Caught a pickles-and-ice cream reference as a shorthand for being pregnant in a movie the other night. We all know what that means, strange food cravings from pregnant women with a biological imperative to provide their young with X, Y or Z nourishment.
I’m not questioning that such cravings occur, and the reasons for them make sense to me. But I do wonder where the stereotypical strange specific combo of pickles-and-ice cream comes from… was there a particular character in a book or movie which popularized this as meaning “woman is preggers?”
Thanks.
There may be some evidence for each of them individually. Pregnant women have been known to crave sweet and salty things like pickles and they have also been known to raid the ice cream freezer. I am not sure how often both of those cravings occur in the same person but you really need both of them to form a sly joke: “She likes ice cream. You know what I mean?” doesn’t work nearly as well as referencing them both in combination.
In India they say that green mango, which is very sour, is the imperative craving for pregnant women.
I meant to say: “Pregnant women have been known to crave sour and salty things like pickles”
During Lucy Ricardo’s pregnancy on I Love Lucy (1953), she has a craving for some ice cream, hot fudge, and sardines in the middle of the night. In the Broadway comedy Susan Slept Here (1956), Susan is thought to be pregnant when she’s seen eating pickles and strawberries. (Turns out she just likes them.)
Walloon, did you just happen to remember those offhand? I’m impressed! I think those sound like strong contenders to answer the OP. Thanks.
Pickles and ice cream, as a combination, was usually thought of in the 1900-1950 period as something that gave you a bellyache. It was stereotypical of that.
The first specific print cites that I can find for “pickles and ice cream” related to pregnant women are in the 1960’s. Walloon’s excellent memory is right. Strange food combos were there well before the 1960’s, but not specifically ice cream and pickles.
Thanks for the compliments! Yes, I did remember them offhand, but I did have to look up the years.
Slight hijack… my wife’s a native Vermonter, and when maple-sugaring time comes in the spring and people eat sugar on snow, it’s an old tradition to also have dill pickles and doughnuts (plain, unglazed) available. She says the sweet-and-sour combination is great.
I think I’ll just take her word for it.