Ice Cream Vans

[George 1978]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

The Mr Whippy brand (which to me was when an ice cream looked rather like the Thatcher-era Conservative Party logo of course) was probably the generic brand for ice cream vans - they were prominently seen in Nottingham during the summer months of the 1980s and 1990s, usually playing a familiar tune which I don't know the name of, but it is a Marlene Dietrich song if that helps - and they had Mickey Mouse or Tom and Jerry characters painted at the back with "Mind That Child" written in red.

In the late 1980s there were a mobile freezer service called Hemglas which certainly travelled around various streets in Nottingham every two or three weeks, selling ice cream, ice lollies (suckers as my late mother used to call them) right up to the frozen meat range - I used to confuse Hemglas with ordinary ice cream vans, although the difference was that Hemglas sold ice creams and the like wholesale just like Iceland or Farm Foods and not sold initially as ice cream vans do. I made a thread about it a few months back - Hemglas used to send us leaflets through the door with bus timetable-alike times on where and when they will be on our street. The family who lived next door but one to us used them regularly. I thought at first that it was a franchised ice cream van company making scheduled appearances on our local streets, but it was something a bit different to that.

The problem with ice cream that it can even be too hard when frozen - I got a tub of Carte Dor from my online Tesco shopping just a few weeks ago, and I had to put it in the fridge so that it was soft enough to scoop into a bowl where it was nice and soft. The stuff served from the vans were never too hard or frozen thank goodness.

[staffslad]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

There was a regular ice cream van that came around when I was young. I think it was Mr Whippy, though that may well be a generic name used by many ice cream vans. I still live in the same place and last week heard vans stopping at the same points they have done for decades. One was playing Greensleeves and another the Match of the Day titles music. They must be still making a profit on their rounds. In the 70s, fewer people had freezers to hold ice cream and afford it even if they had a freezer. Today, with freezers being almost a universally owned item and literally hundreds of kinds of ice cream available, it does surprise me somewhat that the vans come round as much as they do, though I am glad they do as it would be sad to lose them.

[George 1978]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

The ice cream van was a regular occurrence outside my old Infant school, usually on Friday afternoons - I bet that it was rather controversial considering that parents would be assuming that: A) It would be their treat for attending school that day; and B) Having an ice cream at 3.15 pm in the afternoon would spoil their tea when they get home.

At home I used to see (and more prominently hear) the ice cream van arriving on our street on Sunday afternoons - I was a 99 person obviously when they were around 50p circa 1988. The chimes were probably heard at least a mile away and certainly half the area could hear them.

What I don't understand is the fact that they go touting for business at other times of the year than when one would eat ice cream - a few years ago, there was a van parked near Exchange Walk in Nottingham City Centre in the middle of December, and people doing their Christmas shopping were actually queueing to ordering ice creams and all that when we were close to getting snow than a heatwave - I mean, if you are cold, then one would need something warm rather than something that is just as cold, although the irony is that the ice cream wouldn't have any reason to have melted.

Last Sunday there was an ice cream van that stopped outside the building that I live in at 11.30 am in the morning! When most people were putting roast beef into the oven in preparation for the Sunday lunch, someone outside wanted us to skip the main course before midday and move onto the desert straight away! I hadn't even had breakfast when they had arrived!

[Clare]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

I used to like fudgeridoos, but I've not seen any in over three decades. I'd love to try them again. Do they still do them?

[Halfdan]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

The regular ice cream van that I used to see around where I used to live in Brimington & Staveley is a 53 plate Ford Transit in pink & white Tonibell livery but it plays the classic Mister Softee UK jingle. We don't have mobile ice cream vans (the ones that play music) in Brampton (Chesterfield) but I live just round the corner from Frederick's so I still see ice cream vans regularly.

[zabadak]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

Must... have... ice... creammm.........

[darren]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

Good lad stay about 8 growing up is overrated.:d

5 different flavours wow i can only remember myself ever seeing 2 flavours strawberry and chocolate.
Or perhaps strawberry was rasberry.

Funny enough i saw an ice cream van a few nights ago not saw one in a long time.
Nice to see some old things from our youth are still around even if they arent seen as much.

we have a park near us where we walk the dog and there is usually an ice cream van near the play area. This is the greatest ice cream van ever as it has an ice cream machine that adds 5 different flavour sauces as it puts the ice cream in the cone.

I believe this could be one of the greatest inventions ever and whoever thought of it deserves a nobel prize

my wife thinks that i am over reacting and a bit strange but that is because she is 40 and im still 8

i will try to find a picture

[Trickyvee]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

Wow I'm impressed! It means you get sauce evenly distributed over the whole cone and some on every lick. Ingenious! What are the five flavours? Back in the day I thought our ice cream van was swish as it had three sauces - the usual red, chocolate and a green one not unlike the photo.

[Jay Mc]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

We have a park near us where we walk the dog and there is usually an Ice cream van near the play area. This is the greatest Ice cream van ever as it has an ice cream machine that adds 5 different flavour sauces as it puts the ice cream in the cone.

I believe this could be one of the greatest inventions ever and whoever thought of it deserves a Nobel Prize

My wife thinks that I am over reacting and a bit strange but that is because she is 40 and im still 8

I will try to find a picture

Its similar to this ....

[DSCOMAN]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

Heard an ice cream man just a day or two ago....and the tune....surprised me, .....but it was 'teddy bears picnic' - I immediately thought of this thread ;-)

[marc]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

We used to have a regular ice cream van coming around called Brian's. He came around for years. He saw off all the competition, has his ice cream was very nice and reasonably priced. He would also be outside the comprehensive school during dinner hour and at the end of school day. He would then do his rounds from 4pm onwards. I think he done a roaring trade. His son took over for a while, then sold the van when he went onto other work. Summer days have never been the same since!!!!!!!:cry:

When I was around four or five years old, there was a regular ice cream van coming around the street where my grandmother lived. The ice cream was very nice, BUT, there was always the smell of petrol around the van. I can't remember the name of this van, but there was always a large queue. Perhaps the smell of petrol had something to do with it. For years after, whenever I could smell petrol, I would think of this ice cream van.

[Jay Mc]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

We have a park near us where we walk the dog and there is usually an Ice cream van near the play area. This is the greatest Ice cream van ever as it has an ice cream machine that adds 5 different flavour sauces as it puts the ice cream in the cone.

I believe this could be one of the greatest inventions ever and whoever thought of it deserves a Nobel Prize

My wife thinks that I am over reacting and a bit strange but that is because she is 40 and im still 8

I will try to find a picture

[xmark1234]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

lol i love this one so funny i can watch tha dvd over and over so funny

Have you guys seen Eddie murphy's ice cream van sketch from his legendary 1983 stand up show 'delirious' ? If not (and if you can tolerate the bad language), look it up on YouTube. He sums it all up so perfectly.

[MazLee]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

Still there is one ice cream van which passes my house every day at 2 PM. It's green and white color.

[amethyst]

Re: Ice Cream Vans

The ice cream van that comes around our street on weekends plays Greensleeves and its so loud