Blue Bell Ice Cream: A Century at the Little Creamery in Brenham, Texas 1907-2007

By Dorothy Mcleod Macinerney

Book Overview

A century after it first opened its doors, the "Little Creamery in Brenham" is still going strong, gaining new fans every day. This charming book celebrating Blue Bell's first 100 years tells the story of the ideas, people, and Jersey cows that made Blue Bell Ice Cream the delicious sensation it is today. Filled from cover to cover with historic photographs, colorful artwork, vintage ads, and interesting facts, the book gives readers a taste of what makes Blue Bell "the best ice cream in the country." The story begins when Blue Bell wasn't called Blue Bell and didn't yet make ice cream, takes readers through three generations of the family-run business, and culminates with details about the company's special centennial festivities. The story of the company's unique combination of can-do spirit, small-town values, and old-fashioned optimism is told along with fun tidbits of information about its flavors, people, and frozen treats. You'll come across amusing anecdotes such as the tale of the Jelly Terror and the time when Blue Bell went to outer space. Don't be surprised if you feel compelled to run out for a half-gallon or two as you read!

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585445940
• ISBN13: 9781585445943
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Texas Monthly
• Length: 147 Pages
• Weight: 2.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 10.7" x 10.7"

Customer Reviews

A delicious history

This is a great history of a family ice cream business that expanded beyond the bounds of its original county and state of Texas. The developments of new flavors and stories make it a fun coffee table pictorial and a must for any Native Texan.

The Little Creamery That Could

In the late 1980s, my family moved to Brenham where we lived for three years. Blue Bell Ice Cream was just beginning its tremendous expansion through Texas at that time, and we were excited to be moving to Blue Bell country. As we quickly found out, Blue Bell ice cream defines Brenham. Whenever the Creamery comes out with a new flavor, it makes the front page banner headline of the local newspaper. And in Brenham you can get ALL the flavors, many that you've never even heard of before. The schools serve hand-dipped Blue Bell in their cafeterias. So do all the restaurants, and even some of the gas stations. To us, it seemed there were buckets of hand-dipped Blue Bell just about anywhere we looked. We once counted 28 places that served hand-scooped Blue Bell in Brenham, which at that time had a population of only 12,000. And then one day, during a rainy football game, as we sat in the high school stadium right across the street from the Creamery, out came a rainbow and arched right into the top of the Blue Bell factory. This year, Blue Bell Ice Cream celebrates 100 years of production, with a handsome picture book in commemoration. It is filled with gorgeous color and black-and-white photographs, but also laden with historic ads, some extraordinary engineering information, and lots of just plain gee-whiz facts, the kind that will be so much fun to tell other Blue Bell Ice Cream fans. For instance, in 1907, the ice cream was made in hand-cranked freezers just like your grandma's. On a good day they could coax out almost two whole gallons. Then delivery boys would hitch up a horse and buggy and rush the ice cream to nearby families where they ate quickly, before it melted! Even up into the 1940s, ice cream sandwiches were made by hand slicing slabs from a 64-ounce ice cream block, and fixing the slab between two chocolate wafers. Automation came later, in the late 60s, but by 2006, Blue Bell had expanded from the single little creamery in Brenham, Texas into sixteen states, with forty-four creameries churning out Homemade Vanilla, Buttered Pecan, Cookies `n Cream, and Moo-liennium Crunch. Also included in the book are some of the flavors that didn't make it, like Jelly Terror, Dill Pickles `n Cream, and Licorice which turned a consumer's mouth black. At the end of the book are letters from people, mostly funny letters, most requesting that Blue Bell hurry to their towns. There used to an Apple Tree store on Market Street in Brenham. On weekends they often had demonstrators handing out samples. One Saturday, a lady was offering tastes of a startup ice cream brand from the Valley. She gave her pitch to everyone who walked by her table. People were polite, but they were also declining, and by the time we arrived, the poor lady was desperate. My younger son, feeling sorry for her, went over to take one of the small cups of melting vanilla. She watched gratefully as he ate the single scoop in one bite. He shook his head at her, and with pity,