This post was originally published on August 14, 2013. This updated intro serves only to add that the current situation is the bleakest it has ever been. Friendly’s management, local retailers, bulk food distributors – no option exists to move this valuable product from the eastern half of the country to the western half.
This is a tale that almost has it all – sadness, triumph, and betrayal. The one thing it is missing is a victorious ending.
Growing up on Long Island, there were three main places to get ice cream: Carvel, Friendly’s, or some other place that wasn’t Carvel or Friendly’s. Friendly’s eventually rose to the top for me, on the strength of their ice cream rolls, most notably their Jubilee Roll.
The Jubilee Roll was a Christmas tradition with my family. It’s one of those “this isn’t very interesting to read about if you didn’t grow up with it” situations, so I will be brief. But basically, to a kid, that pink part on top was worth twice its weight in gold. It caused many a fight between my sister and me.
As much love as I had for the Jubilee Roll, it became a distant second once I found my true love – Wattamelon Rolls.
Wattamelon Rolls are, literally, one of the greatest things mankind has ever created. It is a sherbet roll shaped like half of a watermelon, with watermelon sherbet and chocolate chips making up the fruit, and lemon sherbet making up the rind.
While that description makes it sound good, it doesn’t nearly do proper justice to the glory that is the Wattamelon Roll. I need to learn one of those languages that has more letters than English, in hopes that having extra letters to work with might help explain how good it is.
Some people look forward to summer because of the warm weather, being off from school, traveling, or some other less-important reason. I looked forward to summer because that’s when the Wattamelon Rolls would be stocked. Summertime became a race against the clock to ingest as much as possible, until the sad day came when they were taken off store shelves until next year.
If only I had known that “only available in the summer” would soon become the least of my problems.
After moving from New York to Colorado Springs, I came to the depressing realization that Friendly’s doesn’t have a location west of Ohio. I was scrambling for ways to get my fix. Could I have a friend ship them overnight? It would be expensive as hell, but maybe if I got four or five in one container, that would at least last me a week or so.
Finally, I went to the source – I emailed Friendly’s. I sent them a long, impassioned message about how important Wattamelon Rolls were to me, and the lack of them where I live was causing my soul to decay. I said if necessary, in case they have some sort of shipping minimum, that I would buy an entire pallet of them. Sure, it would cost a lot of money, and I’d have to figure out where to put them, but I’d make it work if it came down to that.
After pouring my heart out, my only reply was the remarkably un-friendly, “Friendly’s does not ship its products.” No “sorry for your loss”, or “thanks for your feedback” or any token gesture of sympathy. Just a terse rebuttal that destroyed my day.
I endured that miserable summer, and trudged through another year, completely devoid of joy. Then, on one fateful day the next summer, I got a text from my goth brother Eric. It was a picture of a Wattamelon Roll, with a message reading, simply, “?”
Apparently, my dad had stumbled upon them in Walmart. They were stocking them with the ice cream cakes. I bounded down the stairs, with a gigantic smile on my face, to show my wife. She knew all about my trials and tribulations, and I knew she would share in my happiness. While I think much of her shared joy was largely pity and some shame at my levels of excitement, she at least patronized me.
An hour or so later, we were off to my parents’ house. My dad had bought two of them, but decided to put them in his cart at the start of his shopping trip, so they were quite melted, even after being in the freezer for a couple of hours. While it wasn’t ideal, it was good enough for me. Half eating, half drinking it, I was in heaven. Not literally, obviously. Although if that’s what heaven turns out to be, I don’t think I’d complain.
So, that summer was a wonderful one. I was paranoid that the Walmarts around me would sell out, so I made sure to always have my freezer stocked.
And, lest you think I am a weirdo, I will point out that I don’t store sodas in the freezer. That can is filled with frozen fat.
Of course, the summer had to come to an end, so I knew that the Wattamelon Rolls would go back to being shelved until next year. Well, I guess not “shelved” so much as “not made for another 8 months”. But if they just put the existing stock into deep freeze and sold them a year later, I’d still buy them.
Come May of next year, I began to be on the lookout for them. I didn’t see them, and figured maybe June was when they’d hit stores. Halfway into June, I was getting nervous. By the end of June, it became depressingly clear – it didn’t seem like Walmart wanted to be my friend anymore.
I contacted Friendly’s and Walmart about this debacle. While they weren’t helpful, Friendly’s put the blame on Walmart, claiming Walmart decided not to carry their products this year. With Walmart landing in the defendant’s chair, it became time to take the efforts towards them.
