Whatever Happened to Sealtest Ice Cream?

Remember all those Sealtest signs we'd see whenever we drove through Michigan?Where did all the Sealtest ice cream go?
Good question.

Driving throughout Michigan for many decades, we always came across some establishment that had a ‘Sealtest’ sign out front. This meant you could find the finest ice cream within the walls. Then all of a sudden, without warning, we stopped seeing these signs. Even worse, we were so busy getting on with our lives, we didn’t even notice.

Yup, Sealtest ice cream has been DISCONTINUED.
So what happened?

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Sealtest had milk and ice cream plants all over the midwest and northeastern United States. The company was founded in 1935 by Vernon Hovey. After his death, his sons ran the company and ended up selling the business.

Sealtest (and Breyers) was bought by Kraft in 1993. Even though there is no Sealtest ice cream anymore, the Sealtest name is licensed by Good Humor-Breyers of Unilever.

So I take that to mean if you buy Breyers ice cream, you’re still getting Sealtest?
Is that a correct assumption?
Why not. I’ll buy it.

Watching cartoon shows when I was a kid, there was usually a few Sealtest ice cream commercials thrown in...more so in kiddie shows than adult prime time programs...because kids knew how to whine for sweet treats better than anybody.

The gallery below features some old Sealtest signage, and a Michigan location that proudly displayed the ‘Sealtest’ sign...