Blue Bell Ice Cream (the self-styled “little creamery” in Brenham, Texas) blended crushed Oreo cookies with vanilla ice cream and trademarked the name “Cookies ‘n Cream” in 1978. The “cookies and cream” (sometimes spelled “cookies and creme”) ice cream flavor was quickly imitated by almost all ice cream companies and shops in the 1980s. Blue Bell now uses its own cookies and does not use Nabisco’s trademarked Oreo cookies in Blue Bell’s “Cookies ‘n Cream” flavor.
 
John Harrison of Dreyer’s/Edy’s Ice Cream has often claimed to have invented the first “cookies-and-cream” ice cream flavor in 1980, but Blue Bell’s 1978 claim is two years’ earlier.
   
   
Wikipedia: Cookies and Cream
Cookies and Cream (or Cookies ‘n Cream) is a popular flavoring in foods, including ice creams, milkshakes, and confectionery.
 
It is typically a flavor infused into desserts using crushed chocolate cookies sandwiching a cream filling. The flavor is widely associated with the Oreo cookie, a kind of cookie sandwich with a sweet white cream filling commonly used in milkshakes and other frozen desserts such as Blizzards, pies, etc.
 
There is some debate as to who first invented and marketed Cookies ‘n Cream ice cream. John Harrison, the official taster for Dreyer’s/Edy’s Ice Cream, claims he invented it first for the company in 1982. In another claim, Blue Bell Creameries claim they first mass-produced the flavor two years earlier in 1980 after an employee tasted it in Houston ice cream parlor the year before. South Dakota State University claims the flavor was invented at the university’s Dairy Plant. 
 
Wikipedia: Blue Bell Creameries
Blue Bell Creameries is the manufacturer of Blue Bell brand ice cream, made since 1907 . The company, which produces the third-best-selling ice cream in the country, sells its products in only seventeen mostly Southern states, although Blue Bell ice cream has also been eaten aboard the International Space Station and at Camp David. Corporate headquarters are at the “Little Creamery” in Brenham, Texas.
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Blue Bell introduced its flagship flavor, “Homemade Vanilla,” in 1969 and claims to have invented the flavor"Cookies ‘n Cream.” Although the company at one time made Cookies ‘n Cream from Nabisco’s Oreo cookies, buying ordinary retail packages, today they bake their own cookies. As of 1997, Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla was the best-selling single flavor of ice cream in the United States.
 
Wikipedia: Oreo
Oreo is a trademark for a popular sandwich cookie currently manufactured by the Nabisco Division of Kraft Foods. The current design consists of a sweet, white filling commonly referred to as ‘cream’ or ‘creme’, sandwiched between two circular chocolate cookies.
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Oreo Ice Cream. This is licensed by Breyers, Good Humor, and Klondike in the US, and Nestlé in Canada. Flavors are:
Oreo Ice Cream (Blended Oreo cookies in Vanilla Ice Cream)
Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich (Extra Large Oreo wafers with the above mentioned ice cream in the middle)
Oreo Ice Cream Bar (Chocolate Ice Cream bar with the above mentioned Ice Cream)
Mint Oreo Ice Cream (Blended Oreo Cookies with Mint Ice Cream)
Many notable fast-food restaurants serve Oreo flavored ice cream desserts and milkshakes
 
1 April 1981, Syracuse (NY) Herald-Journal, pg. B4, col. 1 ad:
COOKIES ‘N CREAM
Oreo Cookie Bits in Vanilla Ice Cream
Byrne Dairy, Inc.
(One of “two flavors-of-the-month”—ed.)
   
18 March 1982, Washington (DC) Post, “Anne’s Reader Exchange,” pg. E4:
That rich chocolate dessert made with cookies and cream requires one box of Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies (Magruder’s does have them, but they are not readily available) and a half pint of whipping cream, sweetened to taste.
 
Spread cookies with the cream, stacking them as you do. Stand the row of them on edge on a serving platter. Cover the row with the rest of the whipped cream. Chill for 12 to 24 hours so cream soaks into cookies to make them cake-like. Slice diagonally.
 
14 December 1982, Paris (TX) News, pg. 11, col. 1 ad:
Cookies & Cream Ice Cream
BRAUM’S ICE CREAM AND DAIRY STORES
 
19 January 1983, Kerrville (TX) Mountain Sun, pg. 6 ad:
Cookies & Cream
(Royal Maid Ice Cream—ed.)
 
10 August 1983, New York (NY) Times, “Food Notes” by Marian Burros, pg. C9:
All the Haagen-Dazs dipping stores carry the new cookies and cream flavor, one of the company’s most popular, which is a combination of vanilla ice cream and a chocolate cookie whose texture is reminiscent of the outside of an Oreo.  While it is not as good as chocolate chocolate chip, if you like Oreos and vanilla ice cream you will like the new flavor, at $1.25 a scoop.
 
