MAJOR MATT MASON AND HIS DAIRY QUEEN JET

 I've never eaten a Dairy Queen. I don't think they appeared in the UK, so the association of Major Matt Mason and Dairy Queen is new to me.

Here's an old advertising poster I saw on auction combining the Dairy Queen Jet and the Major.

Is this news to you?

Do you eat Dairy Queen?

MOON FLEET CAPTAIN BADGE

This badge caught my eye on Ebay so I saved a pic.

I used to eat Sky Rays and remember their Moon Fleet marketing.

Here's the Captain badge. I wonder of there were more? 

Do you remember Moon Fleet readers?

MAKING A MRS. TOPO GIGIO

 My latest fixer-upper from Bill is a Century 21 Toys Topo Gigio Ice Cream van.

Before I attempt the van I've been down a rabbit hole, one marked 'creating a figure'.

The van needed a female Gigio sat in the back serving.

As luck would have it I had a spare rubber Topo kicking about.

Making it up as I went along, this was about half-way in the transformation. Topo's now got long Papier Mache hair and after going under the knife, bent knees! The Christmas clown looks pleased anyway!

and so, the final result.

I give you Mrs. Topo Gigio!

I've never doctored an existing figure to make a new one before so it was a steep learning curve and it took ages, It was also a lot of fun! Have you done anything like this readers?

Now to the Ice Cream Van!

Mr Whippy is indestructible, you are not! Remember this and do not attempt to stop him and buy one!

 Courtesy of Looey and his Missus in Spitalfields in the UK last week!

A Captain Scarlet Ice Cream Van!

Like it?

FIZZ-NIK: THE AMERICAN CREAM

 

I was fascinated by this Fizz Nik.

At first I thought it was a space toy but no, its a straw!

You fill it with ice cream or ice, slot it in your fave pop bottle and away you go!

ha ha!

Love it!

Being a lover of 'floats' myself [I invented my own 'Disco Disaster' - the coke float] this Fizz Nik gets my vote for best straw ever made, easily the winner of Straw Wars!

But did it float your coke readers?

Did it catch on?

New Zealand Icecream Wrappers

Here is a look at some New Zealand icecream packaging, from frickr. Most of which I have never seen before. The majority of the wrappers and containers look to be fairly modern.

There is even a set of horror-themed icecreams from Walls: Frank 'n berry, Count Chocula (I think those were both American breakfast cereals ?), Witchy Goo, and Slimey Limey. Totally new to me.

I do remember Joe 90, Zorro, Garfield, Popsicle Band, and Alf.

The regular ones, such as Topsy, Jellytip, Eskimo Pie, and Joy Bar.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenwilliamsnz/albums/72157631780750774/page1

Paul Adams from New Zealand

ICE CREAM MEMORIES

There's much to please the ice cream nostalgic on the net, not least those confections licenced to Gerry Anderson TV shows like FAB, Super Sea Jets, Orbit, Space 1999, Sky Ray and ZOOM.

Less well-known ice creams from the swinging Sixties can also be found. I used to love the milky Haunted House and the chocolate filled Lolly Gobble Choc Bomb. Don't remember Luv, Crime Squad or Captain Rainbow. Do you?

Cornet was fave of mine too, a block of vanilla ice-cream stood in a T shaped cornet. Woppa and Heart were delicious, as was the minty Tiger Mint. Don't recall Wiz though!

Happy Faces were fun, as were Choc Top Woppa. Kinky was an absolute favourite and looking at Big Wiz I'm wondering if the centre was butterscotch, which rings a taste bell.

Which ice creams did you like in your country?

MISTER SOFTEE'S BACK

I can hear the tinkling music of the Ice Cream van outside. It's a reminder that its summer in the UK.

Its such a nostalgic sound the ice cream van, like a sweet bell ringing from our childhood. Ice Cream vans were a constant feature of our streets in the Sixties and Seventies.

With memorable names like Mister Softee and Mister Whippee, getting an ice cream from the side of the van was a real delight. 

The ice cream was soft and piped into a sort of pyramid on a cone or in a tub. The finishing touches were just the best: chopped nuts, sprinkles and a swirl of delicious sauce. My favourite was raspberry. What was yours?

For something different I sometimes asked for an oyster, a nougat wafer or a screwball. Remember them?

Sometimes my Mum asked me to take a large bowl to the van and get it filled for a Sunday dinner dessert. Great fun!

What are your ice cream memories readers?

FAB1 ICE CREAM VAN

I'm glad they cite Thunderbirds as the source for the name FAB1! They've made millions off it!

https://p50cars.com/fab1-creating-the-worlds-smallest-ice-cream-van-for-nestles-fab-ice-lollies/

LITTLE TWINS AND POOCHY HOT PIZZA AND SODA VAN

I don't think we've had this Pizza and Soda Van on Moonbase before.

Its a Multiple Toymakers variant on their ice cream van.

Here it is complete in its nifty case along with the three figures of the little twins and poochy.

Century 21 Toys also issued the van as a Topo Gigio ice cream van in a Project SWORD style box.

