At least your sister was not lying.
When I was a kid in the 60’s the ONLY trucks that came around were Mr Softee.
That’s really cool, Roderick Femm.
There’s a box of them in my freezer right now - we found them at the Giant Grocery Store.
I kind of wonder how they stay in business these days, what with gas being like $4.50 a gallon (at least where I live). I mean yeah they probably get the ice cream cheap in bulk and whatnot, and paying some poor grumpy Iranian guy 7 bucks an hour to drive a dilapidated van around and yell at children to hurry up and make up their mind, but still, the cost of gas has gotta kill their profits.
When I was in college working as a crossing guard, the smarter ice cream truck drivers would simply park across the street from local elementary/middle schools ten minutes before school got out. Its probably more cost-effective to simply position yourself somewhere where the customers come to you rather than driving endlessly through neighborhoods. I mean heck, its not like I gotta sprint down the street chasing the taco truck! He parks outside my work, and I go to him! 
There are two trucks that frequent my neighborhood. One has a faded logo on one (windowless) side, and stickers on the other; its music box is out of tune. I’ve always thought of it as the “free candy” sort of van. It tends to hit the child-heavy streets in the neighborhood. The only other odd thing about it is the time of day it likes to show up – usually around 6:45 PM or so.
The other is a slightly nicer looking van with windows on both sides; the logo is very new looking, but it doesn’t have many ice cream stickers on the side. Its music box is in tune, but it always plays Christmas carols. The only place I’ve seen it stop is the construction site on my street. It shows up closer to 6 PM.
Moms don’t like kids spoiling their appetite before dinner, but ice cream for dessert is fine.
Count me among the former Good Humor and Mister Softee customers. All of those other trucks look like something that was put together in the vendor’s backyard.
The last time I bought an ice cream from a van was only a year ago. It cost about $5, and tasted like cigarette smoke.
Never again.
This is still the norm around me - NW Burbs of Chicago. If I saw any of the other ones you showed, I’d run screaming - or call 911. Talk about creepy!!
Ha I tried to convince my kids that they only played music when they ran out of icecream . They go the joke of course…
I used to patronize a local ice cream truck when I was young. It looked kind of beat up, but it really did look like an ice cream truck. The guy was an amputee I think, because he had a prosthetic arm with a metal squeezer thing that he would take your money with. He had a great attitude and I’ll never forget him.
I remember as a kid I was weirded out by the arm, but my mom explained it was nothing to be afraid of and that the man was really nice. I think back now as an adult and I can actually see how being an ice cream man seemed to make him happy, and he got along so well with the kids. I wonder whatever happened to him.
Years later, there was a new ice cream man, who literally towed the generator behind him, and he was creepy. Didn’t buy ice cream from him more than once or twice. His truck looked like a scary van, if I remember correctly.
We didn’t have an ice cream truck in my town growing up, but most places I’ve lived as an adult have had ones like #3. The one in my neighborhood currently plays the circus theme, but over the years, they’ve used the can-can song, Turkey-in-the-Straw, Alouette and Dixie.
In my work neighborhood, we have one more like #2. They actually obtained a vendor permit from my company and park outside for a couple of hours in the afternoon. They seem to do good business (1600 people at my facility) without having to burn the gas driving around. They also carry some treats in sugar free. , sno-cones and Italian ice.
We have three different “Ice Cream Men” who come down our street. One is like your first picture, a traditional ice cream truck, but kinda beat up. One is like the van, but in really nice shape. The third is a guy on a bike with a small trailer.