This year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most wonderfully bizarre dessert treats of all time: Cookie Puss, the ice cream cake from the then-Westchester-based Carvel.
Originally conceived in 1972 as an extra-terrestrial called Celestial Person, Cookie Puss was depicted as a disembodied head shaped like an inverted light bulb, with oversized circular eyes (made from Carvel”™s Flying Saucer ice cream sandwiches), a nose made from a sugar ice cream cone and a vaguely insincere smile. Some Cookie Puss designs put tiny arms and hands around the corners of Cookie Puss”™ face and equally small legs and feet at the bottom of his head.
Carvel heavily promoted Cookie Puss in a series of television commercials became instant classics for their sheer weirdness. Cookie Puss would be seen floating about the universe ”“ not unlike the Star Child in the denouement of “2001: A Space Odyssey” ”“ and would address the viewers in a high-pitched voice to remind them of his presence at their local Carvel ice cream shop. When St. Patrick”™s Day would roll around each March, Cookie Puss would be joined by his friend Cookie O”™Puss, who spoke with a thick brogue and sported green ice cream frosting.
The commercials would feature the company”™s founder Tom Carvel doing a sales pitch in a gravelly voice reminiscent of Marlon Brando”™s Don Corleone. The off-beat personality of these commercials created something of a cult following ”“ Carvel was a guest on David Letterman”™s talk show, and the over the years the Carvel chain was humorously referenced on “Saturday Night Live,” Howard Stern”™s radio show, “Family Guy” and in a Beastie Boys song.
Carvel sold his company in 1989 and the current iteration is headquartered in Atlanta. Cookie Puss is still part of the chain”™s line-up, and while the product is not advertised on television anymore the classic TV commercials can be found on YouTube.
Photo: Stella Papadopoulos / Wikimedia Commons
