His name is “Jugglin Joe” and when all lit up at night the neon Joe tosses a scoop of ice cream into the air with his right hand, and magically makes it land in the cone in his left hand.

Herman, “Pop” Gunther designed Jugglin Joe in 1949 when he and his wife Iva relocated Gunther’s Ice Cream Parlour to Franklin Blvd. & 3rd Ave.  It is there that Pop Gunther would tell the children that if Jugglin Joe dropped his scoop, that the ice cream was free.  To this day Joe has been keeping everyone, children and adults alike, wondering if this is going to be their lucky day.

For over 70 years, Joe has sat atop Gunther’s Ice Cream, presiding over Sacramento’s oldest ice cream parlor. Through good times and bad times, Jugglin Joe is still throwing his scoop of ice cream in the air and, as promised, if Joe ever misses… the ice cream is free!