# What's that song the ice cream truck is playing?- not turkey in the straw **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573 "2014-06-25T00:12:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/21 "2014-06-26T00:02:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I’ve never heard an ice cream truck play a song. They all rang bells. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Interesting. Around here, they all play songs. “Pop Goes the Weasel,” is another popular one, after with an obnoxious vocal “HELLO?!” after the end of the verse. ETA: Or sometimes a duck quack. ETA2: I need to record this, because I can’t seem to find any examples of it online. RealityChuck speak’um truth: until about 1970, it was bells on the truck. I think the microchip hit the scene about then and I’m sure it was invented strictly to go on IC trucks and annoy the populace at large. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/22 "2014-06-26T22:24:08Z")
> [@huitzilopochtli](#): > > Wow! You’re amazing! Yes, that’s true! This was just a lucky guess though. > [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > The standard ice cream truck melody, different than the one helpfully provided by Greg Charles, is here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZB6WXDuM1g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZB6WXDuM1g) That’s _Turkey in the Straw_. > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > RealityChuck speak’um truth: until about 1970, it was bells on the truck. I think the microchip hit the scene about then and I’m sure it was invented strictly to go on IC trucks and annoy the populace at large. ICs may be how they do it now, but in the 1970s? No way. Believe it or not, we had worked out ways to record and playback music long before the world went digital. I can’t find a definitive cite, but it looks like ice cream trucks mounted music boxes playing _Turkey in the Straw_ essentially as long as there have been ice cream trucks, since about the 1950s. However, I’m don’t doubt that RealityChuck heard some with bells, or that he hasn’t heard a single one playing music in the ensuing half century. (No, I take it back. I do doubt that second part.) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/23 "2014-06-26T23:04:04Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > The one I hear all of the time in the area where I live is Mister Softee. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2wA1yLsho&list=PLCBEFDDCCC535FAD0&index=11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2wA1yLsho&list=PLCBEFDDCCC535FAD0&index=11) I hear that one often, and also [The Entertainer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uzQuHsqTXo) (also used as the theme in the movie _The Sting_). ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/24 "2014-06-26T23:04:50Z")
There is an ice cream truck in my neighborhood that plays [Korobeiniki](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmCCQxVBfyM), as heard on Tetris (the ice cream truck’s version is a bit slower). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/25 "2014-06-26T23:32:14Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I can’t find a definitive cite, but it looks like ice cream trucks mounted music boxes playing _Turkey in the Straw_ essentially as long as there have been ice cream trucks, since about the 1950s. However, I’m don’t doubt that RealityChuck heard some with bells, or that he hasn’t heard a single one playing music in the ensuing half century. (No, I take it back. I do doubt that second part.) Actual ice cream trucks rarely venture into my current neighborhood. Instead we get pushcarts with the vendor manually jingling a row of piercingly loud and high-pitched bells. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/26 "2014-06-27T04:13:43Z")
Where I used to live, ice cream trucks played “Oh, the Moon Shines Tonight on Pretty Red Wing”…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/27 "2014-06-27T06:04:46Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > The one I hear all of the time in the area where I live is Mister Softee. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2wA1yLsho&list=PLCBEFDDCCC535FAD0&index=11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2wA1yLsho&list=PLCBEFDDCCC535FAD0&index=11) That’s pretty! What is that song? Or is it something they created specifically for Mr. Softee? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/28 "2014-06-27T06:46:50Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > That’s pretty! What is that song? Or is it something they created specifically for Mr. Softee? [apparently not](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk1n2Df701M) ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/29 "2014-06-27T10:31:59Z")
> [@huitzilopochtli](#): > > I’ll google as soon as I have an internet connection. How did you post this, then? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/30 "2014-06-27T15:27:51Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > How did you post this, then? 😕 He can’t reply if he has no Internet connection! I’d explain how he made the OP, but my keyboard is broken. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/31 "2014-06-27T17:42:18Z")
I can’t even read this thread ☹ What are y’all talking about??? ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/32 "2014-06-27T18:37:51Z")
Been answered, but for some reason I hear them playing “Home on the Range” a lot, and also “Fur Elise” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/33 "2014-06-27T20:29:43Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > I think if we’ve learned anything from 67,519 times this has come up on the Dope, it’s that there _is no standard_. There are lots of songs used by different trucks, companies, places, and even times. But we have never determined why that uber creppy “HELLO!” ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/34 "2014-06-27T20:43:59Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I hear that one often, and also [The Entertainer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uzQuHsqTXo) (also used as the theme in the movie _The Sting_). _The Entertainer_ is what our local trucks play. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573/35 "2014-06-28T01:28:37Z")
I should add that Mister Softee has really good softserve. One day soon when I hear it outside I’m going to breakdown and get myself a double cone with chocolate and vanilla. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-song-the-ice-cream-truck-is-playing-not-turkey-in-the-straw/691573.md?page=1)