Lyons Maid Haunted House Ice Cream Lolly

Why It Mattered

Haunted House made the ice cream itself the attraction: the monster picture was something you discovered and then ate. That gave it a different appeal from a novelty sold through a famous television character or a toy inside the packaging.

The most distinctive part was also temporary. Wrappers and badges could be kept, but the printed ice cream could not—which helps explain why surviving packaging tells only part of its story.

The Edible Picture Reveal

• A special process printed monster pictures directly onto the ice cream in edible pink, orange, red, green or blue colouring.
• The wrapper concealed the printed picture until the ice cream was unwrapped.
• The product chronology states that eight pictures existed, but its transcription describes only seven: Frankenstein’s monster, a spook, a skeleton, a spider and web, bats, a witch and an unnamed creature.

Launch, Price and Sale

• The Lyons Maid product chronology lists Haunted House under July 1973 at 4p; a separately dated launch advertisement has not been located.
• A wrapper saved in an Ayrshire scrapbook supports sale through at least one shop in Sorn, but does not establish complete UK-wide distribution.
• A contemporary industry report identifies Lyons Maid as a major UK brand and records Lyons and Wall’s together accounting for 95 per cent of measured ice-cream press and television advertising expenditure in 1973.

Badges and Documented Afterlife

• Surviving round promotional badges repeat the Haunted House name and macabre imagery, with collector photographs documenting several different designs.
• The badges’ distribution method and the complete number issued are unknown.
• No withdrawal date, documented recipe change, later release or completed food revival has been established.
• London Metropolitan Archives and advertising guard book YR/2/59 hold broader Lyons Maid material, but their online descriptions do not confirm a Haunted House item.

Associated With

Lyons Maid Ltd - ice cream producer

Defining Feature

Coloured horror pictures printed directly on the ice cream and concealed by the wrapper

Status

Discontinued — exact withdrawal date unconfirmed

Primary Records

• Haunted House wrapper scan
• Haunted House promotional badge scan

Image Sources

• Image 1
• Image 2
• Image 3 — Muir Nisbet / AyrshireHistory.com. Non-commercial reuse terms.

Rights Notice

Images are included for historical and archival reference.

Rights holders may contact Forgotten Archive through the publishing account to request a credit correction or removal.

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