LOLLIPOPPERY

I was wondering about ice lollies I ate as a boy. For some reason I associate Cleveleys near Blackpool with delicious lolly scoffing.

But I'm confused. What was the difference between a Split and a Mivvi? Any?

LOTS OF LOLLIES

This Ayreshirehistory.com page on lolly wrappers is superb. So many to mentally lick. So many frozen memories. Have a bite yourself. Which were your fave lollies?

http://www.ayrshirehistory.com/sweetie_papers_ice_lollies.html

JELLY JUMBO

 

I'm pretty sure I remember this lolly, the Jelly Jumbo!

Ice Cream with jelly ripple! Yum-mee!

Do you remember this lolly?

Is this where the label 'Jelly Wobble Tester' came from?

ZOOM? BOOM!

A year ago I missed the re-issued Zoom lolly at Morrisons

https://ashleighmoneysaver.co.uk/morrisons-is-throwing-it-back-zoom-ice-lollies/

but they're back with a different name at Iceland!

Do you like Zooms?

FAB FIFTY YEARS ON

There can't be many brands that came emerged from Thunderbirds which are still going today, but Fab is one of them.

Yep, Fab, named after Lady Penelope's car and the Tracy Brothers' famous sign-off.

You can read about Fab Land at the moment. Its over 50 years old!

Alas, there's no reference to its Lady P past though. 

http://www.myfabland.com/#news

Can you think of any other spin-off brands from the worlds of Gerry Anderson still going today?

ALPHA STAR UPDATE

Not sure I've blogged this advertising sign before. Its one I saw the other day when searching for Langnese Alpha Star.

Langnese is like Walls when it comes to ice-cream in Europe.

Alpha Star was their rocket-shaped lolly a bit like Zoom or Sky ray here in the UK.

I've blogged about Alpha Star before and of interest to readers will be the use of LP-clone astronauts in marketing packs.

I've come to the conclusion that LP-style astronauts were the go-to toy spacemen for generic space toy sets and campaigns for lots of companies in the 60's and 70's. Just think of cake decorations!

Have a look [or lick!] here: 

http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2018/02/alpha-star-lp-astronauts-on-ice.html

WHAT WERE YOUR CHILDHOOD SUMMERS LIKE?

Was it the classic outdoor life of scuffed knees, fab lollies, no shirts, jam jar fishing and legs up high on the bike on the downslopes spoke-clickers going crazy [remember making them? spoke clickers?]?

With the current extreme heatwave baking most of Europe and the UK it reminds me of the hot summers when I was a kid. For some reason all summers seemed hot back then but I'm sure they weren't. Long afternoons watching the rain paint the chalet windows at Butlins feels familiar too!

I do, however, remember vividly the lollies cooling us down during those boiling Sixties summers: Fab, Zoom, Jet Ray, a thick orange juice lolly the name of which eludes me, Funny Faces [was that later?], a Dracula lolly with red jelly inside, Kinky [a personal fave with all those hundreds and thousands], Ice Pops, Mivvi and Split [what was the difference between those two? I dunno]

Pop was important too as we slurped it from day-glo plastic beakers through crazy straws: Rise and Shine powdered orange [pleasantly vile!], Tree Tops cordial [why was the word cordial used?], Dandelion and Burdock [burp juice], Sarsaparilla, Lemonade, Vimto, Iron Bru and my personal tipple, Tizer!

Many homes had a machine that fizzed up drinks with compressed CO2 [at least I think it was] called something like Sparklets. I remember the little metal tanks of gas that were inserted into the tall unit that looked like a Corgi Rockets Sky Park. 

So, as we face the hottest day in UK recorded history, I think I'll make a large tupperware beaker of vimto on ice and turn on the garden lawn sprinkler like my old Dad did in the Sixties. 

What fun!

What were your childhood summers like readers and how are you keeping cool today?

MICKEY MOUSE OR TOPO GIGIO? WHO SERVES YOU YOUR ICE CREAM?

We've seen this Mickey Mouse ice cream truck before.

Multiple Toymakers released it once before in a different package.

The one above is a window box with a neat playground backdrop. I saw it ages ago on Worthpoint.

Its of interest to me as its the same toy as the Century 21 Topo Gigio ice cream truck, which I've blogged about before a few times.

It's interesting that the same toy was released by two companies but with different famous mice characters!

Maybe it was a case of Mickey Mouse in America and Topo Gigio in Europe?

Here's the Century 21 ice cream truck.

ICE CREAM ARTO STYLE

Hello Woodsy,

As a snap reaction to your posting about the football-shaped ice cream container, please find attached a small selection of plastic counterparts from the 60's Finland. 

Although too young to remember them from my own childhood, they bear the essence of the Sixties' childhood for me. Seldom seen, I try to collect each specimen available.

Cheers,

Arto

Helsinki Base

ICE CREAM FOOTBALL

Playing with Blue's plastic ball rang a yummy bell!

When I was a kid I got ice cream inside a small hard plastic football that opened at the top so you could spoon out.

Remember those?