Signs approaching Bar Harbor and many other summer resorts herald “hand-dipped” ice cream as if this was an exotic luxury item sought out by only the most sophisticated globe-trotting nabobs. The only thing that distinguishes this product from the frozen extruded polyester to which we have become accustomed is the fact that it is real ice cream served up by a real person with a scoop.

Labor-intensive though it may be, there is no labor union of ice cream dippers and no apprenticeship is required for employment in this exalted profession. So what’s the big deal? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that all the best ice cream scoops have been “scooped” up by avid collectors.

Like so many other areas of collecting, the interest in vintage ice cream dippers and scoops has been driven by nostalgia. Who can deny the pleasant memories associated with the neighborhood soda fountain where the white aproned and capped proprietor served up scoops of tutti-frutti and pistachio ice cream with a stylish flair accompanied by the clickety-click of the scoop?

Ice cream first became a commercial success during and after the 1876 Centennial celebration in Philadelphia. By the end of World War I, thousands of commercial dairies nationwide were turning out millions of gallons of this delectable delight. Soda fountains and ice cream shops sprung up everywhere. In order to efficiently serve up the often rock-hard ice cream, inventors soon began to devise hundreds of gadgets.

The first generation of ice cream scoops were pretty basic cone-shaped affairs with a single straight metal handle. Many of these were made up and soldered by tin-knockers while others were cast of steel, iron or pot metal by kitchenware manufacturers such as Kingery Manufacturing Co., Thomas Mills and others.

It did not take long for clever designers to come up with variations such as the top-mounted wing nut, which turned a scraper inside the cone-shaped scoop to release the ice cream. Another version of this scoop was the spring-activated double handle that worked the inside scraper.

After the turn of the century, manufacturers experimented with many other designs. Logically those which proved impractical fell by the wayside and are now considered to be rarities. Other innovations such as nickel plating for sanitary purposes became standard.

Ultimately the thumb-drive gear-and-ratchet mechanism that worked the scraper on a half-circle scoop became the most successful and efficient design. There were many variations on this now-familiar form. Many of them were patented but never worked very well. Again, these relics have become some of the most sought after by collectors.

During the years after the first World War, innovations and novelties were abundant. Although the most plentiful scoops remained the round and cone-shaped thumb-drive models, there appeared special elongated models designed to serve up banana splits. Other novelties included the heart-shaped scoop that was designed specifically to fit a special dish. Today these are very rare.

Other manufacturers developed clever hand-grip lever mechanisms that looked like present-day caulking guns. These scoops pushed out a cylindrical “plug” of ice cream. Another form of scoop that produced a plug was the plunger model which looked like a veterinarian’s hypodermic.

Particularly popular during the ’20s were servers that produced an ice cream bar. Some models were ratchet driven, others plunger driven, but the result was a flat square or rectangle of ice cream that could be put in a sandwich of cookies. Many of these servers produced an impressed trademark or pattern on the ice cream.

It must be remembered that many scoops were designed not only to promote a product, but to maximize profits by instituting portion control. The more servings per gallon, the greater the profits.

Many households still have a classic ice cream scoop in everyday use. If you wax nostalgic for those days at the soda fountain, there are many good vintage scoops available for reasonable prices at shops and flea markets.

Robert Croul, the NEWS antiques columnist, is from Newburgh.