Wondrous things happen on the world wide web and, for me, this story is one. I have written several blog posts about my inventor father, C. W. Vogt (1891-1973), and with the collaborative research of my sister, Sarah Vogt, have successfully established that he was indeed the creator of the Votator, a breakthrough process that has touched everyone’s life, a scraped surface heat exchanger used in the manufacture of margarine, lard, peanut butter, soap, automotive grease, and much more. A similar process for frozen dairy products was the Vogt Instant Freezer which he patented in 1930.
It is one thing to work toward making sure someone is credited for their work, it is another to write with authority about the actual production. Enter Tony Mathis, an application engineer and product manager for Vogt Freezers and the Votator, a native of Louisville who passed the Votator factory sign on his way to school as a kid.
“I have always been curious about your father, since I found very little mention of him in the files that I have. I found the 1931 picture of him in the Ekstrom Library archives, and I have seen the WWI photo in uniform on some old literature, but could not find much else on-line until stumbling across your blog yesterday.”
About the VIF Tony has written in an email:
“Not only was it a continuous process so the benefits of mass production could be realized, but the ice crystals were so small that they gave an exceptionally smooth and creamy mouthfeel and they resisted freezer shock (formation of large ice crystals over time) much better than any other batch-wise freezing process. The added air, referred to as the overrun percentage, could be controlled at will to make standard ice cream holding 50% air, or premium products with more butterfat and only about 30% air.
The VIF became the preferred method of making frozen desserts for all types of distribution. Besides the MelORol package, the discharged product could be filled into gallon and quart-size cartons, or into molds to make frozen bars. After the freezer, a Cherry-Burrell fruit feeder could add fruit and nut pieces into the continuous stream and a variegator could inject a ribbon of fudge, strawberry syrup, or some other liquid on the way to the carton filler. In 1956 a three-barrel Vogt freezer was introduced so that ‘Neapolitan’ chocolate-vanilla-strawberry flavors could be packed at once in the same carton.”
Tony has graciously accepted my proposal that he contribute pieces about the Vogt Instant Freezer and the Votator. This post is about the MelORol Production, and he’s collected some wonderful archival photographs for it.
THE MELOROL PROCESS REVEALED
By a Former Product Manager for Vogt Premier Freezers
Clarence W. Vogt perfected the Vogt Instant Freezer, the first continuous ice cream freezer, in the late 1920s. The ice cream quality produced by this equipment was unsurpassed by any older batch freezing methods. It was renowned for its creamy, smooth texture and consistent flavor and quality.
But, not content to stop there, the Vogt Instant Freezer Company also perfected a novel packaging system that eliminated waste and allowed hygienic, “untouched by human hands” distribution all the way to the point of serving. The ice cream was frozen into a continuous bar, wrapped with an easily-removed paper, and sliced into cylinders for precise portion control.
This novelty became known as the MelORol, a brand owned by Bordens and produced by the creameries of their Pioneer Ice Cream Division including Abbott Dairies in Philadelphia, J. M. Horton’s and Reid’s Dairy in New York City, and Hendler’s Creamery in Baltimore. Starting about 1930 and for the next four decades, it was a favorite memory of many American and Canadian children. In the early years of the Depression you could go to a local soda fountain or snack bar and trade a Liberty or Buffalo nickel for a cup or cone of the finest ice cream in the world, produced using the Vogt Instant Freezer.
See http://www.inthe80s.com/food/mellorollicecreamcone0.shtml for many personal stories involving MelORol.
MelORol spokespersons included Slim Timblin, a blackface performer, and later the Dionne Quintuplets. And of course Elsie the Cow, who appeared in the film Little Men in 1940. Interesting memorabilia include a series of MelORol trading cards featuring prominent figures from world history, and advertising buttons that were issued as part of the marketing strategy.
A MelORol packaging line started at the Vogt Instant Freezer, where ice cream mix and air were pumped into the freezer barrel and then rapidly frozen to a stiff consistency. The ice cream was extruded out of a pipe into a cylindrical bar shape. A tube former and filler wrapped the bar with two continuous pieces of paper, forming paper tabs on each side that would later serve as handles for unwrapping. The wrapped bar passed into a freezing tunnel or hardening chamber through a small hole in the insulated wall.
The bar was cut into long sections and conveyed slowly through the hardening chamber, while frigid air was blown across the surface to freeze it solid. A typical bar was 13 feet, 9 inches long.
At the end of the tunnel, the hardened bar was cut into sticks of 18 to 24 inches long by a traveling cutter. The sticks passed out through another hole in the wall and into a stick hopper.
The sticks were manually or automatically loaded into a slicing machine, where the final MelORol serving sizes were determined. The slicing machine could be adjusted for portion sizes of 3 to 5 ounces. MelORol lines produced between 100 and 300 gallons per hour of these tasty novelties.
The MelORol slices were wrapped in hexagonal cartons called bales. These were sent to cold storage until they could be distributed.
MelORol was discontinued in the 1960s in the US, and the 1970s in Canada, after refrigerators with freezers in the home became widespread. Consumers could then bring home cartons of high-quality ice cream produced on Vogt Freezers, scoop it out in just the right serving sizes, and forget any worries about other people handling their treats. It was the end of an era that had generated fond memories for so many.
Further reading:
“Covington, Kentucky 1913: A Family Mystery.” Click here.
“From Missiles to MelORols: Covington, KY, Mystery Update.” Click here.
“Clarence Vogt, Prolific Inventor from Louisville.” Click here.
“Ice Cream by the Mile.” Click here.
“My Grandfather’s Clock Face.” Click here.
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