Ideal No. 3044 Bungalow Bar Truck

Also called the Ice Cream truck or Good Humor truck (for Good Humor brand ice cream) the Ideal Bungalow Bar truck was made from 1950-52 and is the basis for at least two copies: American Dimestore produced a near exact, but much smaller truck; and Road Champs made a similar but not exact diecast version. There may be others but those are the ones I'm aware of. The truck measures 5 3/4" (14.60cm) L x 2 1/4" (5.72cm) W x 2 5/8" (6.66cm) H and has two opening ice cream compartment doors. 

I bought this truck a couple of years ago but it was full of crud which I finally got around to cleaning off (I hate it when sellers don't bother to clean their wares off!). There's a small chip on the front bumper but overall my sample is in decent shape. I'm not sure if Ideal actually made some kind of 'Bungalow Bar' as Internet searches came up bupkis but the truck itself is an iconic reminder of days gone by when ice cream trucks plied the roads of suburbia and neighborhood streets (ALTHOUGH I never remember seeing one in my neighborhood back in the '50s-'60s). Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Ideal (L) American Dimestor (M) Road Champs (R)

American Dimestore #30052 'Bungalow Bar' Ice Cream Truck

Based on Ideal's ice cream truck of the late '40s-early '50s this 'Bungalow Bar' ice cream truck is representative of the the truck roaming city neighborhoods of the mid-century dispensing happiness in the form of frozen treats. Made famous by the Good Humor trucks of the time whose drivers and exploits have become folklore. The Good Humor Brand is still around as Good Humor-Breyers but the trucks have driven off into American legend sunset. Funny though, I never saw one of these growing up in the '50s! Was my neighborhood that bad? Or maybe it was because we had a decent sized neighborhood supermarket right across the street which would have been to much to compete with? Oh well, I still think it's a cool truck and American Dimestore version is a nifty vehicle complete with opening doors to the freezer compartment. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina