Black walnut keeps a foothold in Hampton despite fading national presence
Black walnut ice cream, a woodsy, nut-forward flavor that many Hampton residents remember from childhood, has grown scarce on retail menus across the country. Yet in Hampton and nearby cities a few shops continue to carry the classic, offering residents — especially older customers — a chance to reconnect with familiar tastes.
One of the local holdouts is Sommer Freeze, an ice cream shop near Hampton’s Buckroe Beach. Owner Veronica Sommer said she keeps the Blue Bell black walnut on the menu year-round because customers ask for it often. "They tell me that they can’t find it anywhere else," she said, underscoring how local shops are filling a gap left by larger chains and changing retail trends.
“They tell me that they can’t find it anywhere else.”
From local ads to national chains: a short flavor history
The flavor has deep roots in American ice-cream history. Virginia newspaper archives show advertisements for a black walnut flavor as far back as 1927, where Southern Dairies promoted "The Velvet Kind" black walnut as a seasonal fall treat. Other period advertisements turned up in 1941 for Rosdale Dairy Stores and 1949 for Pet Ice Cream, each touting the flavor’s richness.
| Year | Noted mention |
|---|---|
| 1927 | The Velvet Kind black walnut, Southern Dairies (archive ad) |
| 1941 | Rosdale Dairy Stores advertisement |
| 1949 | Pet Ice Cream advertisement |
| 1953 | Baskin-Robbins included black walnut among its original 31 flavors |
Black walnut also figures into broader stories about how ice cream flavors travel and change. Baskin-Robbins, founded in 1945 by Burton Baskin and Irvine Robbins, listed black walnut among its original 31 flavors in 1953. The chain has since expanded to offer more than a thousand flavors at various times, making the once-common black walnut harder to find at many locations.
Attribution and local memory
Some social media users have credited the flavor to Augustus Jackson, a 19th-century Philadelphia chef who is often called a pioneer of American ice-cream making. Jackson developed freezing methods and shared recipes with Black ice cream parlor owners, according to BlackPast.org. However, local reporting did not find evidence that he specifically invented black walnut.
In Hampton, the flavor survives through demand from customers who want the taste of family recollection and seasonal nostalgia. That demand is small but consistent enough for shops like Sommer Freeze to stock the flavor year-round. Photographs from late June show a Hampton Baskin-Robbins location carrying black walnut as well, illustrating that the flavor still turns up at both independent shops and some chain outlets in the region.
Where to taste it locally
- Sommer Freeze — near Buckroe Beach; stocks Blue Bell black walnut year-round for older customers who ask for it.
- Baskin-Robbins (Hampton and Newport News) — reported to have black walnut in stock at some locations during the summer season.
For many Hampton residents the presence of black walnut is more than a flavor choice. It’s a small, tangible link to family history and a reminder of how regional tastes persist even as national chains chase new offerings. In a city where neighborhoods hold strong memories, the simple scoop can be a way to share story and place across generations.
