Tom Carvel (born Athanasios Karvelas (); July 14, 1906 – October 21, 1990) was a Greek-born American businessman and entrepreneur known for the invention and promotion of soft-serve ice cream in the northeastern United States. He was the founder of the Carvel brand and franchise.

Early business career

Carvel began selling ice cream out of his truck in 1929 in

Hartsdale, New York Hartsdale is a hamlet located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,293 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of New York City. History Hartsdale, a CDP/hamlet/post-office in the town of Gre ...

. On

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

weekend in 1934, his truck had a flat tire, so he pulled into a parking lot next to a pottery store and began selling his melting ice cream to vacationers who were driving by. The owner of the store allowed Carvel to use electricity from his store. As such, Carvel opened his parked truck for ice cream sales. Within two days, he had sold his entire supply of ice cream and concluded that he could increase his profits by working from a fixed location.

Carvel Brands franchising

In 1936, Carvel purchased the pottery store and converted it into a roadside ice cream stand; this permanently established Carvel as the first retailer to develop and market soft ice cream. The same year, he established the Carvel Brand Corporation and developed a secret soft-serve ice cream formula. Carvel also developed new

refrigeration Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...

machines and sold his designs. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he began to franchise his ice cream stores. Carvel was featured in his own advertisements as the company believed that his gravelly voice and personal charm were important factors in the success of his business. The Carvel company specializes in

ice cream cake ''Ice Cream Cake'' is the debut Korean extended play by the South Korean girl group Red Velvet. It was released digitally on March 17, 2015, and physically on March 18 by SM Entertainment and distributed by Dreamus, marking the group's first p ...

s, often in the shapes of animals. Two of the most popular ice cream novelties introduced by the company have been " Fudgie the Whale" and " Cookie Puss". The brand continues to operate using a

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busines ...

model, primarily concentrated in the Northeast United States and Florida.

Death

Carvel died in Pine Plains,

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later org ...

, New York, in 1990 and is buried with his wife Agnes in

Ferncliff Cemetery Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum is a cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, United States, about north of Midtown Manhattan. It was founded in 1902, and is non-sectarian. Ferncliff has columbariums, a crematory, a small chapel, and a main office loca ...

in Hartsdale.

Controversy

In October 2009, Carvel's niece Pamela Carvel filed court papers to have Carvel's body exhumed and an autopsy performed, stating she suspected he was drugged or suffocated by employees whom Carvel suspected of embezzlement. Her petition was denied, and she later became a fugitive from justice in a personal bankruptcy case. She had been vying for control of his $67-million estate.

References

External links

Biography of Tom Carvel
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carvel, Tom 1906 births 1990 deaths Greek emigrants to the United States People from Hartsdale, New York American food company founders Ice cream brands People from Dutchess County, New York Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Athens 20th-century American inventors Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States