My requests on Facebook, email, “Contact Us” forms, even phones became something akin to carpet bombing. I assumed they would ignore me because, well, that’s what Walmart usually does. So I figured even if they wouldn’t listen to me, I could maybe annoy them into action.
So far, a year later, my efforts have gone unnoticed. My Wattamelon Roll intake is limited now to once a year, when I go back to New York. This was my lunch when I was on Long Island last week:
I may have to look into the old idea of having someone ship me some.
I will not give up on my efforts. Even if nothing ever happens between Friendly’s and Walmart, I can at least know I didn’t sit back and allow my misery to grow without a fight.
It’s an incredibly stupid decision by Walmart, since I was literally buying almost all of their stock in my city. There’s five Walmarts within a thirty minute radius of me, and among all of them, they had maybe two left on the shelves after I bought all of mine.
They sure sold a lot better than the trash they keep in their ice cream cake freezer now. And Wattamelon Rolls are light years better than anything in there. Have you had one of those M&M ice cream cakes? Dire stuff.
So in the off chance someone from Walmart is reading this, or even Friendly’s – make this relationship work again! As in every divorce, the true victims are the children. Or the thirty somethings who just love eating like children.
Diet Coke-Babies 
I, too, am deeply in love with Wattamelon Rolls. My birthday is at the end of October, and every year we had to hide a Wattamelon Roll at the back of the freezer so I could have my ice cream of choice on my birthday. When I moved to Columbus, OH from Toledo, I was shocked that there were no Friendlies around. There may have been a few trips from Toledo to Columbus involving freezers filled with dry ice. But I had an magic moment this summer when I randomly found Wattamelon Rolls while shopping at the grocery store. I don’t know if you have Giant Eagles in your neck of the woods, but ours carries the Wattamelon Rolls. So far we have only bought 3… but I’m sure I’ll be stashing one in the back of the freezer soon! Good luck!
Hey. I live in Ohio but all of the Friendly’s here closed decades ago. However, I too experienced your same plight and experience last year. But if I can offer some hope, I did see some Friendly’s ice cream cakes in the freezer of a Walmart near me just a week ago. It is too early for watermelon, but I was surprised to see they had a few varieties available. So lets hope this year is another success.
Yeah, the Walmarts near me have carried the ice cream cakes for a while. The rolls come and go. Unfortunately, the one roll they decided to carry was the Pumpkin Roll which a) wasn’t very good and b) is apparently selling terribly.
All the Walmarts near me still have lots of Pumpkin Rolls in their freezers – I might literally have been the only person to buy one. This can’t help our situation, since Walmart will think, “The last roll we got didn’t sell, let’s not sell any others.”
I got my hopes up in the fall that seeing the Pumpkin Roll might mean they’d carry the Jubilee, which didn’t happen. So I don’t have high hopes for a Wattamelon revival.
Aldi June 25,2014 under special buys tab.
Thanks for the info. It seems there are no locations even remotely close to me, unfortunately. I Googled their locations, and found some random address in Colorado Springs, and just went by. It wasn’t a location, so I’m not sure why that location information has shown up on numerous sites.
Haha I love this! I’m having some as we speak!!! (On Li)
.
Wattamelon Rolls are NOW sold
at ALDI stores for $4.99 per box.
.
And — that was one of the funniest
blog essays that I have ever read! =D
.
https://www.aldi.us/en/weekly-specials/special-buys-for-june-25/june-25-detail/ps/p/friendlys-wattamelon-roll/
.
Thanks for the feedback and the info.
Unfortunately, ALDI is refusing to cooperate with me, by building a location here. I emailed them, and they said there are no plans to even build one here, let alone rush the process so it would be finished by this summer and I could go there.
I have found kindred spirits! I bought my wattamelon roll from Martin’s today. any in your area? happy hunting.
No Martin’s here, sadly.
I just purchased 4 rolls from aldi for 3.99 each and plan to buy more!
Aldi’s is where I found mine!
Robbposh,
Give me your email, phone number, and address and I will get you some rolls. We are in Jubilee now but we will be making Wattamelon roll soon. I will make sure you have your fix…
Where do you shop as we are working with more and more retailers out west now.
Bob S.
Friendly’s
Retail Sales
Bob,
I sent you an email. I look forward to hearing back from you!
