Summertime! Part of my childhood was the rare visit from the ice cream truck. More common were bicycle-carts with a small attached freezer. Prices were reasonable, and I never understood how they could make much money. Over time, ice cream trucks are now a mainstay at fairs or park-based festivals but the mobile type seems to have largely disappeared.
Are mobile ice cream trucks or carts still a thing in your region?
What is the best thing to order?
Why do Americans call freezies “otter pops” and other uncivilized names?
What tune did your ice cream truck play? What would be a better choice?
Why isn’t ice cream truck or cart racing an Olympic event?
Any personal stories?
Eddie Murphy on ice cream: “…and your Dad’s an al-co-haaaaawlic…”. Still hilarious?
We still have ice cream trucks come through the neighborhood (suburban Chicago) from time to time in the summer months. Though, it’s entirely possible that it’s just one truck at this point.
“Otter Pop” is a brand name of freezer pops, mostly from the West Coast, as I understand it. Fla-Vor-Ice is another popular brand here.
The trucks I’ve seen/heard, in the past few decades, all play, without fail, “Turkey in the Straw.”
Personal story: for three years in my teens, mid 1960s, at my father’s insistence, my sister and I operated an ice cream vehicle based on a 3-wheel cushman truckster (about the size of a golf cart or maybe a little bigger, gas-powered). My sister, who was older, did the driving, I did everything else, (stocking, cleaning, making syrup at home, buying supplies, bookkeeping and taxes, etc.) No music, she had a little bell that she would ring all day (must have driven her crazy). Our best seller, and we were the only mobile source in our town, was snow cones. I made the syrup myself, and we had three flavors in gallon jugs with pumps on top, my father had made the jug holder. We also had Popsicles, Creamsicles, Fudgsicles and chocolate-covered ice cream bars. My sister and I were paid the same amount, based on sales, and we lost money every year. But we had enough to last three seasons, from my father’s original stake.
Racing: The last year my sister didn’t drive, she was in summer school, so we found another girl to do it. This girl one day was going too fast down a hill that had a bad curve, and turned over the cart and ended up in the hospital – not hurt too badly, and I was so glad we had insurance. Those carts, at least, are not made for racing or anything like that. Trucks, maybe.
Still a thing? I no longer live in that town, but I would be surprised. Aside from us there was one major outfit that had maybe 25 carts, and I’m sure they are long gone. It just isn’t a good economic model for anyone who needs to make a living wage. We just earned pocket money and enough to save a little.
I grew up on a boring street of a boring town in Connecticut with no stores within walking distance, so I found it amazing and exciting that we could buy ice cream from a truck that came down our little street. My favorite product, for whatever reason, was the Good Humor toasted almond bar, since discontinued. I think even then, you could buy the same products in the supermarket for a lot less than we paid the guy in the truck, but we still wanted it.
We had a regular ice cream truck in the summer in my suburban neighborhood. We almost never were given any money, so it was a rare occurence when we could buy anything (I saved any pennies I got for the Helms truck). I liked the Pink Lady bar and the Drumstick.
Americans don’t have a single blanket term for individually-packaged, pre-made frozen treats-- Each one has its own brand name. If pressed, we’d probably say “ice cream truck treats”, or something of the sort. Some of them are “ice cream sandwiches”, but of course there are other varieties.
Around here, the most common tune is “The Entertainer”, though “Turkey in the Straw” is also not uncommonly heard.
1, They were, but it’s been a few years since I last saw one (possibly because I now live on a dead-end street.
2. Fudgesicle, drumstick/sundae cone, or a plain ice-cream bar.
4. “Turkey in the Straw” is the one I’ve heard most often. Possibly even the only one I’ve ever heard.
The leter maids used those when I was in high school.
Suburban NYC just outside of Queens-- Long Island. And, yeup, many ice cream trucks. Even Mr. Softee. Plus, also, and, Good Humor too. And many, many, many independent carts and trucks.
Keep in mind that Long Island is the most densely populated island in the US and probably the 11th or 12 in the world, so there are a lot of people to sell ice cream to out here.
We still have the occasional ice cream truck through the neighborhood, but nothing like the glory days on Long Island in the 1970s. And some of my favorite treats from back then are no longer available, at least not where I live on the west coast. Marino’s Italian Ices, Good Humor candy center crunch bars, Cannonballs, etc.
In the North York area of Toronto: There is regularly an ice cream truck stationed near our local park. I would never pay the huge mark-up on treats from there, but I often see parents buying stuff for their kids. The truck doesn’t just have stuff from the freezer section of the supermarket; they also do dipped cones, banana splits, milkshakes, etc. The song is one of two tunes: either “Turkey in the Straw” or another distinctive song that I don’t recognize (probably another old-timey folk song).
When I was a kid in Saskatoon, an ice cream truck would drive down our street and kids would chase it down. I think it might have used a bell rather than a song. My favourite would have been a Drumstick, probably (although I might have bought a Mr. Freeze instead if I happened to be low on cash).
I should also mention someone bought and repurposed an old ice cream truck, and drove it through our old neighbourhood. It still played Turkey In The Straw, or something similar. But it was now a mobile “Sharpening Service” for various blades. Only saw it once. But I could not help think that the inevitable disappointment helped fuel whatever truth there is to the profession’s reputation.
I remember my sibs with fudge bars, and Icecream sammiches.
It was a constantly ringing bell. I couldn’t figure how it kept ringing when he had stopped. (Duh, maybe recorded).
Otterpops were something my own kids wanted money for at the pool.
We called them freezie-pops.
I was able to have those when they came out with a sugar free variety. Not my favorite thing, tho’.
More popular in these parts was/is the Icee. (Not a Slurpie) Purchased in convienence stores. I know adults who love them. The Coke flavor is the biggest seller.
Not even close. Not even the most densely populated island in New York. Long Island is waaaay down the list.
We still have ice cream trucks around here year-round. All of them are owned/operated by Mexicans, and stock Mexican frozen treats as well as the usual best-sellers up here. They all play “Turkey In the Straw” and have pretty decent prices. The last thing I bought from one of them as a Drumstick and a Mexican treat flavored with tamarind that I can’t remember the name of right now. (I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Mrs. Elliott, who was charged with teaching me proper sentence structure. What I did there was a Sin, and I’m truly sorry.)
