15 Vintage Ice Cream Flavors That Are Long Gone
These once-popular flavors have disappeared from freezer aisles but remain frozen in memory.
- Alyana Aguja
- 5 min read
Vintage ice cream flavors tell a story about the cultural tastes of the time, from the moon landing to cocktail trends. Some were quirky experiments, while others were mainstays that aged out of favor or got replaced by newer trends. Though they’re gone, each scoop left behind a sweet impression that people still crave decades later.
1. Ben & Jerry’s Wavy Gravy
Image from Wikipedia
Named after the legendary hippie activist, this funky flavor swirled caramel, cashews, Brazil nuts, and roasted almonds into a rich vanilla base. It debuted in the early ’90s but had that groovy ’70s soul that made it feel older. Fans still mourn its disappearance like an old song they can’t find on Spotify.
2. Baskin-Robbins’ Grape Ice
Image from Wikipedia
This light, tart sorbet-like scoop was a kid favorite in the ’70s. It had the bright purple color of Kool-Aid and packed a punch of nostalgic grape flavor that was hard to forget. It quietly faded away, leaving grape lovers with nothing but candy alternatives.
3. Howard Johnson’s Frozen Banana Split
Image from Wikipedia
Long before fancy sundaes ruled Instagram, HoJo’s banana split ice cream offered a layered dessert experience in one scoop. It came with ribbons of strawberry and chocolate and chunks of banana blended into vanilla. Once Howard Johnson’s restaurants started closing, the ice cream line followed.
4. Ben & Jerry’s Economic Crunch
Image from Wikipedia
Launched during the stock market crash of 1987, this tongue-in-cheek flavor included chocolate-covered almonds, pecans, and walnuts. It was a nutty metaphor for financial instability and made people laugh even as markets fell. Sadly, it didn’t last long, but it was brilliant while it did.
5. Haagen-Dazs Black Walnut
Image from Wikipedia
This rich, almost smoky flavor was once popular among grown-ups who liked their ice cream bold and not too sweet. Black walnuts have a deeper, more complex taste than the common variety, but they’re expensive and polarizing. Eventually, it was discontinued due to low demand, despite a small group of loyal fans.
6. Baskin-Robbins’ Lunar Cheesecake
Image from Wikipedia
Launched during the Apollo missions craze, this 1969 limited-edition flavor featured cheesecake-flavored ice cream with a swirl of graham cracker and blueberry. It was created to celebrate the moon landing and spark kids’ imaginations. It didn’t stick around past the moon fever, but people still talk about it on retro forums.
7. Good Humor Toasted Almond Bar
Image from Wikipedia
Toasted almonds wrapped around a smooth vanilla core with an almond-flavored coating made this bar a street-cart staple. It wasn’t flashy, just dependable and comforting, like your grandpa’s Sunday shirt. Good Humor quietly retired it, and now it lives on in memories and vintage ads.
8. Ben & Jerry’s White Russian
Image from Wikipedia
This cocktail-inspired flavor mixed coffee ice cream with Kahlúa-flavored swirls. It was aimed at adults who liked their dessert with a little kick. It got discontinued in the early 2000s when the novelty wore off, but it had its classy moment.
9. Dreyer’s/Edy’s Grand Pineapple Coconut
Image from Wikipedia
This tropical flavor combo was part of a summer-themed rollout in the ’80s. It blended sweet pineapple and creamy coconut for an island vacation in a bowl. It quietly vanished by the early ’90s, and fans have been chasing similar versions ever since.
10. Sealtest Maple Nut
Image from Wikipedia
Once a Sunday dinner favorite, this maple-flavored ice cream was studded with crunchy English walnuts. It was rich without being cloying and had a cozy, homemade vibe to it. When Sealtest stopped producing it, maple lovers were left with syrup but no scoop.
11. Ben & Jerry’s Dastardly Mash
Image from Wikipedia
This curiously named flavor had chocolate ice cream loaded with pecans, almonds, raisins, and chocolate chips. It was one of the first Ben & Jerry’s flavors and stood out because of the unexpected addition of raisins. It was discontinued in the early ’90s and rarely mentioned today except by diehard B&J historians.
12. Baskin-Robbins’ Pink Bubblegum
Image from Wikipedia
A kid’s dream and a dentist’s nightmare, this flavor actually included real pink bubblegum pieces in bubblegum-flavored ice cream. It was messy, a little chaotic, and totally beloved by children in the ’80s and ’90s. It’s mostly retired now, only returning occasionally as a novelty.
13. Häagen-Dazs Sweet Corn Ice Cream
Image from Wikipedia
This oddball flavor was part of an experimental artisan line in the 2000s. It took sweet corn and turned it into a silky, buttery treat that was surprisingly good for those willing to try it. Too unconventional to thrive in the mainstream, it quietly disappeared after a short run.
14. Carnation Fudge Royale
Image from Wikipedia
Carnation’s ice cream line once featured this decadent chocolate base with ribbons of fudge and chocolate flakes. It was marketed as premium and had a rich, deep cocoa flavor that stuck with you. When Nestlé phased out the brand’s ice cream line, Fudge Royale went down with it.
15. Ben & Jerry’s Tennessee Mud
Image from Wikipedia
Coffee ice cream blended with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, roasted almonds, and chocolate cookie bits made this one unforgettable. It was boozy, bold, and unapologetically Southern. It left shelves in the late ’90s but still shows up on Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard tour.