Let's Talk with Debra H. Goldstein
Let’s Talk with Debra Goldstein
July 25, 2019
Good Humor Trucks and Books from My Favorite Authors
by Debra H. Goldstein
Do you remember white Good Humor trucks coming through your neighborhood? Their heyday was in the 1950’s, but the trucks, with their musical tones, were around into the 1970’s. How did you react when you heard a truck’s bells on your street? I salivated!
I would run into the house as quickly as I could to get my mother. Although I was old enough to play outside, I couldn’t leave the driveway without an adult. Happily, my mother usually came outside to buy me an ice cream before the truck driver finished selling to the other children on the block. It wasn’t until years later I realized the Good Humor driver followed a route, so she’d be listening for the bell because she knew about what time he would arrive each day.
When it comes to my favorite authors, I do the same thing I used to do with the Good Humor man. I eagerly wait for their next book to be released – and like my mother, I learn the publication schedule each generally follows. Some offer a book every six months, others take a year or more, but I’m ready. One of the things I love to do is pre-order books. Not only does it mean I’ll have the satisfaction of reading the book within the first few days of its publication, I know I’m helping keep my favorite authors writing. You see, publishers look at numbers. All the pre-orders drop the same day. If there are plenty of pre-orders, and sales on the first day and during the first weeks are good, promotional opportunities often become more available. Authors get excited if rankings are good, but best of all, publishers are happy, so I stand a chance of reading future books by my favorite authors.
What about you? Did you look forward to hearing the Good Humor truck’s bells? Do you pre-order books? Leave a comment below if you’d like a chance to win the first print ARC of Two Bites Too Many, being given away on this blog to those with a US mailing address.
The finalized version of Two Bites Too Many, the second book in the Sarah Blair series, ships on September 24, and is available for pre-order (https://www.amazon.com/Bites-Many-Sarah-Blair-Mystery/dp/1496719484 ), but you can win and read an uncorrected ARC now. The winner will be announced in the comments section of this blog and via e-mail. If the selected winner fails to respond within three days, an alternate winner will be selected from those individuals leaving comments in response to this blog.
Posted in Let's Talk, with Debra H. Goldstein • Tags: BLB Discussion, Debra Goldstein, Good Humor Trucks, Good Humor Trucks and Books from My Favorite Authors, print ARC giveaway, Sarah Blair series, Two Bites Too Many | 24 Comments
Oh my yes, I could not wait for the Good Humor truck to come by my street and I would run there with my dollar to buy an ice cream! Those were the days! I had so much fun! Great memories!
Theresa, those were very simple days… and so much fun. Appreciate you leaving a comment.
I certainly do remember the Good Humor truck. My favorite treat was the Raspberry-peach Humorette, a peach ice cream center covered with raspberry sherbert. Thanks for the walk down Memory Lane!
I liked either the coconut popsicle or the chocolate éclair one. It took me years to realize an éclair was a different composition than the ice cream one … Thanks for the post
I never heard the ice cream truck when I was a kid, but there was actually one that used to drive through my current neighborhood up until a couple years ago. Not sure what happened to it.
Sadly, most of them found they couldn’t compete or couldn’t get the licenses now required.
I remember the trucks as a kid, so exciting to hear the music. I loved the orange push-ups best…except when they switched over occasionally to the ones with the orange “pieces” in the ice cream. Hated that. It was always a crap shoot if you were going to get a good one or a bad one, LOL! A few years back I worked at a place where the ice cream truck came down the alley. I was told that the guy sold things other than ice cream out of his truck! Oh, fab cover on the new book!!
Thanks for liking the cover. I’d have hated to have a crap shoot when I turned my money over to buy a push-up. Horrible!!!!
I won’t comment on the truck in the alley
We had ice cream trucks in the neighborhood but not specifically Good Humor. I have fond memories of stopping those trucks and choosing something.
I really like your cover too with the charming dog. Thanks for the opportunity.
browninggloria(at) hotmail(dot) com. Please use this email to contact me.
Ice cream leaves fond memories…I’m glad you share them. Also happy you like the new cover.
When I was very small we lived in a Chicago neighborhood that had tamale trucks, ice cream truck and I don’t know what all. After that we lived in the country so no ice cream trucks (but we did get the bookmobile, more important, really)! Yes, I have a list of favorite authors I always pre-order. Sometimes just can’t wait.
sallycootie@gmail.com
I’m the same way about certain authors… and we didn’t have the bookmobile, but I know how important it is to many areas. When I volunteered with Success by Six, we put a van into play so we could bring books to small children
The Good Humor truck is a fond childhood memory. Regarding books by favorite authors, when I get an announcement of a forthcoming release, I put it on my Amazon Wish List. That way, I can remember to order it once it goes live. I like to order a bunch of books at the same time. When I’m ready, I go down my list and add the chosen items to my cart.
Nancy, That’s a great idea. I haven’t used my wish list .. I’ve been adding books to my Want to read list on Goodreads.
I grew up in the boonies and never knew there was such a thing as an ice cream truck until I was in college! However, ice cream was a special treat and when I had the choice of flavors it was always butter pecan. And yes, I pre-order books. I never want to miss one word from my fav authors! Two Bites Too Many looks adorable – I can’t wait to read it.
Thank you…. Butter pecan was a favorite, but not the favorite for me. I had different flavors I liked when I was at my grandmothers and from the Good Humor truck.
We had the Good Humor truck – got the strawberry bars coated in coconut then. But we also had the Helms man. You’d put a card in your window and he’d stop, but I used to race up the street if I heard his whistle and he’d let me ride back to my house with him. They had an applesauce raisin cake that was my favorite. Wish I could find it now.
Sounds divine. I’m not familiar with the Helms man. What part of the country was he in?
In the early 1970s, the Good Humor truck excited all us kids in the neighborhood. It was a safe and secluded neighborhood, next to zero traffic, so everyone was fine with us chasing after the truck. The driver was a fellow about my own age now (meaning middle-aged to old) named Ed, and we were all on a first-name basis with him. It wasn’t “The Good Humor Truck is here”; instead, it was “Ed the Good Humor Man is here.” If a substitute was driving, we’d be disappointed. Most items cost a quarter, though there was some sort of ices for ten cents. My brother would get a big ice cream on a stick (sometimes a chocolate eclair), while economical me usually settled for a fifteen-cent orange creamsicle. Even if I had exact change, I’d give him a quarter, because the most exciting part for me was to watch him make change from his coin-belt. I also had (still have) a book called The Good Humor Man (Little Golden Books, 1964). My copy cost twenty-nine cents. I saw it in a supermarket recently, same cover, but newly reprinted, selling for five or six dollars.
— Arthur Vidro
Arthur, We won’t ask what the cost for the ice cream would be today :).
My dad was a Good Humor man during the summers in the 60’s. This brought back great memories. And dad did this as he was a junior high school math teacher. I love ice cream especially vanilla fudge.
A lot of teachers had summer jobs, but I envy you having a dad who was the Good Humor Man. I hope he let you have samples.
The winner is Theresa Rinko. Please e-mail me your mailing address at DHG@DebraHGoldstein.com, so I can mail you the Two Bites Too Many arc. Thanks everyone for leaving a comment. Check back for more giveaways.
Just desire to say your article is as astonishing.
The clearness to your put up is simply nice and i can think you are a professional on this subject.
Fine with your permission allow me to clutch your RSS feed
to keep up to date with coming near near post. Thank you one million and please
keep up the gratifying work.