Bungalow Bar
Encyclopedia
Bungalow Bar was a brand of ice cream
sold from trucks to consumers on the streets in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn
and Queens
and the Bronx, as well as in Yonkers, during the 1950s and 60s. Bungalow Bar trucks serviced the Bushwick section of Brooklyn during forties. Bungalow Bar trucks had a distinctive, quaint, and decidedly old-fashioned look: white, with rounded corners, and made to look like a small, mobile bungalow topped with a dark brown shingle roof.
The founder of Bungalow Bar was a Greek immigrant who left Greece just before the onset of WWII. He had five children all of whom worked in the factory. His 2 daughters are still alive today March 2008. To the best of their memory, they can remember the huge production building located in Richmond Hill, Queens. The one daughter worked both in the office and then learned how to operate the machines in the packing plant.
Bungalow Bar's chief competitive rival was Good Humor
, whose trucks appeared larger, more angular, and more modern. Perhaps for this reason, Bungalow Bar suffered from a terrible - and undeserved - reputation among children, who believed their product inferior. Good Humor's ice cream on a stick sold for 10 cents, while Bungalow Bar's price was 5 cents. This reputation was expressed as a kind of chant or song and, passing from one child to another, quickly crossed neighborhood boundaries and age groups. The lyrics, as learned in Flatbush
, Brooklyn in the late 1950s, were:
There were many localized variations of this chant. One, during the same period went:
And another, from Brooklyn:
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
sold from trucks to consumers on the streets in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
and the Bronx, as well as in Yonkers, during the 1950s and 60s. Bungalow Bar trucks serviced the Bushwick section of Brooklyn during forties. Bungalow Bar trucks had a distinctive, quaint, and decidedly old-fashioned look: white, with rounded corners, and made to look like a small, mobile bungalow topped with a dark brown shingle roof.
The founder of Bungalow Bar was a Greek immigrant who left Greece just before the onset of WWII. He had five children all of whom worked in the factory. His 2 daughters are still alive today March 2008. To the best of their memory, they can remember the huge production building located in Richmond Hill, Queens. The one daughter worked both in the office and then learned how to operate the machines in the packing plant.
Bungalow Bar's chief competitive rival was Good Humor
Good Humor
Good Humor is an American brand of ice cream novelties sold from ice cream trucks as well as stores and other retail outlets. Originally, Good Humors were chocolate-coated ice cream bars on a stick, but the line was expanded over the years to include a wide range of novelties...
, whose trucks appeared larger, more angular, and more modern. Perhaps for this reason, Bungalow Bar suffered from a terrible - and undeserved - reputation among children, who believed their product inferior. Good Humor's ice cream on a stick sold for 10 cents, while Bungalow Bar's price was 5 cents. This reputation was expressed as a kind of chant or song and, passing from one child to another, quickly crossed neighborhood boundaries and age groups. The lyrics, as learned in Flatbush
Flatbush, Brooklyn
Flatbush is a community of the Borough of Brooklyn, a part of New York City, consisting of several neighborhoods.The name Flatbush is an Anglicization of the Dutch language Vlacke bos ....
, Brooklyn in the late 1950s, were:
Bungalow Bar
Tastes like tar
Put it in a jar
And throw it far
There were many localized variations of this chant. One, during the same period went:
Bungalow Bar
Tastes like tar
The more you eat
The sicker you are
And another, from Brooklyn:
Bungalow Bar
Tastes like tar
Take a bite
And spit it far