Sno-Cone Machines

Synopsis of Toy

Oh, there’s nothing like a bright-eyed child’s first brush with cold, hard capitalism. For some, it was the lemonade stand; for others, the secret auctions of a sibling’s prized toys—your mean brother’s Star Wars action figures sold to the highest neighborhood bidder, for example. But for the true entrepreneur, that special part-product-sage and part-huckster, it was the Sno-Cone Machine that brought the first fistful of self-made cash. The sales savant could convince his or her friends that a Sno-Cone was dessert supreme—the stuff of far-off carnivals, the stuff of every sweet tooth’s dreams, the stuff that moms the world over shook their heads at, and when a mom shakes her head, value is guaranteed! That a Sno-Cone was actually just some ground up ice cubes and a little sugary food coloring? No one’s the wiser about that—a good salesman never lets the public in on all his secrets.

In 1967, Hasbro introduced its little icy-treat factories to sweaty summer cities and suburbs everywhere. The Frosty Sno-Cone machine was the first. Just fill Frosty’s snowman body up with some ice cubes, jam the frozen stuff down using Frosty’s blue plastic hat, and pulverize appropriately. When pulverization’s complete, scoop out the ‘snow’ with the red shovel, and deposit into the funnel-shaped paper cups that came as a part of Frosty’s accessory package. Pick one of the ten flavor packets (lemon, lime, strawberry, etc.), or swirl them around together if you had an above-average flair for syrup-handling, and either enjoy the creation yourself, give it away out of the kindness of your heart, or preferably, let the sales shtick begin. Avow to this particular Sno-Cone’s medicinal qualities, swear that the syrupy face in the ice bears an remarkable resemblance to your prey’s favorite super hero…do whatever you have to do, but do it fast, because ice has a shelf-life and you won’t get one red cent for a little pile of red slush.

The 1970’s saw the arrival the Snoopy Sno-Cone machine, made to look like a white doghouse. The intrepid Sno-Coner dropped a couple of ice cubes into the top, packed it down with the Snoopy pusher, and started cranking the handler in the back. No batteries or electricity needed, baby—just a little tenacity and some good old arm’s strength. Snowy white magic appeared, all ready to be shoveled into the cups, and now it was time for the syrup packets. If the mood struck, you could pour a bit of fruit juice over the ice or even concoct a batch of homemade syrup brew—from Kool-Aid or Tang mix, or just about any sugary powder your pantry felt like contributing to your Sno-Cone endeavor.

These days, kids can make create their cones inside of machines that look like, for example, their favorite Pokémon characters, so the tasty combination of mincy ice and syrup can still be had, and more importantly, a buck or two can still be made by the neighborhood’s P.T. Barnum knock-offs.

Release History of Toy

1967 - Frosty Sno-Cone
1970's - Snoopy Sno-Cone

Sub Categories of Toys

arts & crafts
other

Toy and Game Manufacturer

Hasbro

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