# What's the ice cream truck playing where you are? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389 "2010-07-20T20:42:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/61 "2010-07-23T15:48:04Z")
We have two. One plays Turkey In The Straw; the other plays a Scott Joplin tune that I can’t remember the name of, but it was the theme from The Sting. Oh right! The Entertainer. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/62 "2010-07-23T16:18:21Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > The truck around here, which is the filthiest thing I have ever seen, plays “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” which is the creepiest ice cream truck song ever. That is pretty creepy. Makes me suspect that that ice cream man really is a serial killer. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > There may have been only one Ice Cram truck serving the entire town, at that time. It certainly seemed that way. Ice Cram! That’s what I want to do after hearing the same song all the time… Turkey in the Straw and The Entertainer here. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/63 "2010-07-23T17:52:59Z")
Just yesterday the endless sounds of “Pop Goes the Weasel” was heard through my windows. Funny, when I was a kid during summer and you heard that music approaching you would instatly have 50 kids on the block all run into their houses at the same time to beg mom and dad for money. ---
**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:** [July 23, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/64 "2010-07-23T22:57:06Z")
He changed it today. He doesn’t know what it is, nor do I. “They downloaded it off the internet.” 98F, Heat Index 105F. Mississippi Mud Ice Cream Sandwich. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/65 "2010-07-25T16:00:26Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > I think the ice cream trucks around here play a proprietary jingle (Hemglass, for those who know what I’m talking about). The ice cream truck over here runs things a little differently; they don’t sell individual treats, they sell in bulk and only come by once a week or so (more frequently in the summer, less frequently in the winter). Nonetheless the jingle is familiar enough to everyone that it sets the kids off when they hear it. Yeah, [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyH-7ozCruI) one. We have it too, except it’s Kotijäätelö because it’s Finland. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/66 "2010-07-25T16:12:20Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > I think the ice cream trucks around here play a proprietary jingle (Hemglass, for those who know what I’m talking about). The ice cream truck over here runs things a little differently; they don’t sell individual treats, they sell in bulk and only come by once a week or so (more frequently in the summer, less frequently in the winter). Nonetheless the jingle is familiar enough to everyone that it sets the kids off when they hear it. It’s Hjem-Is in Norway - I think with the dash, I’m not sure - and they just ring a bell. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Same system, though. At the moment I’m on vacation in Rome. No ice cream trucks here that I’ve noticed, but they are not needed, because the city is home to (rough estimate) 4,623 gelaterias 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/67 "2010-07-25T16:37:08Z")
It only plays _It’s a Small World After All_. In order to maximize the torture, the driver gleefully adds sound effects (horns, buzzes, bells) in time to the music. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/68 "2010-07-25T17:19:51Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > > [@Jophiel](#): > > > > Actually it’s some discordant collection of notes randomly punctuated by a loud computerized-girl voice saying “ **HELLO!** ” I have no idea what in the hell that’s all about. It’s like the ice cream truck of the damned. > > I’m glad to see you and the OP both mention this “HELLO!” thing. The truck that came around my apartment complex for the last few years did this, too… a brief bit of some warped music, an exaggerated “Boing!” cartoon sound effect, then a really loud computerized girl screaming “HELLO!” The ice-cream truck in my neighbourhood in Toronto plays some kind of music that has the HELLO! in it as well, right at the very end. I thought it might be _Turkey in the Straw_ but I just googled that asn it’s not the same at all. However, I’m having great difficulty remembering it now, because I’ve got a mixture of _Turkey in the Straw_ and the _Tetris_ theme stuck in my head. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/69 "2010-07-25T17:24:52Z")
\*Lili Marlene \* is popular round my way (UK). ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/70 "2010-07-25T17:41:51Z")
The Entertainer. When I get an ice cream truck I’m gonna blast Purple Haze or perhaps Layla. mmm ---
**Author:** ![maisoui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@maisoui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maisoui)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/71 "2010-07-25T17:44:06Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > When our kids were younger (toddlers) we told them that it was the Music Truck. “Look! The Music Truck!” Then we would dance as it passed by. > > Worked like a charm until their meddling cousins told them the truth. “Vegetable van” at our house. Didn’t work for long, but my kids recognized that we could buy a tub of ice cream for what a cone costs off of those trucks, and it is a very rare treat… They are 14 and 12, and we still call it the vegetable van when it comes by… ---
**Author:** ![maisoui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@maisoui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maisoui)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/72 "2010-07-25T17:51:39Z")
Sorry, didn’t answer the OP question and missed the edit window. It plays “Do your ears hang low…” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Why\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@The\_Why\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Why_Bird)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/73 "2010-07-25T18:07:59Z")
We have two round here, one which plays Greensleeves, and one which plays the Teddy Bear’s Picnic. One of them used to do Pop Goes the Weasel. It never occurred to me that people find them annoying to hear. I always like hearing the ice-cream van. It’s nice to think they are still around. I remember the excitement as a child of listening to it getting closer and closer to our road. Screwballs all round! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/74 "2010-07-25T21:48:30Z")
Maybe there’s a different truck in my neighborhood on the weekend, because one playing _Home, Home on The Range_ just went by. I still want an ice cream. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/75 "2010-07-25T21:52:39Z")
> [@The\_Why\_Bird](#): > > It never occurred to me that people find them annoying to hear. What, “Pop Goes the Weasel” over and over again? For hours? Right next to your office window? Do you _enjoy_ that? > [@Skammer](#): > > “Vegetable van” at our house. The produce van doesn’t play his music over and over–he just plays that musical phrase they play at baseball games that’s followed by the crowd saying, “Charge!” He plays it one time ONLY, when he arrives, which is at the same time every day. He’s a welcome fixture to the neighborhood. Moreover, the produce van provides a more useful service than the ice cream truck–especially if you want to cook something and have no time for the market. He gives me a discount, too, if I speak Armenian with him when I say how many eggplants I want. About the the bizarre “HELLO”: I asked one ice cream truck guy about it, and he said, “It’s just be nice. You know, like a friendly.” I agree with the above posters: To me it sounds like some psychotic talking to herself. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/76 "2010-07-25T22:18:42Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > About the the bizarre “HELLO”: I asked one ice cream truck guy about it, and he said, “It’s just be nice. You know, like a friendly.” > > I agree with the above posters: To me it sounds like some psychotic talking to herself. Perhaps it takes a very [special type](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kuklinski#First_murder) of person to be an ice cream truck driver. > [@](#): > > Kuklinski earned the nickname “Iceman” following his experiments with disguising the time of death of his victims by freezing their corpses in an industrial freezer. Later, he told author Philip Carlo that he got the idea from fellow hitman Robert Pronge, nicknamed “Mister Softee”, who drove a Mister Softee truck to appear inconspicuous. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/77 "2010-07-25T23:21:02Z")
There is a nice sequence in Mr. 3000 when Bernie Mac talks about the sound of baseball - and it is whatever the local ice cream truck plays. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389/78 "2010-07-26T00:37:26Z")
I would answer Turkey in the Straw if asked this question on, say, the Family Feud. But I’m sure that we’ve had our local guy play other things - The Entertainer may have been used recently. Fur Elise seems really strange though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ice-cream-truck-playing-where-you-are/547389.md?page=3)