Blue Moon (ice cream)

Blue Moon is an ice cream flavor with bright blue coloring available almost exclusively in the Upper Midwest of the United States. The "Chicago Tribune" has described the flavor as "Smurf-blue, marshmallow-sweet, and tasting remarkably like Froot Loops and Fruity Pebbles". Blue Moon ice cream also tastes a lot like Super Man Ice Cream. cite news
url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-32766369_ITM
title=Blue moon.
date=August 31 2007
publisher=The Chicago Tribune
accessdate=2008-04-23]

Blue Moon is found mainly in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin; found less frequently in Indiana, Iowa, Illinois and Ohio; and has reportedly been available (either in the past or currently) in Missouri, western Pennsylvania, upstate New York (Moxie's in Wynantskill), Houston, Texas (Oscar's Creamery), and as far west as Wyoming. A possibly similar, possibly identical flavor has also been sold in Italy under the name "Puffo", which is Italian for "Smurf"; it was probably given this name because its blue color resembled the Smurfs.

Origins

In 2007, the "Chicago Tribune" outlined two "prevailing theories" of the flavor's origin. One traces it to Sherman Dairy Products of South Haven, Michigan; but Sherman disavowed the theory, noting they buy their flavor out of state.

The other attributes the invention to Bill "Doc" Sidon, a food chemist with Petran Products of Milwaukee, Wisconsin [Now owned by Edgar A. Weber & Co. of Chicago] . In a 1977 patent application, though, the company claimed a first use in commerce of 1939, a number of years before Sidon, a Jew who fled Austria that year, joined the company.

The "Tribune"'s research also found references in U.S. newspapers to the flavor as early as the 1930s and as far away as Massachusetts.

Characteristics

The varieties of Blue Moon vary in both color and flavor. Many aficionados of each variety of Blue Moon claim that their variety is the "real one," the "original," etc. Some dairies that make Blue Moon keep their ingredients a secret, adding to the mystique.

A number of different sources on the internet claim to know what flavor Blue Moon is. Since these sources disagree with each other, it is unclear which, if any, are correct. Suggested flavors for Blue Moon include: fruit, Fruit Loops, orange, pineapple, lemon, cherry, raspberry, cantaloupe, honeydew, peach, licorice, pistachio, coconut, almond, burnt almond, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom, buttercream, custard, chocolate, vanilla, marshmallow, bubble gum, Blue Curaçao, Crème de cacao, Amaretto, cake frosting, and various combinations of these flavors.

The USPTO does not list any trademark for Blue Moon ice cream, which may partially account for the different versions.

References