13 February 1984, Titusville (PA) Herald, pg. 18 ad:
Nabisco
OREO COOKIES ‘N CREAM ICE CREAM
New
 
Philadelphia (PA) City Paper
August 10–17, 1995
An Interview with John Harrison
By Deni Kasrel
Background: John Harrison has one sweet job. He takes little bites from ice cream production runs and, using what’s called the 3-S method (swirl, smack, and spit), judges each sample to determine if it meets certain high standards. John’s tasting acumen is so exceptional that his employer, Edy’s Grand Ice Cream, insures his tastebuds for a cool $1 million.
 
He says ice cream runs through his veins — it’s an inherited trait. John’s great-grandfather operated two ice cream parlor/candy stores, a grandfather ran a dairy co-op and his dad and an uncle owned a dairy ingredients company. He began working for Edy’s in 1980. Besides tasting their goods, he helps develop new flavors. Among his prized picks are Cookies N’ Cream (“mine was the first”) and New York Blueberry Cheesecake.
 
Seattle (WA) Post-Intelligencer
Saturday, June 17, 2006
A moment with John Harrison, ice cream taster
Santa and the Easter Bunny have their times of year. Heck, even accountants have tax season. If you’re at the supermarket and you happen to hear someone bellow, “Ma’am, put the brakes on and come see the ice cream man,” it’s probably ice cream season (between March and September) and you’re about to meet John Harrison, inventor of the cookies-and-cream flavor and official taste tester for Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream.
 
Austin (TX) American-Statesman
Blue Bell’s all about the flavor
Blue Bell celebrates 100 years with candles, history, festivities and another new flavor or two
By Kitty Crider
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FOOD EDITOR
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
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Sometimes the hurdle is obtaining the ingredient itself. When Blue Bell pioneered Cookies ‘n Cream in 1978, Nabisco did not offer bulk bags of Oreos, whole or crumbled. A company employee had to open by hand individual packages and grind them into pieces. (So, what did you do at work today? I busted up Oreos.) The flavor remains the company’s all-time second best-seller.
   
(Trademark)
Word Mark BLUE BELL ICE CREAM SUPREME COOKIES ‘N CREAM HALF GALLON
Goods and Services (CANCELLED) IC 030. US 046. G & S: ICE CREAM. FIRST USE: 19781000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19781000
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 02.07.01 - Groups, males
03.07.01 - Cattle; Oxen, cows, calves, bulls; Steers
19.07.25 - Cases, eyeglass; Clothes hampers; Coolers (ice chests); Hampers; Shadow boxes; Soap dispenser
Serial Number 73420473
Filing Date April 7, 1983
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition July 30, 1985
Change In Registration CHANGE IN REGISTRATION HAS OCCURRED
Registration Number 1374936
Registration Date December 10, 1985
Owner (REGISTRANT) BLUE BELL CREAMERIES, INC. CORPORATION TEXAS LOOP 577, P. O. BOX 1807 BRENHAM TEXAS 77833
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record LESTER L. HEWITT
Prior Registrations 0972517;1144455
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “ICE CREAM”, “COOKIES’N CREAM”, “SUPREME”, AND “HALF GALLON” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Description of Mark THE DRAWING IS LINED FOR THE COLORS LIGHT BROWN AND GOLD.
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR).
Other Data REGISTRATION RESTRICTED TO THE AREA COMPRISING THE UNITED STATES EXCEPT THE STATES OF OREGON, WASHINGTON, IDAHO, ALASKA AND MONTANA. CONCURRENT USE PROCEEDING NO. 852 WITH SUNSHINE BISCUITS, INC.
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Cancellation Date September 16, 2006
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark COOKIES ‘N CREAM COOKIES ‘N CREAM
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 030. US 046 046. G & S: PREMIUM ICE CREAM PREMIUM ICE CREAM. FIRST USE: 19781200. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19790900
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 73315746
Filing Date June 22, 1981
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Owner (APPLICANT) BLUE BELL CREAMERIES, INC. BLUE BELL CREAMERIES, INC. CORPORATION TEXAS LOOP 577, P. O. BOX 1807 BRENHAM TEXAS 77833
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD