If You Love Carvel Ice Cream, Thank a Flat Tire

On Memorial Day of 1934, 28-year-old Tom Carvel loaded his trailer with ice cream and dreamed of dollar signs. His plan was to sell scoops to New York motorists headed up into the country. But then Carvel got a flat in front of a pottery shop in Hartsdale, and he watched as his inventory—which he’d borrowed $20 to buy—began to melt. With no other options at hand, he opened for business right on the side of the road. And that is where a startling realization dawned on him: Customers liked the softened ice cream more than the hard stuff. The result of his happy accident is the chain that bears its founder’s name, which marks its 90th birthday this year. You could reasonably say that Tom Carvel—who began franchising in 1949, using ice cream machines he’d invented himself—created the market for soft serve. Which was also the problem. Today, the swirly frozen dessert can be found everywhere from burger chains to truck stops. Carvel’s prices are on the higher side, and with only 350 locations, its presence is a blip compared to behemoths like McDonald’s. It begs the question of how the brand has held its own for this long. The longevity is no accident, and it starts with the recipe. Department of Agriculture regs won’t let a restaurant use the term “ice cream” if the treat isn’t at least 10% milkfat—and the frozen treats dispatched by most big chains are not. “We have chosen not to call them out as not being ice cream,” said svp and chief brand officer Jim Salerno. “We’re a small company. We’re not going to argue.” Maybe not, but the desserts are richer and smoother at Carvel for this reason. Carvel also differentiates itself by making everything fresh, in the stores, every day. That includes its wide range of ice cream cakes, which is the brand’s not-so-secret weapon. Realizing that he could only sell so many cones, Tom Carvel began adding freezer-case items starting with the flying saucer in 1951, then gradually adding Fudgie the Whale, Hug Me the Bear, and Cookie Puss—ice cream cakes whose kitschy aesthetics have made them favorite targets for the Beastie Boys, Howard Stern, The Simpsons, and others. Laugh if you like, but the cakes “were a way to bring in customers in the offseason,” Salerno said. And they still are. Tom Carvel sold his chain for $80 million in 1989 and died the following year. Today, Carvel is part of GoTo Foods, which specializes in rejuvenating demoded brands including Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, and Schlotzsky’s. These days, if you drive up Central Avenue in Hartsdale, New York, you’ll pass the spot where Tom Carvel's trailer broke down 90 years ago. There is no plaque there. But, Salerno said, “we know the spot.” A posher parlor Carvel stores got a recent redesign. First-generation Carvel stores put more emphasis on production than aesthetics. “These stores were set up to be many manufacturing plants—and they look it,” Salerno said. But Carvel’s 90th birthday seemed like the right time for a facelift. The new store format features a revamped logo, a more spacious, colorful counter area, and a mural that imparts the brand’s long history. Above the menu boards is a long red banner that reads: “The Original Soft Serve,” lest guests forget. Take it from Tom Tom Carvel also starred in the soft serve chain's ads. A marketer who never got the recognition he was due, Tom Carvel pioneered the “buy one, get one free” offer in 1936 and was also among the first executives to star in company ads. Carvel didn’t let his gravelly voice and marble-mouthed diction get in the way. "The professionals ridicule my commercials, but who cares?" he told the New York Times in 1985. "You can have a 6-foot-tall, handsome announcer with a perfect voice, perfect diction, perfect grammar. But very few ice cream buyers look like that. Our commercials are for the people who look like us, talk like us, and sound like us." Entrepreneur Tom Carvel invented and patented his own soft-serve machine (1) before starting the chain that bears his name (2) in 1937. While Carvel is widely known for its kitschy ice cream cakes including the bizarre and baffling Cookie Puss (3), its signature product will always be soft-serve ice cream, served in cones or cups (4).

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If You Love Carvel Ice Cream, Thank a Flat Tire

America's beloved soft-serve dessert began with an unplanned stop on a summer's day

Robert Klara

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Robert Klara