-Robb
My name is Brian and I am in Fort Myers, Florida which is part of Southwest Florida . My son and I am always enjoyed wattamelon roll and I am originally from Massachusetts. Sweetbay grocery store is used to carry the watermelon roll but got bought over by Winn Dixie. I have been looking for it ever since but can’t believe that such an excellent product is not stocked in more stores around the country especially considering its uniqueness. Is there anyway you could see if there are any stores on missing or just a way to get them where I am? My son and I would greatly appreciate it. Sincerely, Brian. Another Friendly’s wattamelon roll lover.
This was great to read. If you have no luck try recreating the wattamelon roll, which I have yet to try. I love Friendlys sherberts.
Good Luck.
Erin,
I actually looked into giving that a try this summer, but it got speed bumped by, well, laziness.
But really, my biggest issue would be that while there are some good watermelon sherberts out there, they don’t taste quite like Friendly’s. So it would be a pale imitation. But if next year proves fruitless, I think I may try it.
Friendly’s has made their watermelon sherbert available in half gallons in grocery stores.
Any chance of finding a wattamelon roll in January? My friends birthday is coming up and she’s mentioned this truly is the best thing ever. I’m even in NY so here’s to hoping for a regional windfall!
Holly, Friendly’s only starts production of Wattamelon Rolls in January, and they probably won’t hit shelves until late April / May.
Maybe a Friendly’s gift certificate? Other than that your only other hope is to find another psycho like me who might have some backup rolls in their ice cream bomb shelter.
Here’s the patent I wrote for the Wattamellon Roll:
http://www.google.com.ar/patents/US4507326
It’s the best tasting patent I ever wrote. My first patent.
Inventor Jeffrey W. Tarantino
Original Assignee Friendly Ice Cream Corporation
I’ve had contact with a lot of company reps & employees, but this is definitely the most unique one yet. That is truly awesome.
I read through the whole patent, and being the intellectual that I am, understood about 30% of it. But I got enough to get what was actually being described / presented, and how it would birth a Wattamelon Roll.
So thanks a bunch to you, for creating something so interesting.
I just wrote the patent, describing & claiming what Jeffrey W. Tarantino invented.
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I love this post. I’m a watermelon roll fanatic (5 in my freezer right now). Has anyone noticed the flavor has changed on about half of them? The watermelon part tastes strange almost like the difference between coke and diet come… That’s the best way I can describe it. It’s driving me crazy!! I noticed the ones that don’t taste so good are a lighter shade of red.
I don’t know if i’ve noticed that. But I have had the not-uncommon one that seems like it melted a good bit then re-froze – possibly it’s an offshoot of that occurrence?
Well then….. I just ran to Aldi’s and yes got my 3 wattamelon rolls! Friendly’s is definitely missing the marketing boat. Since my birthday is in July, these awesome tasting melty in your mouth goodness has been a part of my bday celebrations. I moved from Long Island NY to one of the few cities in FL that have a Friendly’s… but alas… moved again and the closest one is 20 miles away… BUT… Aldi’s is about a mile away… Happy days are here again. I doubt nothing can top the wattamelon roll flavor combination, but I’m challenging Friendly’s to have a create a roll competition …. here are my entries…
1. Coffee chocolate MUDSLIDE roll
2. Pina colada roll (pineapple sherbet, coconut ice cream
3. Key Lime Pie roll .. lime sherbet, lemon rind sherbet, graham cracker sprinkles
4. Salted caramel roll
5. Cinnamon roll
6. Chocolate/ candy cane/mint roll
That key lime roll idea sounds amazing. Until then, I will have to settle for Edys / Dreyer’s Key Lime frozen yogurt (not as cool).
Also, Aldi’s has become my official new nemesis. I keep getting suggested to check Aldi’s for a Wattamelon Roll, and Aldi’s won’t come within 500 miles of me.
Hi! I moved to Colorado 5 years ago and have been craving watermelon roll ever since!! My brother recently moved back to Boston and sends pictures all the time of his kids and him eating it. I was wondering about asking King Soopers (Kroger) to start carrying it. When all of the Friendlys shut down in Ohio we got enough people together to submit requests that they started carrying watermelon rolls at one location. I’m in Denver and maybe we can find enough people to submit a request to a specific store. Safeway recently started carrying Friendly’s out here but only the ice cream tubs. No rolls or sundaes :(
I’ve contacted Albertson’s & Safeway about this. Them getting the ice cream is at least a nice start. But both companies said they don’t yet have any plans to bring in rolls.
But if you need someone else to harass (sorry: “contact”) a location into stocking them, let me know.
Thanks to all of you for inspiring me, especially Robb Posch and Chris Garvey
This is… amazing.
