Ice cream



Ice cream is a frozen dairy confection, usually eaten as a snack or dessert. The earliest precursors of ice cream were around as early as 400 BC in Persia, and frozen desserts were developed in tandem by many different people all over the world. However, the sweet mixture of milk, cream and egg that we are familiar with today didn't become popular and widespread until the 18th century.

Ice cream is a very popular foodstuff on Sesame Street. Ernie, Prairie Dawn, Count von Count, Mr. Hooper and many others have sold ice cream, and it's hard to find a character on Sesame Street that hasn't eaten or at least mentioned it. It has been claimed that every single person likes it, but this may not be the case.

Ice Cream Melts
The fleeting nature of life's sweetest pleasures can be amply demonstrated by the tendency of ice cream to melt if not consumed quickly. Like many of life's good things, ice cream can and will desert us, or at least make a mess, if we do not take timely precautions to preserve it.


 * Grover's song "Sit Right Down and Plan" ends with two melted ice cream cones, thus demonstrating the single-mindedness needed to take advantage of life's little pleasures.
 * A Tyco figure of Telly holds a melting ice cream cone.
 * Mr. Johnson orders chocolate ice cream from Waiter Grover and it actually arrives, but he doesn't get to eat it.
 * In The Day Snuffy Had the Sniffles, Big Bird intends to take get-well gifts to Snuffy but ends up leaving a trail of melted ice cream behind him.
 * Zoe drops her ice cream, and it accidentally lands on Telly's head. He is not as amused as she is. Later in the same episode, one specimen from Telly's triangle collection reminds her of an ice cream cone. Again, Zoe is amused more than Telly.
 * 1994's Muppet Time segments included the story of an ice cream cone falling to the ground. (The disappointment at this is quickly remedied, as the cone is replaced.)

Ice Cream as Unhealthy Temptation
In 2005, Sesame Street undertook an initiative to promote healthy eating and exercise habits, called Healthy Habits for Life. Sadly, this means that ice cream and its sugary relatives have been relegated to a lesser role in the show, and have occasionally been denigrated directly and by implication.


 * The Ballad of Casey McPhee is a song about a train engineer, portrayed by Cookie Monster, who must deliver a cargo of cookies, cake and ice cream over a mountain. When the train tracks fall prey to an avalanche, Cookie must resist the temptation to eat his cargo and free the train. He realizes that civilization is built upon our obligations to others, manages to free the train, and is proclaimed a hero.
 * In Episode 4089, Elmo and Zoe happily discuss cookies and ice cream. However, the show then becomes a collection of musical testimonials to fruits and vegetables. After hearing three songs about produce, the pair abandon (at least temporarily) their enthusiasm for sweets, and Alan sells a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.
 * Episode 4138 includes a Game Show entitled Meal Or No Meal, in which ice cream is determined to not be a meal (along with chewing gum, cookies, and a candy bar). The mysterious baker who's been offering cookies comes out and eats the cookies, the ice cream, and a few nonfood items.

Non Sesame Street References

 * Bob Hope appears as an ice cream vendor in The Muppet Movie, and sells Fozzie a scoop of honey and a scoop of dragonfly ripple. He advises Fozzie not to get the two mixed up.
 * Traveling Matt mistakes ice cream cones for moss packs, and puts one on his head, in Episode 113: We Love You, Wembley. (The French version shows his discovering ice cream itself, and putting some on someone else's head.)
 * Doc accuses Sprocket of eating all the ice cream in Episode 510: Inspector Red.
 * Neat Stuff To Know & To Do, a 1988 video, shows a snake charmer using the traditional method to charm a snake, rather than compliments and ice cream.
 * Johnny Fiama first met Sal as Sal was eating ice cream out of the freezer in Kresge's (as revealed in a Family Feud appearance).
 * One of the shops at the Woodland Valley Mall, as it appears in A Berry Bear Christmas, is named "Bass 'n Robin Ice Cream Parlor."

Merchandise



 * In 1976, Knickerbocker produced a playset of "Ernie's Ice Cream Truck" with an Ernie rag doll and a small popsicle. (Note: technically, popsicles are not ice cream; they are frozen novelties.)
 * The 1978 The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook contains a story entitled "Grover and the Twenty-Six Scoops," in which Herbie and Betty Lou order 26 scoops of ice cream.
 * The 1980 book What Did You Bring? shows ice cream as one of 15 separate deliveries to Sesame Street on a given day.
 * Gonzo submitted a recipe for "Barbecued Ice Cream" to the Muppet Picnic Cookbook.
 * In 1984's A Baby Sister for Herry, Herry learns that while babies get a lot of attention, they aren't old enough to enjoy ice cream. Here, ice cream is shown in the rare position of being a reward for being more grown up.
 * The 1986 album from Sesamstraat, Op Avontuur met Tommie, includes a story entitled "Mogen Wij Een Ijsje?" (Can We Have Ice Cream, Please?)
 * A 1986 PVC figure of Baby Kermit holds an ice cream cone.
 * The 1990 video game Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival has a level which takes place in the Amazing Ice Cream Maze.
 * In 1992, one of the set of Sesame Street trading cards featured ice cream.
 * A German PVC figure portrays Grover holding an ice cream cone.
 * A collection of figures of Sesame characters doing jobs shows The Count as an ice cream salesman.

Ice Cream Salesmen In "Real Life"

 * In 1967 Muppets, Inc. produced two ads for Tastee Freez.
 * Ice cream entrepreneurs Ben and Jerry submitted a brownie recipe to In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy.
 * Big Bird's 2006 appearance on Deal or No Deal was prompted by the phobia of contestant Lamar Wilson, an ice cream man.