The Bing Crosby Ice Cream That's Been Lost To Time
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You have undoubtedly heard "White Christmas" play on the radio during the holiday season — and the owner of that warm, bewitching voice singing about Christmases long ago is none other than American icon Bing Crosby. Credited by NPR as one of the 20th century's most prolific performers, there was almost nothing that Crosby couldn't do.
Of course, the singer is known for popularizing hit songs like "It's Been a Long, Long Time" and sold millions of records to doting fans. But Crosby could do more than carry a tune. He also acted, sang, and danced in many movies and had a radio show. According to PBS, Crosby's many talents earned him not one but three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. However, despite his immense success in almost every creative field imaginable, Crosby did have at least one commercial failure in his lifetime. The space he just couldn't seem to conquer was ... the dairy aisle? That's right, in the same spirit of modern-day celebrities who open their own restaurants, the all-American actor attempted to sell Bing-branded ice cream. Here's the story of the Bing Crosby ice cream brand the world forgot.
Bing's vanilla ice cream
The year 1953 was a good one for Bing Crosby. The newest movie the actor had starred in, "Little Boy Lost," was earning him rave reviews from The New York Times and his LP "Le Bing: Song Hits of Paris" had just been released (per Amazon). And for some reason, Crosby also decided this was the year he needed to start selling his own ice cream (via Drew Friedman).
Crosby's personal ice cream brand was sold under "Bing Crosby Ice Cream Sales Inc." and licensed with Valley Farms and other distributors. Every pint of the bygone product even came printed with a pledge of quality by the singer himself. However, the ice cream that was advertised as "the cream of the stars" didn't sell well and was eventually plucked from the freezer section.
While it can be easy to look back and judge the singer for what is best described as an ice cream fiasco, to Crosby's credit, today's celebrities have also been known to put their faces on ice cream cartons. According to ET, ice cream pints boasting pictures of "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon and former President Obama are among Ben & Jerry's legendary flavors. So even though it ultimately failed, Bing Crosby ice cream may have been worth a shot.