Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Cold Storage: The Life and Death of Tom Carvel
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Cold Storage: The Life and Death of Tom Carvel
Cold Storage: The Life and Death of Tom Carvel episodes
- Where There's This Will There's No WayIn our series finale, we speak with Mary Arcadipane--niece of Carvel secretary/power behind the throne Mildred Arcadipane--about her aunt's auspicious climb and tragic end. Then we'll talk with estate planning pros Danielle Mayoras and Sean O'Dowd about why having seven executors in your will is never a good idea. A legacy that began with frozen custard would end with years of litigation. But still and all, we'll try to end this ice cream podcast on a sweet note.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
41 min - The Death of Tom CarvelRet. NYPD Det. Brian McCabe, former Commanding Officer of the Manhattan South Homicide Squad, uncovers the strange inconsistencies in Tom Carvel's death, from anonymous phone calls the night before he died, to Carvel's physician claiming his signature on Carvel's death certificate was forged. Says Det. McCabe: "It's a great case."
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
39 min - I, CarvelIn Episode 5, Tom Carvel tries to balance the family atmosphere of his store with his less than family-friendly business practices, leading to multiple lawsuits which he wins, but at a high cost. Meanwhile, we interview those who worked at Carvel ("It was like Studio 54") and those who just loved Fudgie the Whale.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
28 min - Tom Carvel Becomes Top BananaThe years after WWII are prosperous ones for Americans, especially Tom Carvel. With his 250 Carvel Dari-Freeze franchises raking in some cool cash, Carvel is now living the American Dream. But even a self-made man can make a big misstep - after Tom Carvel turns down Ray Kroc's offer to go into business as McDonald's.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29 min - Am I My Brother's Freezer?
This week we'll delve into the following:
- The inside story on why soldiers needed ice cream to keep going during WWII--the U.S. Navy spent $1 million converting a barge into a floating ice cream factory that made 10 gallons of ice cream every seven minutes.
- During the war, Tom Carvel was selling ice cream at Ft. Bragg and according to Carvel lore learning the freezer business--but it was his brother Bruce who was developing the freezers that would make Tom Carvel a multi-millionaire.
- How Tom was able to take credit for his brother's freezer inventions and get away with it.
- The seeds for this love/hate relationship between the brothers were planted early on, with Bruce being the eldest, the favorite, and "the handsome one."
“Cold Storage” is hosted by Heather Quinlan, head of Canvasback Kid Productions, and Paul Finnegan, creator/host of the acclaimed podcast CenterPieceNY.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
21 min - Prohibition Means America Screams for Ice Cream
This week we'll delve into the following:
- The 19th-century French wine industry was almost destroyed by an American bug, leading Greece to bail them out with raisins until Greece went bankrupt--with the Carvels forced to leave for America.
- Prohibition turned ice cream from a sweet treat to a booming empire as people needed their sugar fix--breweries like Anheuser-Busch and Yuengling began to sell rocky road instead of beer.
- By the end of Prohibition in 1933 the demand for ice cream decreased, though ice cream itself was firmly entrenched in our way of life … just in time for Tom Carvel to be riding his truck through Hartsdale, NY.
- In addition to ice cream, how did the Greek community corner the market on diners?
“Cold Storage” is hosted by Heather Quinlan, head of Canvasback Kid Productions, and Paul Finnegan, creator/host of the acclaimed podcast CenterPieceNY. Episode Two includes interviews with Tom Nealon, author of "Food Fights & Culture Wars" and Liz Pristourtis, owner of the Parkway Restaurant in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
34 min - Tom Carvel—A Sweet Empire Until It Melted
Those of you who lived up and down the East Coast but especially in NY and NJ and are of a certain age remember Carvel ice cream shops as if there was on every corner. Now where can you find one? As it turns out, at one point Carvel stores, like those who patronized them, largely ditched the cities for strip malls in the suburbs, leaving behind the glass-front shops that had twirling cones on the roof. Now that was ice cream!
So what caused this twist of fate? Was it an inability to change with the times? Bad luck? Or murder? We'll find out in Cold Storage.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
31 min - Cold Storage Trailer
If you were going to write a screenplay about an American Dream turned American Tragedy, it would be the story of Tom Carvel. Legend has it that on a hot Memorial Day in 1934, his ice cream truck got a flat tire and his profits began to melt. But the locals of Yonkers, NY saved his career by eating up the residuals. Carvel had his eureka moment: Start a business selling soft-serve ice cream. Whether this tale was true or not, Carvel was right — his Mom-and-Pop ice cream shoppe evolved into an empire that spread from Bensonhurst to Tokyo.
While he went that extra mile for those he cared about, Carvel's inability to cede control to his franchisees not only ruined other Moms and Pops who’d invested their life savings into the Carvel name, but multiple lawsuits hurt his bottom line as well. And Carvel’s iron-fisted business also stood in sharp contrast to his ambiguous and poorly-planned will, which managed to set his widow, family, and business associates at loggerheads in a legal maelstrom that continues to this day. Hardly the Carvel way—but perhaps that was his intention all along.
In “Cold Storage” we investigate the shockingly tumultuous life of an ice cream man, unfurling his story over multiple episodes until the bittersweet end.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
3 min
About Cold Storage: The Life and Death of Tom Carvel
From the publisher's feed
Tom Carvel — ice cream king, business tycoon, the man who brought us Fudgie the Whale. His voice was one that could sink a thousand ships, yet his was the voice of Carvel. “Who better…
to sell my ice cream than me?” he reasoned. And he was right. In the 1970s and ‘80s you’d hear him calling out “Buy one, get one free!” deals during commercial breaks. It was precisely that lack of Madison Avenue polish that made you believe Carvel was kindly, grandfatherly, a regular guy who just happened to make a lotta dough selling soft-serve ice cream. But all he really wanted was to make a kid smile. And you’d be wrong. Because what began as the quintessential American story — a Greek immigrant uses his ingenuity to create an empire — ended in disaster that may have resulted in Carvel’s death. It definitely resulted in litigation over his estate where the ones who benefitted most were the lawyers.
So how did something as innocent as selling ice cream turn so tragic? How could a tyrant create Cookie Puss? And does anyone really know who anyone is? “Cold Storage” is the investigative podcast that answers these questions — and brings up plenty more — in its search to discover who Tom Carvel was. Along the way we’ll learn why the invention of soft-serve ice cream was up there with the invention of the light bulb, how Carvel treated many of his franchisees like cash cows, and why a sure-fire way to success in business lies not only in your smarts but in your golf handicap.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.