There hasn’t beena Carvel Ice Cream franchise in my area in years. I remember Cookie Puss and Fudgie the Whale. Am I imagining it, or wasn’t there an alien type character? What was his name? It driving several of us in the office crazy, because we all have similarly vague recollections of this character, but not his name. Quick google search came up blank.
Cookie Puss was the Alien.
Cookie Puss joined up with such luminaries as “Fudgie the Whale” and the “Hug Me Bear”.
Cookie O’Puss showed up 'round St Paddy’s day.
Look here for more than you need to know about Cookie Puss
Every Christmas, they took the Fudgie the Whale mold, rotated it and decorated it like Santa (where Fudgie’s tale formed Santa). You weren’t supposed to notice they used the Fudgie mold for Santa…but we knew…we knew, dammit.
oops: …where Fudgie’s tale formed Santa’s HAT.
And in anticipation of your doubt, even the Wall Street Journal refers to Cookie Puss as the alien.
http://www.kbpwest.com/index.php/124
(Did I just post four consective times to a Cookie Puss thread!? Whatya know - I did. A thousand apologies to humanity)
http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0827/ - picture of the alien version on this site
Looks like you remember Puss from when he first came into being! From the site above this quote:
“Who is Cookie Puss? Probably the first and only ice cream cake from outer space, Carvel introduced the edible alien many years ago, as an addition to their “character cakes” collection. Cookie Puss joined up with such luminaries as “Fudgie the Whale” and the “Hug Me Bear” to give Carvel an edge on the competition – anyone could sell an ice cream cake, but only Carvel sold Cookie Pusses. Still, one does have to wonder what it was exactly about this guy that made him such a long-lasting and universally championed dessert. Really: why Cookie Puss? Today, we examine the legend…”
Do you remember the jingle…“Caaaaarrrrvel Ice Cream. Caaaaaarrrrvel Ice Cream”? Been in my head for years - probably - at least 20, but it still is stuck in my head…In other words, you’ve ruined my day.
Ever hear an office full of people simultaneously say “Ohhh, yeeeaaaahhhh”?
Thanks.
Don’t forget Wickie the Witch and Dumpie the Pumpkin!
Lord, I hope none of the Carvel staff took “Dumpie the Pumpkin” literally . . .
I can’t say I do, but the voice, the voice of the late Tom Carvel was unmistakable.
So dos Carvel still exist? I always thought the ads looked so enticing but we didn’t have one in my area when I was growing up…
Nevermind. I just Googled (wow, that was easy!) and, yes, there are still Carvel franchises around. I can’t tell where 'cause the stupid site requires the latest version of Flash which I’m not gonna install and there’s not other way to view it. But I always got the impression it was a yankee thing…
I can buy Carvel cakes in my local supermarket in South Jersey, I have one every year on my B-day. (I’m 36).
The cakes are traditional Carvel style with vanillia and chocky, and plenty of the crunchy black stuff. Just no characters.
After Tom died a few years ago Carvel was sold, and became Carvel Ice Cream Bakeries, which always made me expect to see ovens in the back.
In addition to making all his own commercials (many times in one take, it seemed) I think he designed and named all the creations. I recall they had a ‘diet’ shake and/or ice cream substitute called ‘Thinny-Thin’ in the early seventies, if anyone remembers that.
God, who doesn’t remember Tom Carvel’s voice? He sounded like he smoked four packs of cigarettes right before recording the commercials. Hell, he sounded like he was smoking DURING the commercials - I can picture him in the studio, his head surrounded by a cloud of smoke, saying things like, “Getcher Fudgie duh whale cake at yer perticipatin’ Cahvel ice cream dealuhs” while smoke rings shoot out of his mouth and nose.
I always thought those were NY-metro area commercials. They weren’t aired nationally, were they?
There are Carvel franchises in practically every town on Long Island.
I used to see them when Scranton got WOR-9 and WPIX-11