The ice creams and lollies that remind us of Glasgow's summers past

With a heatwave due to hit Glasgow in the coming days, many will be flocking to the shops searching for a treat to cool them down.

Ice creams and lollies are essential for Glaswegians when the summer sun is beating down, with many sweet treats bringing back childhood memories.

Kids would flood the streets of the city at the mere sound of an ice cream van turning the corner in the distance.

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Of course these days there will be a few favourites missing from the menu we once scrutinised at the side of the van. Some of the brands and flavours we remember so vividly in our younger days, you'd be hard pushed to find in the supermarket now.

Glasgow has a rich history when it comes to ice cream, pioneered by a thriving community of ice cream makers from Italian immigrant families making their home in the city in the 19th century.

To celebrate, we thought it would be fun to look back at some of the ice creams and frozen treats that bring back delicious memories. Of course you can still buy some of these, or a some version of them, but for many of us they will always remind of long lost summers.

So for those that yearn for another lick of their favourite ice cream or lolly, here are 15 of our favourites. Let us know any of your favourites we missed in the comments below.

Tutti Frutti

Tutti Frutti flavour ice cream contains colourful candied fruits including cherries, watermelon, raisins, and pineapple. Recipes for Tutti Frutti ice cream can be found in cookbooks dating back to the late 19th century.

Once an incredibly popular flavour for generations of ice cream lovers, you're hard pushed to find Tutti Frutti in the frozen isles of a supermarket these days.

Cider Barrel

When you were under 10 years of age, Cider Barrel (or Cider Quench) seemed a dangerous ice lolly to choose. It was often joked that you couldn’t cycle home after two cider lollies but, unfortunately, Lyons Maid didn’t actually have any real cider in the mix.

In fact, it was a vague taste of sour apples but when you were a boy, it suddenly made you a man with a Cider Barrel in hand. Cider by name but not alcoholic by nature.

Funny Feet

There was nothing like sucking on a strawberry ice cream foot to cool down under the sun in the '80s. The good news is, when Walls asked the public which brand they would most like to return to the shelves, Funny Feet was the overwhelming winner and now a new generation can get their ice cream foot kicks.

Ice cream wafer

There are many variations of the ice cream wafer, or if you're American - ice cream sandwich - around the world. Typically in the UK, an ice cream wafer consists of a block of ice cream wedged between two wafer biscuits, and was a popular alternative to the cone in the 1980s.

Lemonade Sparkle

This pocket money treat (it always seemed to be 12p everywhere) was thirst quenching and actually tasted of lemonade. Of course, you had the problem that the wrapper stuck to the lolly like glue but good things come to those that wait.

There have been many lemonade lollies since, but none that matched the taste of Sparkle. The closest to frozen lemonade on a stick you will find.

Orange Maid

Sitting firmly in the sticky wrapper family was Lemonade Sparkle’s cousin, Orange Maid. It was simpler times back then, as this was basically frozen orange juice but we loved it!

Pure orange on a stick, simple and thirst quenching

Screwball

Who can forget the delight of munching through a screwball to get to the rock-hard chewie at the bottom of the plastic cone? This frozen confection first appeared in the 1970s, with the most common flavour in the UK being raspberry ripple.

Choc Ice

Choc ices started melting the second they left the freezer and, by the time you’d negotiated the wrapper, it was already starting to disintegrate in your hands.

A chocolate covered rectangle block of ice cream that has seemingly dropped down the popularity list over recent years. Possibly the messiest ice cream snack on the market.

Rocket lolly

Yes you can still buy Rocket lollies, but they've been around since the 1950s in some form. Zoom, the original 'Rocket lolly', first appeared in 1952 - a time when space travel was still mainly in the imagination of science fiction writers. A rocket lolly seemed to represent those dreams of going into outer space and was many people’s childhood favourite.

Dracula

For an ice lolly with a little extra bite, there was only one in the freezer you could turn to. Dracula was red enough to recolour your tongue and had a gooey surprise in the middle. Perfect for those that want to get their teeth into something tasty.

Mr. Men

This ice lolly was all to do with the wrapper and stick. A ‘hilarious’ joke on the stick was revealed as the lolly disappeared, while there were half a dozen or more Mr. Men to choose from.

The lolly itself was a basic affair but when it cost just a few pence, you couldn’t expect anything too fancy. Could you eat more than one like Mr. Greedy?

Rock around the Choc

If you think Fab is the king of ice lollies, then take a look at Rock Around the Choc. It had the strawberry lolly base, it had the sprinkles, but in the middle was a solid chocolate hit that was the enemy of any wobbly teeth.

Cola Quench

From the same family as Cider Quench came the lolly with a sweet tooth, Cola Quench. It claimed to be a drink on a stick but the cola taste was definitely not up to the standard of a brand name.

Even so, cola was still a desirable commodity when a youngster and this was always near the top of the lolly list. A cola hit on a stick.

Nobbly Bobbly

Another that looked to bring sprinkles to the ice lolly arena and this time they really went to town with it. No dipping the tip in them for Nobbly Bobbly, it was all coverage and thick chocolate underneath to boot.

It’s back in the shops now but, whilst it used to enjoy a place at the pinnacle in the world of ice lollies, it isn’t held with the same regard by children nowadays.

Fab

Arguably the greatest ice lolly ever made. It is the self-proclaimed ‘Nation’s favourite for the past 50 years’ and you would be hard pushed to find a person that dislikes a Fab. Strawberry lolly with scrummy white ice cream and then topped with chocolate and sprinkles – a perfect combination.

Viennetta

Perhaps the most sophisticated ice cream of the 1980s - if you wanted to impress guests at a dinner party back then you served up a Walls Viennetta for dessert. The original Viennetta consists of several rippled layers of ice cream separated by thin layers of chocolate.

First launched by Walls in 1982 with the slogan "one slice is never enough", you can still buy a Viennetta in several flavours, including vanilla and mint.

Article originally posted on 24/7/2023