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A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
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Youngstown's own Harry B. Burt is widely credited with
revolutionizing the world of ice-cream. His "Good Humor" brand
became a nationally known summertime frozen treat.
Harry Beach Burt was born on August 9, 1874,
in the Trumbull County town of Cortland.
In his teen years, he was a bootblack, shining boots
on the street corners of Cleveland. His hustling work
ethic helped him advance his way through sales jobs.
Those jobs landed him into the confection business
as a self proclaimed expert salesman.
Burt opened his first store in Youngstown in 1893
making and selling penny candy. Nut Candy, Butterscotch,
and the old fashioned Welsh Peppermints were among his best sellers.
He expanded his inventory with high quality candies and
chocolates, and by 1895 Burt added - ICE CREAM!
A few years later, he installed his first soda fountain.
Initially, Burt's Ice Cream home delivery drivers
used a horse and buggy, but in 1902, Burt was
one of the first known users of an automobile to
deliver products. The car was an R. E. Olds chassis
with a special body made by Youngstown Wagon Works.
By 1910, Harry Burt's business was booming. He
introduced a "Good Humor Candy Sucker" - a classic
hard candy sucker on a wooden stick.
The name "Good Humor" came from an old adage
that the humor of the mind was regulated by the
humors of the palate.
This led to 1920, when Burt invented an ice cream bar
with a chocolate coating and a stick frozen into it so
one could eat it without the mess of melting ice cream
on one's hands. He called his new creation the
"Good Humor Ice Cream Sucker."
On April 4, 1922, on West Federal Street in Youngstown,
Burt opened a new, grand, showplace store with a
confection factory on the second floor. "Burt's"
was proclaimed as a fairyland of colors, smells, and tastes.
Here, Burt first mass produced his Ice Cream Suckers.
He sold them in area neighborhoods to children
longing to hear the bells of a fleet of Ice Cream freezer trucks,
each piloted by its own "Good Humor Man".
Harry B. Burt didn't live long enough to see his creation
become a national phenomenon. After his death in 1926,
investors purchased the brand and formed the Good Humor
Corporation of America.
The Good Humor Man and his truck have been featured
in toys, books, and movies. They have been referenced in
cartoons and comic strips, online memes, and even appeared
alongside Garfield the Cat, and Captain Marvel.
Today, Harry B. Burt has an enduring legacy in both the
ice cream world and the power of branded marketing.
revolutionizing the world of ice-cream. His "Good Humor" brand
became a nationally known summertime frozen treat.
Harry Beach Burt was born on August 9, 1874,
in the Trumbull County town of Cortland.
In his teen years, he was a bootblack, shining boots
on the street corners of Cleveland. His hustling work
ethic helped him advance his way through sales jobs.
Those jobs landed him into the confection business
as a self proclaimed expert salesman.
Burt opened his first store in Youngstown in 1893
making and selling penny candy. Nut Candy, Butterscotch,
and the old fashioned Welsh Peppermints were among his best sellers.
He expanded his inventory with high quality candies and
chocolates, and by 1895 Burt added - ICE CREAM!
A few years later, he installed his first soda fountain.
Initially, Burt's Ice Cream home delivery drivers
used a horse and buggy, but in 1902, Burt was
one of the first known users of an automobile to
deliver products. The car was an R. E. Olds chassis
with a special body made by Youngstown Wagon Works.
By 1910, Harry Burt's business was booming. He
introduced a "Good Humor Candy Sucker" - a classic
hard candy sucker on a wooden stick.
The name "Good Humor" came from an old adage
that the humor of the mind was regulated by the
humors of the palate.
This led to 1920, when Burt invented an ice cream bar
with a chocolate coating and a stick frozen into it so
one could eat it without the mess of melting ice cream
on one's hands. He called his new creation the
"Good Humor Ice Cream Sucker."
On April 4, 1922, on West Federal Street in Youngstown,
Burt opened a new, grand, showplace store with a
confection factory on the second floor. "Burt's"
was proclaimed as a fairyland of colors, smells, and tastes.
Here, Burt first mass produced his Ice Cream Suckers.
He sold them in area neighborhoods to children
longing to hear the bells of a fleet of Ice Cream freezer trucks,
each piloted by its own "Good Humor Man".
Harry B. Burt didn't live long enough to see his creation
become a national phenomenon. After his death in 1926,
investors purchased the brand and formed the Good Humor
Corporation of America.
The Good Humor Man and his truck have been featured
in toys, books, and movies. They have been referenced in
cartoons and comic strips, online memes, and even appeared
alongside Garfield the Cat, and Captain Marvel.
Today, Harry B. Burt has an enduring legacy in both the
ice cream world and the power of branded marketing.
October 4, 2023