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MVHS marks 145 years in Good Humor

Chocolate-coated ice cream confection sees centennial

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning Valley Historical Society will spend the last days of summer celebrating its 145th anniversary and the centennial of a sweet treat invented here.

Video programs will be released Thursday and Sept. 17 that focus on the legacy of Harry Burt, who created the chocolate-coated ice cream confection known as the Good Humor Bar in 1920.

Dave Ragan, communications manager for the society, said COVID-19 precautions forced MVHS to adapt its traditional anniversary celebration.

“In September we’d have a dinner for members and guests and an open house that would be free and open to the public,” Ragan said. “Those are two big things that really couldn’t be a part of the celebration. We don’t want to hold any big events just yet in our ballroom.

“The main thrust for us is to do as much virtually as possible.”

Posted online at noon Thursday will be a History to Go event titled “Founders Day: Good Humor Tour,” which will cover the history of the Good Humor Bar and the other locations Burt used before settling at 325 W. Federal St., now home to MVHS’s Tyler History Center.

“Normally we would do this as a walking tour, but we must modify that and do it as an online video,” Ragan said. “It’s a way of touring the sites Harry Burt operated out of before he landed at the Tyler History Center. It’s a presentation of where things were. Even though they aren’t there anymore, we’ll follow the physical path of where he operated his businesses.”

According to a history released by Unilever, the international company that now owns the Good Humor brand, Burt created a smooth chocolate coating to pair with his ice cream in 1920. His daughter was the first taste tester, and she said it was delicious but too messy. His son suggested freezing wooden lollipop sticks into the ice cream, and the original Good Humor Bar was born. Burt used a fleet of ice cream trucks to deliver the product straight to the consumer.

Released at noon Sept. 17, which would be when the society has its monthly Bites & Bits of History lecture series, will be a video program by MVHS Executive Director Bill Lawson, who will explore the society’s founding in 1875 as well as Burt’s business acumen. It is sponsored by the John and Loretta Hynes Foundation.

“He (Burt) didn’t want this location to be just a manufacturing facility,” Ragan said of the Tyler History Center building. “He wanted to invite the public into the space. Some of the floors were designed to have public tours so they could see the candy-making operation. There was a small call cafe or a place where you could actually taste the ice cream.

“It was always designed to be a multi-faceted experience. That’s more commonplace now, which signals he was a man ahead of his time.”

Both programs will be posted to the historical society’s YouTube channel.

The traditional anniversary events would have been fundraisers for MVHS. Instead of the fee charged for an in-person History to Go event, MVHS has installed a “Support This Event” button at mahoninghistory.org/history-to-go/ where the public can make a donation.

MVHS also sells “Harry Burt Donor Bars,” a fundraiser established in 2014 where supporters can purchase aluminum ($100), bronze ($250) or copper ($500) donor bars that are inscribed and displayed inside the Tyler History Center.

Bars can be purchased online at mahoninghistory.org/ways-to-support/harry-burt-donor-bars.

agray@tribtoday.com

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