Harmony Ice Cream was popular before World War II.

They screamed for Harmony Ice Cream!

Ice Cream! Harmony Ice Cream truck, parked on S. Carrollton Avenue, in the 1940s. Located in Central City, Harmony competed with Cloverland Dairy, which was located on S. Carrollton Avenue. Cloverland eventually merged into Sealtest. The plant was demolished, but the front facade was reserved for the US Post Office on that site now.

Ice Cream trucks weren’t new, but their range was limited. Older incarnations operated with ice rather than electric refrigeration. Commercial refrigeration had been around since the 1920s. Still, a/c didn’t come to retail stores until 1931. Krauss Department Store became the first department store on Canal Street to air-condition their customers. Naturally, Maison Blanche and D. H. Holmes followed suit quickly. It took a few more years for electric a/c to make it to motor vehicles, though. Naturally the dairies jumped on the opportunity to compete with restaurants and drugstore soda fountains. The products already existed. Polar Bars, Fudgesicles, Dreamsicles, Popsicles, and ice cream cups were available in the iceboxes of groceries and drugstores. Now, once Detroit started selling refrigerated trucks, dairies like Harmony traveled the streets, enticing kids playing in the neighborhoods during the summer. The trucks had sound systems that played simple jingles, announcing their arrival to the kids.

After World War II, Harmony merged with Russell’s Ice Cream. That merger expanded Russell’s reach. The post-war housing boom offered new neighborhoods for these ice cream trucks to patrol Additionally, Russell’s became well-known for their tricycles. They were essentially freezer chests on wheels. The rider pedaled the tricycle into areas like around Jackson Square. Fortunately for the dairy, these treats were popular. The riders usually sold out before the ice in their mobile freezer chest ran down.

What’s your favorite ice cream on a stick treat?

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