Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Diced Cream!

Ah, the 50s brought us so many unnaturally colored and shaped foods. Since we're rapidly approaching the first holiday of the summer, what better food to focus on than ice cream? Wait, that's diced cream. The right angles make it 35% richer, if you doubt it just consult your rich-o-meter!

Diced Cream was a convenience food, what we call single-serve packages of ice cream. It was manufactured by Diced Cream of America Company and in 1955 the company was dragged into the 9th Circuit Court to face charges of price fixing. That's right, I said ice cream price fixing. According to the case records:

"Plaintiffs brought fifteen separate actions against defendants under § 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 15, claiming violations of the federal anti-trust laws. The basic claim was that each plaintiff who is an independent ice cream manufacturer or distributor in the Los Angeles area sustained injury when Arden Farms Co., which operates in the manufacture and distribution of dairy products in the same area, lowered its prices upon ice cream in this area alone. Prices on all of its ice cream products were reduced with the exception of prices upon "diced" ice cream manufactured by Arden exclusively and just being introduced on the market. The gist of the complaint was that Arden operated in the northwest states and in Arizona and that discrimination was proved because the price level upon like products in these states was not made to conform to the Los Angeles price level."
The world of frozen novelties is a tough one and those who can't compete fall to the back of the Kelvinator, falling prey to freezer burn. Diced Cream has disappeared from the American grocery scene, leaving only stale court records and overly optimistic advertisements to prove it existed. So long, square ice-cream-flavored-food-product. We hardly knew ye.

2 comments:

Judy said...

I was watching an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, and lo and behold, behind the soda counter, on the wall was an advertisement for Diced Cream. :) One more bit of evidence that Diced Cream existed. (Episode: The Horse Trader)

Unknown said...

I have a sign I wonder what it's worth