Scene Through the Lens | May 31, 2021

Mr. Bill, the 25-foot-tall fiberglass giant at the longtime ice cream and burger drive-in on Route 73 in Winslow just off the Atlantic City Expressway, is sporting a new paint job and cleaning after the purchase earlier this month by Philadelphia Water Ice Factory and Richman’s Ice Cream owners Rob Kaleck and Steve Matthews.

John Ernst, who owned the place for five years with his wife, Cheryl, died in October, and she sold it in April. Mr. Bill - now of Mr. Bill’s Richman’s Ice Cream & Burger Co. as of May 1 - also traded in his blue pants and yellow shirt for an outfit of red and white, respectively.

The new owners closed for two weeks for remodeling, rehired the employees, and are keeping many food items like the pork roll sandwich and the weekly car cruises and shows. They say they’ve ”incorporated our brand while keeping the charm of Mr. Bill’s alive!”

Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:

» SEE MORE: Archived columns and Twenty years of a photo column