Bungalow Bar was a brand of

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

sold from

ice cream trucks An ice cream van (British) or ice cream truck (North American) is a commercial vehicle that serves as a mobile retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near ...

and mini markets to consumers on the streets in the New York City boroughs of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, Staten Island and the Bronx, as well as Washington Heights in Manhattan, in

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

Westchester County, Nassau County and in Deer Park (Suffolk County) during the 1950s and 1960s and early 1970's. Bungalow Bar trucks serviced the

Bushwick Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Par ...

section of Brooklyn during the 1940s. Bungalow Bar trucks had a distinctive look: white, with rounded corners, and made to look like a small, mobile

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

topped with a dark brown shingle roof. Bungalow Bar's competitors included the national chain

Good Humor Good Humor is a Good Humor-Breyers brand of ice cream started in Youngstown, Ohio, US, in the early 1920s with the Good Humor bar, a chocolate-coated ice cream bar on a stick sold from ice cream trucks and retail outlets. It was a fixture in Ame ...

. Good Humor's ice cream on a stick sold for 10 cents, while Bungalow Bar's price was 5 cents. Bungalow Bar inspired folklorist songs among neighborhood children, with lyrics of various iterations that included: :Bungalow Bar :Tastes like tar :Put it in a jar :And throw it far :Bungalow Bar :Tastes like tar :The more you eat :The sicker you are :Bungalow Bar :Tastes like tar :Take a bite :And spit it far Popular in

Throggs Neck Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and ea ...

: :Bungalow Bar :Tastes like tar. :They've got monkeys :In their car.

References in popular culture

*In ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

'' episode "

A Hit Is a Hit "A Hit Is a Hit" is the 10th episode of the HBO original series ''The Sopranos''. Written by Joe Bosso and Frank Renzulli, and directed by Matthew Penn, it originally aired on March 14, 1999. Starring * James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano * Lorrai ...

", Tony Soprano, being joshed by non-Mafia individuals, asked if he ever met

John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss ...

, replies that he did meet Gotti once at an auction when Bungalow Bar declared bankruptcy and was auctioning off their trucks. Tony said he bid on the very last truck, but was outbid by Gotti. However Gotti was a good sport about it and gave Tony a ride home in the truck, and rang the bell the whole ride home.''The Sopranos'', "A Hit is a Hit" (1x10)

References

External links

;Sources
Queens Tribune: "Mr. Softee A Soft Spot For Soft Serve"

Photo of Bungalow Bar Ice Cream Truck
Ice cream vans {{confection-stub