Omg I’m 8 months pregnant and all I want is that delicious Wattamelon Roll I dream about from my childhood. I live in California (originally from Connecticut) and Friendly’s is so far away. I’ve googled to see if I could get it shipped. Luckily I stumbled upon your blog which saved me hours of searching to get a “no”. Boo. I could try making one but I doubt it will be just as good. I might acutully trade our In and Out Burgers for a Friendly’s right now. Oh and their Reese’s Pieces ice cream cups!!!! It’s been years since I’ve had Friendly’s yet I can still taste it in my memories. Ugh!
You can get the Reese’s cups at Safeway and Albertson’s. I was praying for a Wattamelon roll, but they still haven’t shown up. Fingers crossed to at least find watermelon sherbet at some point. Sherbet coolers and cones with chocolate spinkekles were a big part of my summers too!
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I live in Orlando, FL and am searching for the Wattamelon Roll for my daughter’s birthday. The Friendly’s restaurants have closed here, as well. The Wattamelon Roll has been a tradition for many years, my daughter is turning 38. If anyone has any news of where I might be able to purchase it, please respond. Robb, I feel your pain!
I know this is an old post but in my search for answers , I found your blog. I live in Vermont , have a local Friendly’s and cannot find a Wattamelon Roll anywhere!! I’m really starting to panic. I absolutely love them and haven’t been able to find them since last year. I’m praying that they aren’t gone for good. Has anyone heard anything?? I really enjoyed your story by the way and can totally relate.
The Wattamelon Roll has become a birthday tradition for my daughter for about 30 years. Her birthday being in August makes it easy for me to locate them especially in the New York area. this year I bought 2. I was wondering if anyone knows what year Friendly’s introduced the roll. I’m trying to figure out exactly how long we’ve been doing this.
Friendly’s Wattamelon Roll
Patent US4507326 A
Stratified chromatically distinct sherbet confection
Publication type Grant
Application number US 06/508,257
Publication date 26 Mar 1985
Filing date 27 Jun 1983
Priority date 27 Jun 1983
Fee status Paid
Inventors Jeffrey W. Tarantino
Original Assignee Friendly Ice Cream Corporation
I find this information WAY more interesting than one human probably should. Thanks for this.
It was the 1st patent I wrote.
Christopher Garvey
Patent Attorney
Collard & Roe, P.C. *
1077 Northern Boulevard
Roslyn, NY 11576
1 516 365 9802 x 303 ofc.
1 631 598 0752 home office
cgarvey@collardroe.com
*Formerly of Nolte, Nolte & Hunter founded 1918
now merged into Collard & Roe, P.C., founded 1966
I’m eating a wattamelon roll right now- there is a Friendly’s around the corner from me. But I feel your pain. Having your favorite magical food ripped from you by callous corporate overlords is horrible. I went through that with Trader Joes when they got rid of my blueberry pomegranate sherbet :(
http://www.laaloosh.com/2014/01/10/trader-joes-pomegranate-blueberry-sherbet-4-points/
That’s cold blooded, Sally.
Where is that Friendly’s?
Sally, Where is that Friendly’s ?
My husband and I moved from New York to Raleigh, NC 2 years ago and he has been trying to find the Wattamelon Roll ever since! It is so unfortunate because the Food Lion and the Wal-Mart here both carry Friendlys ice cream (even the Dollar Tree carries the small sundaes) but they refuse to carry the Wattamelon Rolls!! Just as you’ve stated, if they were to stock them, they would be a top seller. Instead we are stuck with crap cakes…if only Friendlys took the advice of their consumers they may not have had to close so many of their brick and mortar locations. Hope you folks are listening!!
Was just googling wattamelon roll because this is the first year I haven’t found one for my daughters birthday and I happened upon this post. We live in Ohio and the last friendly’s closed a couple of years ago. My daughters birthday is in May and she has asked for wattamelon roll for about 15 years. I feel bad because this is the first year that I haven’t been able to find one. Usually I can get them at Giant Eagle, but no luck. If anyone out there knows where they are any let me know.
Please continue to make more blog posts! This is what I’ve been missing in my life!
I forgot about this site! Then I tried Twinkies cereal, and immediately thoughts of you and your reviews came flooding back. Twinkies cereal is terrible, and I’ll be looking forward to your review of it.
I agree! I just tried Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros Cereal (which is really weird) and needed to know what cokebabies thought of it!
I have never ever ever felt so impassioned by a blog post. I moved from Long Island to Ohio..and it is devastating. I am likely going to drive about an hour towards PA to try and get one this year.
