Youngstown in Mahoning County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Harry Burt and Good Humor
⎯⎯⎯
Ross Radio Company

Harry Burt and Good Humor Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mike Wintermantel, December 8, 2014

1. Harry Burt and Good Humor Marker

Inscription. Side A
Harry Burt and Good Humor Harry B. Burt (1874-1926) came to Youngstown in 1893 and began making and selling penny candy. He expanded his business with high quality candies, chocolates, and ice cream. Around 1920 Burt invented a process for freezing a stick in an ice cream bar and coating it in chocolate so one could eat it without touching it. He called his new confection “Good Humor Ice Cream Suckers.” Burt purchased the building at 325 West Federal Street in 1921, remodeled it, and opened it on April 4, 1922 to make his products and serve his customers. Here he first mass produced ice cream bars and sold them in area neighborhoods from a fleet of freezer trucks with bells and uniformed drivers. After Burt’s death, investors purchased the brand, formed the Good Humor Corporation of America in Chicago, and it grew into a national phenomenon.

Side B
Ross Radio Company James Ross (1892-1974) and Dr. Edith Levin Ross (1898-1991) emigrated from Russia in 1925, and settled in Youngstown in 1930. That year James founded Ross Radio Company, a distributor of radios, televisions, and related components.

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Ross Radio moved to 325 West Federal Street in 1935, and operated here until 2008. James and Edith Ross were active leaders and philanthropists in the Mahoning Valley and for international Jewish causes. In 1947, amid rising tensions in the Holy Land before the declaration of the state of Israel, when the British Army confiscated guns from Jewish settlements leaving them defenseless, Ross Radio was a depot for weapons collected from World War II veterans by local members of the Young Zionists of America. These guns and ammunition were packed in crates marked “radio parts” and shipped to New York, where they were cleaned, matched, re-crated, and smuggled into the Holy Land.

Erected 2013 by Mahoning Valley Historical Society,The James and Edith Ross Foundation, Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 33-50.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Industry & Commerce • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection series list. A significant historical month for this entry is April 1957.

Location. 41° 6.127′ N, 80° 39.269′ W.

Ross Radio Company Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mike Wintermantel, December 8, 2014

2. Ross Radio Company Marker

Marker is in Youngstown, Ohio, in Mahoning County. It can be reached from West Federal Street 0.1 miles west of South Chestnut Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 325 W Federal St, Youngstown OH 44503, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Western Reserve

and in the Mahoning Valley.

It is also in the American Midwest.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Founding of Youngstown (within shouting distance of this marker); First Ohio Settlers in the Mahoning River Valley (within shouting distance of this marker); The Warner Theater (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Working Class Heroes (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Mahoning River (approx. 0.2 miles away); A Little Bit of Youngstown’s History (approx. 0.2 miles away); Little Steel Strike

Photographed by Mike Wintermantel, December 8, 2014

3. Ross Radio Company Marker

(approx. 0.2 miles away); The First Log School (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Youngstown.

Another marker is no longer nearby. Warner Brothers (was about 400 feet away but has been confirmed missing).

Also see . . .
1. Our History. The Good Humor Man (Submitted on December 8, 2014, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.)

2. Harry Burt at FindAGrave.com. (Submitted on December 8, 2014, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.)

Vintage Good Humor Ice Cream Ad image. Click for full size.

Photographed by J. J. Prats, March 22, 2021

4. Vintage Good Humor Ice Cream Ad

It is on the other side of the former Ross Radio Company building, facing the Mahoning Avenue bridge.

Credits. This page was last revised on March 24, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 8, 2014, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 1,714 times since then and 83 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 8, 2014, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 4. submitted on March 24, 2021, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.

Harry Burt and Good Humor⎯⎯⎯Ross Radio Company

Harry Burt and Good Humor
⎯⎯⎯
Ross Radio Company