Monday, June 26, 2006

On Banana Fudgsicles

"A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five." ~ Groucho Marx

In the bank, there is a small, square, wicker basket on the counter by each tellers window. Inside this basket is some candy. Dum-dums. Dum-dums are small loli-pops. Some people call them suckers.

Now, I am a type II diabetic so I am not supposed to have a lot of sugar, but I couldn't resist sampling one, because Dum-dums have undergone something of a transformation in recent years. No more do they offer only cherry, strawberry, grape, lemon, and lime. Now they come in all kinds of exotic flavors, like coconut-banana, chocolate, watermelon, banana, etc. They even have a flavor called simply, "Mystery flavor" .

I tried the mystery flavor once, in an attempt to ascertain exactly what flavor it was. It's still a mystery to me. Maybe all those years of smoking took their toll on my taste buds, but I couldn't recognize any specific flavor.

I don't smoke anymore. Remind me to tell you how I quit some day. It's a hoot of a story.

But I digress. The whole point of my rambling on about Dum-dum flavors is the flavor I sampled last inadvertently started a discussion between me and the employees in the bank. It was banana. I said, "Oh, I like this banana flavor, it's good!" Whereupon Ginger, one of the tellers announced she doesn't like anything banana flavored except bananas. "And pudding", she added as an afterthought, "I like banana pudding."

Then the new guy spoke up and announced he likes banana flavoring, too.

Anyway the discussion went on for a few minutes and then, suddenly I was taken back in my mind to a more carefree time, when I was a child, and the ice cream man drove through the neighborhood playing that annoying song on a speaker. It didn't matter what song was playing, and it didn't matter that it annoyed adults, it nevertheless created an air of excitement in us kids.

At he sound of this music, immediately, no matter what activity kids were engaged in at the moment, there was a flurry of children sprinting back to their homes to beg, borrow, or steal money from mom to buy an ice cream bar.

As I recall, the favorite treat of most of my peers in the day, was either a Popsicle or a Fudgesicle. Popsicles were fruit flavored ice on a stick. Fudgesicles were chocolate flavored, but not ice, and not ice cream. To this day I don't exactly know what Fudgesicles are made of, but I loved them.

(This is where a picture of a fudgsicle was supposed to be, but as usual, blogger won't load it)

What spurred this pleasant memory of my childhood was the banana flavored Dum-dum. It brought back to my memory the wonderful banana flavored treat called the "Banana Fudgesicle" . There is no doubt they were my favorite of all the treats.

The new teller guy, who is about 25 years old, maybe less, said, "Banana Fudgesicles sound gross". I had to explain to him that the word "fudge", in this case, is a misnomer.

Banana Fudgsicles had no fudge in them. Or even chocolate. They were all banana flavored and they were very tasty.

They don't make them anymore.

No, that is wrong. They do make them still, but they have been changed. I don't know what they did to them but they just aren't the same and they just aren't as good as they once were.

I wonder why they changed them. I wonder if it was some kind of genius marketing strategy similar to the infamous "New Coca Cola" fiasco. Whatever the reason, it didn't work. They just aren't as good anymore.

I miss Banana Fudgsicles.

I miss happier, carefree times. I miss my childhood.

22 comments:

The WordSmith from Nantucket said...

I think you should open your own fudgsicle stand. Bring back the banana fudgscicle and introduce the world to a whole new set of flavors.

I want a melon fudgicle.

Gayle said...

Hey, Wordsmith's got a great idea there Mark. You could make a fortune! Unfortunately, it might take a fortune to set up shop.

But if I could order any flavor of "fudgesicle" I wanted, I think it would be coffee. I absolutely love coffee, which makes me a coffeeholic. I'll bet they would sell though.

Chipper said...

Have you ever tried the chocolate covered frozen bananas? Mmmmmmm...

P.s.-Cream soda dum dums are the best!

Francis Lynn said...

Maybe this will help :)

Chocolate Banana Fudgsicle recipe

Scale ingredients to servings
1 oz McGuinness® creme de banane
3 oz chocolate milk
1 slice chocolate

Stir the McGuinness Creme de Bananes liqueur and the chocolate milk together in an old-fashioned glass half-filled with ice cubes. Garnish with banana slice and serve.

Mark said...

Francis, that sounds good but as I said, the banana fudgsicle had no chocolate in it at all. It was just banana flavored.

Etchen, what a coincidence! Just today I discovered cream soda Dum-dums. You are right. They are the best! I also had a cherru cola flavored one, but the cream soda flavor is absolutely the best.

Goat said...

Mark, I hate to say it but we are growing old and many of those things we loved as kids are no longer as apealling. I like fudgesicles as well. I don't recollect the banana ones though and I love bananas. Want a delicacy, fry a peanut butter and banana sandwich in butter over low heat till nicely browned, vanilla ice cream is an option.It was Elvis's favorite food.

Lone Ranger said...

The health fascists have forced changes in the type of sugar that is used in treats. That's the difference. There is no comparison between the Coke of the 50s and that of today. We're probably healthier because of it, but whatever happened to the concept of "choice?" Guess it applies only to abortion, and then only to those who choose abortion over life.

