The TV series MASH was a huge smash in Australia in the 70’s and 80’s, and so it was surprising but not totally unexpected that a licensed ice cream would be produced. Paul’s Australia had the honour, and below is an example of the wrapper for the individual icy pole.
This fantastic 1966 Batman (and Robin) “Space Probe” AKA Water or Bottle Rocket was produced by Lincoln International Toys of New Zealand. Note the metric / imperial currency listed on the bottom corner, 1966 was the year Australia (and NZ?) went metric. I was told by a toy retailer of the time that these were recalled by Lincoln because they were too powerful and dangerous for kids to play with, which probably explains their scarcity today. The card is approximately the size of an LP vinyl record, and the artwork is wonderfully 60’s.
Using characters to sell snack foods to kids had been around since Mickey Mouse ice cream in the 1930’s, but the popularity of Pac-Man and other early video games like Space Invaders and Donkey Kong opened up a whole new frontier for licensed products. This packet presumably came out of a large multipack, if anyone has a picture of that I’d love to add it here.
Only the most popular fads received the coveted licensed ice cream treatment in Australia, so it’s a testament to the legendary Taito Space Invaders video game to see this Milk Bar advertising sign from the early 80’s. While it was the first video game ice treat it wouldn’t be the last, as I’ll show in future posts. I’m looking for the wrapper and box for this ice cream if you know of one, also who was the lucky person that won the actual cabinet? Straight to the pool room.
During the peak of Mork & Mindy TV fever in 1979, Peters Ice Cream Australia released a licensed frozen yogurt known as “Mork Food”. It featured a great cartoon version of Robin William’s Mork character, with some of his sayings and catchphrases on the side. I’m not sure what other flavours were released, let me know if you have any more info via the contact form.