I’ve been searching for one for years. We have the strawberry shortcake ice cream cake here in our Walmart’s in California. No. Stinking. Whattamelon roll. Anyone want to mail me one? Lol
Kroger started selling a Watermelon Sherbet with chocolate chips. It’s a far cry from the real Wattamelon Roll, but it’s as close as I’m going to find on the west coast.
Looks like I’m not the only one who misses this from my childhood!
Thank you for this! Went and got some at Ralph’s today. It’s not the same but I tried to concoct my own with lemon sherbert on the outside and green sprinkles. I know it won’t be the same but I’m excited!
We are all in this together, so if that works for you than I am legit happy (that is actually meant in a truly non-sarcastic way). But oh man, I HATED it. When I saw that in the King Soopers freezer, in my head it was an angelic chorus of “Ahhhhhhs” and I almost dropped to my knees in thanks.
I thought the watermelon flavor was borderline disgusting. Not because it tasted fake (which it did) – I welcome fake. Give me Wattamelon, Laffy Taffy, and myriad other chemically-fueled watermelon flavors all day long. But something about this… no thanks. And I’m obviously not one to fear sugar, but this somehow had like 25% more sugar than an actual Wattamelon Roll? I am almost impressed by Kroger’s Tetris-like ability to fit in sugar molecules.
Again I want to stress, if this checks anyone’s Wattamelon boxes, then I’m on the sidelines cheering.
My desperation got to the point where I actually got a cheap ice cream maker, and tried to make something. My first attempt was not amazing. An ice-y and hard texture, but “watermelon and chocolate chips” gave my brain a rush. I will try other recipes, and tweak things as I go along. It won’t be the same, but it can help ease the itching at the base of my brain stem.
um… i live in colorado springs, and i was just on walmart’s website and it says “In stock at Colorado Springs, 1575 Space Center Dr” 5 left…. so… enjoy. (no jubilee rolls though… but I might be too late…)
Yup, those same 5 have been in stock for about 7 years now. I’ve checked more than once, because I’m an idiot, but unfortunately it’s just an incorrect listing.
I live in Plymouth,Massachusetts and I just had one of these watermelon rolls for the first time.
I ate the whole thing in two sittings. This thing has been here all this time and I never had one till now.
I have one Friendly left in my town and they stock them at my local Stop and Shop. Going to get one now. Simply amazing!!!
Hi! I managed to eat a Wattamelon Roll on the West Coast. The rough process was to buy a cooler and send it to a cousin in Boston, have him pack it with dry ice and a roll, then meet up with him when he flew to the West Coast. Details: https://mehalshah.medium.com/the-friendlys-wattamelon-roll-redemption-875306200d4f
It’s only mid-August and many of the stores in the Boston area (Stop and Shop, Roche Brothers) look like they stopped stocking the Wattamelon Role for the season. DAMN! I was hoping to wolf down a few more before the leaves started turning. This is KILLING me!!!!!
It’s been too long since we’ve heard from you! I want to hear your take on Wendy’s Frosty cereal. I miss your silly words on my screen. Shucks, I’d even buy you a box!
I 100,000,000% agree with the Wattamelon Roll obsession!!! And currently can not find any on the shelves in WNY. #heartbroken
I live in NEW ENGLAND and I can not find a WATTAMELON ROLL. It is a tradition that we always get one for our end of summer bash at work and nothing!!! CANT FIND THEM!!! HELP!
I read they discontinued them this year!!! I hope it’s what I read was wrong and if you find one can you please mail one to California for me??? I grew up back east and check every summer to see if they have somehow made it to a Walmart shelf near me. I really hope they haven’t discontinued them. I’m still hoping to visit family and find me one!
I know exactly how you feel. I’m depressed since discovering they were discontinued.
COVID,war,climate change,loss of abortion rights , monkey pox-now this.
Momentary happiness while eating. PLEASE friendly help the World and bring WATTAMELON ROLL BACK!!!!
Hi, I am just trying to figure out if it would be worthwhile making a Friendly’s Wattamelon Roll clone and rebrand with a different name but same ingredients. I don’t think the Friendly’s Corp would care since I’m not competing with them and I figured I could buy their old equipment since they don’t produce the Rolls anymore. I only want to make sure if I set up the whole process I can at least make a little profit and also enjoy my favorite dessert. I don’t use social media so l have no clue how to get the word out. I guess I could ask my Grandkids but they have no business knowledge. So if you have any ideas please let me know. Thanks Mike
Oh that would be amazing!