A Favored Subject.......Ice Cream

     I don't go after it like I did in my younger years but I'm an ice cream guy..........always have  been. When my parents had their small grocery on the north side, they, perhaps, wondered why the profit was so consistently short. In those days, I was eating a pint a day on a regular basis with all the trimmings as well, chocolate syrup, peanuts, bananas. Lady Borden was a favorite and it came in attractive pint boxes. And, I even added regular trips to Boyd's Dairy. I had to laugh when I ran into one of the Nyman boys recently and the first thing he said was, "I made you malt's in Boyd's." What an item to be well known for.
     I was digging into some Blue Bunny Tin Roof the other night and that's what reminded me of all this. I thought it was Tin Roof that made Jim Boyd a national celebrity. I thought he was the inventor of that brand. To make sure, I contacted Linda Boyd Bravard. Good thing I checked it out.
     Linda replied, "Your flavor is wrong. Bubble Gum is the flavor that landed dad a spot on NPR, National Public Radio. No, unfortunately, there were no residuals, just the stature of being on NPR. It's fun to imagine what the size of his bank account would be if he had been paid for each dip of Bubble Gum scooped in stores throughout the country over the years!"
      In answer to another question, she added, "I don't know what prompted dad to do the Bubble Gum. It was sometime after 1961. Another popular flavor then was the Rhubarb Sherbet. My mom used to go out in the country to George and Lois Riker's farm and cut rhubarb in the spring. Then, she cooked huge pots of it which went into the Rhubarb Sherbet. Every year, they packed up several pints of it to send to a former Booneite in San Francisco. Dad loved coming up with unusual Crazy Daze flavors such as Dill Pickle and Sauerkraut."
      By the way, Linda is promoting Blue Bell ice cream which is sold in the southwestern part of the country. She said, "It's the closest thing to Boyd's I've ever tasted......especially the vanilla. Keep up the good work. We love your blog. It's a better way to keep up with what's going on in Boone than through the Boone paper."
     In the back of this aged mind, the old Kornerman still has a question about the national publicity Jim received for his special flavor. Anybody remember Monitor? Television was still in its infancy and for 20 years, on NBC radio, starting in 1955, Monitor was a very popular weekend mix of news, sports, music etc.. It started as a 40-hour show and was always hosted by the most famous announcers of the time,
Dave Garroway, Hugh Downs, Frank McGee, Frank Blair etc.. For some reason, I seem to think Jim Boyd was interviewed on that national radio show about his Bubble Gum ice cream. Anyway, the national exposure secured, however, was a big deal for Boone, Iowa.
K-----K
     Davi Mondt Lowman wrote, "I just love the chatter and memories that Korner readers contribute. Many of those memories are quite clear to me and take me right back to the 60's when we were so lucky to be growing up in Boone. Jude Rolfes stories about the cars made me laugh out loud. One summer, at about 3 a.m., the summer before we were going to be sophomores, Terry Rolfes, Donna Jacobson and I pushed Mr. Rolfes car out of their garage, down an alley and into the street. We drove it all over town. It was great fun but we were so nervous doing this we could hardly enjoy it. We returned about a half-block from the garage, turned off the engine and pushed the car home. However, we caught the edge of the garage door on the front part of the car and scratched it. We were sworn to secrecy and the incident was never mentioned to any adult until now. Terry never said whether her dad ever discovered the scratch. Until I read Judes story, I had no idea we were carrying on a family tradition. Speaking of Terry, she was such a darling girl and I always liked her so much. She died some years ago from cancer, much, much too young."
K-----K
     Michael Sundall of Cedar Rapids and formerly of Boone was in town recently and had a visit with Berniece Anderson and her daughter-in-law, Corky Veeder Anderson. That got him thinking about Boone barbers and barber shops. Clyde Anderson, the late husband of Berniece, was a Boone barber, as was Corky's dad, Dan Veeder.
     Mike wrote, "I drove around downtown Boone and remembered the "big three" barber shops that were once there, Clyde and his partner, Daryl Anderson; Dan's shop and Arlo's shop."
     Michael was wondering about other Boone barber shops. The Kornerman remembers those three but there were many others through the years as well. Some barbers I quickly recall were Jimmy Rader, Claire Sparks, the Jones brothers, Dick Harris, the fellow who had a shop in his house across from Trinity Lutheran Church, the fellow that ran a shop in the basement of what is now the Doran Law firm, a shop under what is now Eckstein's Jewelry and wasn't there a barber in the Hotel Holst? Times, of course, have changed. In those days there may have been some, but I don't recall a visable female barber. That's no longer the case. In fact, female barbers may now outnumber the male barbers in Boone, Iowa.
K-----K
     Boone Area Deaths: John Geneser, 87, Boone, formerly of Woodward. Operated Geneser Implement and then worked for Barr-Nunn Transportation in Granger. Survivors include son Daniel of West Des Moines and Daniel's wife, Margaretta (Gretta) Ray Geneser, a Boone native..........Sharon Lantz, 89, Boone. BHS grad. Worked at Fort Dodge and Des Moines Southern before moving to California. Returned to Boone in retirement in 1983. Husband Dick passed away in December, 2013. Boone survivor is daughter Lori Nystrom and grandchildren............Dorothy Kieffer, 79, Ogden. Was an elementary teacher. Boone area survivors include her husband Tom and sons Bob and Steve of Ogden.
K-----K
     Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 710 Aldrich, Boone, Iowa  50036-4703. Phone number is 515-432-1530. To email your stories/memories/comments.........
kelleyskorner1@gmail.com.