered from 1998 until 2001, and Tin Lizzie Sundae, which consisted of a vanilla base with caramel fudge and chocolate peanuts and was on the shelves from 1991 until 1995.

Another vintage ice cream flavor that lies in Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard is Rainforest Crunch, which lasted a full decade on the shelves, from 1989 until 1999. Rainforest Crunch, which featured vanilla ice cream with cashews and Brazil nuts, was a popular flavor before it was discontinued, but it was also controversial. While the brand stated that the profits made from the ice cream would help to support indigenous nut cooperatives, the reality was that it was reportedly sourcing only 5% of the nuts from the ice cream from small Brazilian suppliers, and the rest were coming from agribusinesses.

Ben & Jerry's seemed to learn from this controversy, and has launched several purpose-driven flavors since, including 2015's Save Our Swirled, which was developed to encourage climate crisis action, and 2021's dairy-free Change the Whirled flavor, which was created with footballer-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick and supported the nonprofit Know Your Rights Camp.

Rainforest Crunch and Cool Britannia are far from the only nostalgic flavors in Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard. The brand has launched many, many different products over the years, and not all of them have stood the test of time. In 1999, for example, it retired its Chocolate Comfort flavor, which was filled with low-fat chocolate truffle ice cream. In 2001, it said goodbye to Bovinity Divinity, a milk chocolate ice cream with white fudge cow pieces, and in 1998, Holy Cannoli, a ricotta and pistachio ice cream with cannoli pieces was laid to rest.

Good Humor offered many of the most nostalgic ice cream truck treats in the U.S., and among them was The Great White, a lemon-flavored white ice cream bar in the shape of a shark fin. It was a popular choice for many people in the 1990s, but it's no longer on the shelves. If you want to bring it back, you can select any item from Good Humor's 1990s back catalog, including The Great White and any other Good Humor frozen dessert on this list, and "request a comeback."

If you don't want to hang around to see if The Great White resurfaces from the deep, you can also make your own shark-themed ice pops. Eco-friendly lifestyle brand Zoku, for example, which is based in New Jersey, offers shark-shaped ice cream bar molds. Simply fill them up with your favorite juices and fruits (lemon, if you're going for an authentic The Great White tribute), pop them in the freezer, wait overnight, and then they're ready to eat.

Next on our list of throwbacks is another classic ice pop from Good Humor. It's not a baseball bat, a shark, a vampire, or a frog. No, this time, it's a dinosaur. We are, of course, talking about the brand's signature Dinosaur Bars, which were another 1990s ice cream truck favorite. Similar to Bubble Play, the Dinosaur Bar featured one single gumball, which was a bright red color and located on the body of the green, fruity dinosaur-shaped ice cream bar.

Often, ice creams and bars reflect pop culture or the attitudes of the time (look at Beatle-Nut or Edy's Grand Light fat-free ice cream, for example), and Good Humor's Dinosaur Bar might have been the same. It was a hit in the 1990s, which was also the decade of the original "Jurassic Park" movies, which, of course, were all about dinosaurs. The franchise was a success, and inspired many dinosaur-themed products. Fast food giant Burger King, for example, launched limited edition watches for the release of the second film, "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," in 1997.

Screwballs were, without a doubt, an ice cream truck go-to for many people in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and beyond. Good Humor's version consisted of a cup of slushed ice with, you guessed it, another gumball hidden at the bottom. You could usually find these sweet frozen treats in two flavors, cherry and blue raspberry. If you wanted an extra gumball, you could opt for the 2 Ball Screwball, too.

In the U.K., screwball fans can still buy frozen desserts inspired by this iconic sweet treat, but they're not quite the same as the original. At the supermarket giant Asda, for example, the cup is the same shape, but instead of a slushy filling, it contains a vanilla mousse, which is covered with raspberry ripple sauce. Just like the iconic ice cream truck favorite from Good Humor, there is a hidden bubblegum ball at the bottom, too.