The Meehan family faced estate planning issues because Mrs. Elizabeth H. Meehan was advancing in years.
In 1961, they agreed to sell Good Humor of America to Thomas J. Lipton, a subsidiary of Unilever.
Lipton also purchased Good Humor of Baltimore/Washington from the Brimer family.
In a separate transaction, the other franchises agreed to stop using the Good Humor name.
Of the distributors, only Philadelphia survived as a company branch.
Lipton created a grocery division to sell Good Humor products in supermarkets.

Mahoney left the company after the acquisition, and Lipton executives soon characterized Good Humor as a "problem."
Much of the fleet purchased after the war was nearing the end of its useful life.
As baby boomers matured, sales on many suburban routes declined.
While almost from the beginning Good Humor faced competition from companies such as Jack and Jill Ice Cream, Bungalow Bar, etc.,
it was not until the advent of soft ice cream trucks operated by companies such as Mister Softee that competition impacted sales.
Insurance costs increased because courts found ice cream vendors responsible for pedestrian accidents while crossing streets to and from the truck.

 
Good Humor replaced some of its older conventional trucks with large vans designed to compete with Mister Softee.
Many of these "inside sales cars" are still operating.
The size of the fleet gradually declined, and by the early 1970s the number of trucks was 1,200.
Good Humor also worked with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to equip vending trucks with school bus “stop” swing arms to reduce pedestrian accidents.

Good Humor was unable to solve its labor problems.
The company was unionized early in its history and was struck on several occasions.
For example, in 1950 the Teamsters shut down Good Humor's New York operations for three weeks during the critical month of June.
Beginning in the 1950s, the labor pool dried up and Good Humor operated over half of its fleet with seasonal employees, mostly college students.
On average, new employees lasted two to three weeks because of the long hours.
The entire industry, except Good Humor, stopped using commissioned employees and became distributors who leased trucks to the drivers and sold them their products wholesale.
Good Humor adopted this system wherever possible but was prevented from converting most branches because of union contracts.

Good Humor became unprofitable beginning in 1968.
An increase in gasoline prices during the early 1970s worsened the situation.
After absorbing losses for ten years, in 1978 Good Humor closed its street vending operations and became a distributor.
The trucks were sold for $1,000 to $3,000 per vehicle, and many of the former Good Humor vendors became independent business owners.
As one reported, "I make sure I shut off the engine when I stop now that I'm paying for the gas."
Many former competitors also became distributors of Good Humor products.

With the trucks sold, Good Humor focused on the grocery division, and the company returned to profitability by 1984.
Unilever, the world's largest marketer of ice cream products, decided to achieve a similar market position in the US through acquisitions.
In 1989, Unilever purchased Gold Bond Ice Cream of Green Bay, Wisconsin, which owned Popsicle.
In 1993, Unilever bought Isaly Klondike, maker of another chocolate-coated ice cream bar invented in Youngstown in the early 1920s.
Also in 1993, Unilever acquired the Breyers Ice Cream Company and combined these operations into the renamed Good Humor-Breyers.
Since 2000, Good Humor has been one of numerous Unilever ice cream subsidiaries to use the international Heartbrand for its logo.
It removed the Heartbrand in 2009 but brought it back as part of its logo from 2014 onwards.
The Meehan family faced estate planning issues because Mrs. Elizabeth H. Meehan was advancing in years. In 1961, they agreed to sell Good Humor of America to Thomas J. Lipton, a subsidiary of Unilever. Lipton also purchased Good Humor of Baltimore/Washington from the Brimer family. In a separate transaction, the other franchises agreed to stop using the Good Humor name. Of the distributors, only Philadelphia survived as a company branch. Lipton created a grocery division to sell Good Humor products in supermarkets.
Mahoney left the company after the acquisition, and Lipton executives soon characterized Good Humor as a "problem." Much of the fleet purchased after the war was nearing the end of its useful life. As baby boomers matured, sales on many suburban routes declined. While almost from the beginning Good Humor faced competition from companies such as Jack and Jill Ice Cream, Bungalow Bar, etc., it was not until the advent of soft ice cream trucks operated by companies such as Mister Softee that competition impacted sales. Insurance costs increased because courts found ice cream vendors responsible for pedestrian accidents while crossing streets to and from the truck.
 
Good Humor replaced some of its older conventional trucks with large vans designed to compete with Mister Softee. Many of these "inside sales cars" are still operating. The size of the fleet gradually declined, and by the early 1970s the number of trucks was 1,200. Good Humor also worked with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to equip vending trucks with school bus “stop” swing arms to reduce pedestrian accidents.
Good Humor was unable to solve its labor problems. The company was unionized early in its history and was struck on several occasions. For example, in 1950 the Teamsters shut down Good Humor's New York operations for three weeks during the critical month of June. Beginning in the 1950s, the labor pool dried up and Good Humor operated over half of its fleet with seasonal employees, mostly college students. On average, new employees lasted two to three weeks because of the long hours. The entire industry, except Good Humor, stopped using commissioned employees and became distributors who leased trucks to the drivers and sold them their products wholesale. Good Humor adopted this system wherever possible but was prevented from converting most branches because of union contracts.
Good Humor became unprofitable beginning in 1968. An increase in gasoline prices during the early 1970s worsened the situation. After absorbing losses for ten years, in 1978 Good Humor closed its street vending operations and became a distributor. The trucks were sold for $1,000 to $3,000 per vehicle, and many of the former Good Humor vendors became independent business owners. As one reported, "I make sure I shut off the engine when I stop now that I'm paying for the gas." Many former competitors also became distributors of Good Humor products.
With the trucks sold, Good Humor focused on the grocery division, and the company returned to profitability by 1984. Unilever, the world's largest marketer of ice cream products, decided to achieve a similar market position in the US through acquisitions. In 1989, Unilever purchased Gold Bond Ice Cream of Green Bay, Wisconsin, which owned Popsicle. In 1993, Unilever bought Isaly Klondike, maker of another chocolate-coated ice cream bar invented in Youngstown in the early 1920s. Also in 1993, Unilever acquired the Breyers Ice Cream Company and combined these operations into the renamed Good Humor-Breyers. Since 2000, Good Humor has been one of numerous Unilever ice cream subsidiaries to use the international Heartbrand for its logo. It removed the Heartbrand in 2009 but brought it back as part of its logo from 2014 onwards.
Good Humor