Goat said...

The "Coke" of the 50s had cocaine, thus "Coke", in it so I would agree the formulation is different today.

Unknown said...

here in texas blue bell used to sell banana fudgesicles in convienence stores as singles but i havent seen any lately. i remember being able to go to the store and buy them in 6 or 12 pack boxes but that day is long gone. the closest i have found is blue bells pop n fudge variety box it has two flavors of popsicles and chocolate and banana fudgesicles. its pretty close to the original banana fudgesicle

Anonymous said...

hey, i live in toronto canada and I have very fond memories of such a popsicle back when I was 9. I am now 21! Howvever, I have always wondered about them. They were awesome, think of a current day cyclone, red and white swirled, instead yellow and chocolate swirled treat. Seriously, they need to bring it back!

Unknown said...

Ahh, banana fudgsicles. I share your yearning. When I was very young, my father owned a deli here in New York, and we had those delicious treats. I had one every time I went in there. They are gone now. I have searched far and wide, but to no avail. I have seen the imitations, but they pale in comparison. The stories about burned-down factories and cocaine in coke and new sugar laws are all fictitious. Truth is, they just stopped making them.

Kristen W. said...

I found your blog post (3 years late) by googling "blue bell banana flavored fudgsicle". I miss them too! When I was a kid, my family and I would go camping on the Frio River in Texas. The office on the campgrounds we stayed at sold ice cream bars and that was the flavor I always ate. There's nothing like a banana fudgsicle on a hot Texas summer day.

Anonymous said...

What about combining 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant banana pudding mix
1/2 cup white sugar, and 3 cups milk. Then put the mixture into popscicle molds and freezing. I would omit the sugar and use the sugar free version of the instant pudding to keep it healthier. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. It was actually for fudge pops, however it will likely be what you are looking for if you use the banana pudding instead of chocolate. I know this post is very old but I hope this helps.

Pop Art Diva Enterprises said...

I was more of a Tootsie Roll fan over Dum Dums myself BUT I absolutely adored Banana Fudgesicles. There was a small family owned grocery store/lunch counter across from my grade school that sold them and I would run over every lunch time and buy one with the money I was supposed to buy a school lunch with, lol.

You're right, there is nothing out there quite like them and I miss them terribly. When I heard an ice cream truck drive down my street I ran out like a little kid hoping against hope. . . but, yes, they had no Banana Fudgesicles though they did have a few of my other old favorites like Bomb Pops and Creamsicles.

The whole episode inspired me to create some Ice Cream Martinis for my Martini Blog and here is the Banana Fudgesicle Martini.

Not a Banana Fudgesicle, you can't freeze alcohol, but it's suited for the adult palate and might ease those cravings!

Cheers!

Unknown said...

I have found the original banana fudgesicle. It is sold by blue bell in a local publix here in florida. The only catch is they come in a variety pack of 24 bullet type popsicles. There are 6 each of the regular fruit orange and cherry but there is also 6 each of the chocolate and banana fudgesicle!!
So as you can already figure out I always have a bunch of orange and red and chocolate popsicles left in my freezer.
I also have to fight my son for them. I wish Blue Bell would just sell them in their own box. The world needs Banana Fudgesicles.

Anonymous said...

I can still taste the banana fudgsicles. I always kept my ears open for the music of the ice cream truck. About 20 years ago when fresh fruit bars came out, they had a banana that tasted almost like the old timey fudgesicles, but you cannot even get banana fresh fruits bars anymore.

Anonymous said...

Oh, how I LOVE banana Fudgesicles! Every time I hear the ice cream truck, that's what I think of... I used to ride my bicycle like crazy to catch the ice cream man so he wouldn't get away!! I'm 47 now and going through withdrawal, LOL. Will have to try the recipe with pudding posted above. THANK YOU for posting that!!

Anonymous said...

P.S. That ice-cream truck chasing occurred in Baton Rouge in the 1970s. :) Recently after hearing their radio commercials, I checked out some Blue Bell ice cream at my local Fry's. The flavor sounded great, but then I read the label, and it was chock full of HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP! No way would I buy their products with that crap in 'em.

Anonymous said...

OMG my mouth is watering! I Remember those days. It was those thoughts that led me to your blog. I was trying to find out if and where I could buy them. But I found your blog instead..great story!

Anonymous said...

Gregg I buy those too, but I hate the fact that they only have 6 banana flavored ones. I take them out and give the kids next door all the other flavors.
I gave my 2yr old daughter one and she fell in love now whenever she comes over she runs to the freezer screamin nanas mah mah, nanas! And she's the 1st and only grandbaby I have so I can't say no to her. I gave her a chocalate one tryin to fool her and she threw it on the floor!
I have spent almost 200.00 dollars buying those things this year alone. Somebody needs to create a good banana fudgscicle send to Oprah and become an instant millionaire!

Dana Koogler said...

I so agree! I am making homemade banana fudgesicles in my freezer now! They should be done any minute! Come on over?!

Anonymous said...

What recipe are you using?