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"QUANTUM SHOT" #748
Link - article by Simon Rose and Avi Abrams
      "Stop Me & Buy Some!"... "Often licked, never beaten!"...

      Ah, ice cream trucks. What great memories they represent from so many
      people’s childhood years! The sound of those distinctive tunes and melodic
      chimes are still guaranteed to send shivers down the spine even today.

      
      
      (images credit:
        I Love Lucies,
        Thomas Ackroyd,
        3,
        4)

      The original idea of the ice cream truck was relatively simple, that the
      delicious tasty treats of the ice cream parlor are coming directly to you.
      We still see them during the summer months at public events, parks,
      beaches anywhere where crowds of people are likely to gather, as well as
      driving down residential streets hoping to entice customers. These
      examples here at Dark Roasted Blend may not be the cream of the crop, but
      they’re certainly some pretty cool pictures.

      
      (Shane McGill of Muscatine with his 1957 ice cream truck,
        more info; right image via)

      
      (1954 "Good Humor" ice cream truck, image credit:
        Jack Snell)

      Very cute 1954 Morris ice cream van, Plymouth Barbican:

      
      (images credit:
        Richard & Gill Long)

      Fully restored British 1962 Commer Karrier BF van (more
      info):

      
      (image
        via)

      In the early 1920’s, before ice cream trucks and vans, the first
      ice cream bicycles appeared in London. The Walls ice cream company
      expanded their manufacturing facilities in 1924 and invested in a fleet of
      tricycles. Annual sales in 1927 are said to have been over £440,000, or
      $US 700,000 at today’s exchange rate, but still a huge sum at the time.

      
      (images via 1,
        2)

      Walker Electric Vehicle Co. built electric and gasoline-electric hybrid
      trucks in Chicago from around 1918 until at least 1942. This
      Walker Electric Truck, had a top speed of 12 mph when empty and 9
      mph when fully loaded, even with ice cream:

      
      (see the full-size image
        here, via
        Shorpy)

      This Good Humor truck (left image below) dates from the 1920’s and
      may have guaranteed a slightly faster delivery of your ice cream treats:

      
      (images via)

      A couple more of Good Humor trucks:

      
      (images via)

      Here we have a fleet of ice cream trucks:

      
      (image via)

      A few of 1920s ice cream trucks from the Ken Goudy Collection:

      
      (images via)

      A blast from the past maybe, but that ice cream bar still looks very
      appealing... plus, ice cream men get to serve ladies first! -

      
      (left photo courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American
        History, right photo
        via)

      This restored model dates from 1931 (and it is for sale, see
      here):

      
      (images via
        1,
        2)

      During World War II, ice cream in the UK was considered to be a luxury and
      the country’s resources were devoted to the war effort. Manufacturing
      resumed after the war and ice cream trucks became a familiar sight in the
      UK and North America in the 1950’s and into the 1960’s. This is the
      original 1953 Liberty ice Cream truck:

      
      (image
        via)

      This is a 1959 Mr. Softee ice cream truck (left), and the die-cast toy
      made by Corgi (right):

      
      (images via
        1, 2)

      Early ice cream trucks weren’t as sophisticated as they are today. Back
      then most families didn’t own a freezer and the trucks sold simple ice
      cream. Once freezers became common household items, ice cream trucks began
      selling more specialized novelty ice cream items, such as ice cream bars
      and popsicles. The vehicle’s refrigeration system consisted of large
      blocks of dry ice. This entailed the engine being turned off when
      customers were actually buying their ice cream. A hand-driven crank was
      usually employed to operate the truck’s familiar chimes or music. Here is
      the 1956 Ford F-100 Good Humor Ice Cream Truck, seen in Gateway Colorado
      Auto Museum:

      
      (image
        via)

      This Good Humor 1966 model still looks in pretty good shape:

      
      (image credit:
        James Benetzky)

      1959 Morris ice cream van, seen in Northampton:

      
      (image credit:
        Leicester Vehicle Photography)

      This Divco truck apparently dates from 1950. It was restored as a fully
      functional ice cream truck, with heavy duty electric systems so the
      freezers can still be running when the vehicle’s parked:

      
      (images
        via)

      You’d certainly see this one heading your way down the street with its ice
      cream, frozen treats, milk shakes and cold drinks in Sydney, Australia:

      
      (image
        via)

      Also from Australia, this is an interesting streamlined truck "Clipper"
      for Peters Ice Cream, 1953:

      
      (image
        via)

      A well protected ice cream truck, just in case customers can’t control
      their cravings, perhaps? (made by Banksy, and spotted in Glastonbury):

      
      (image
        via)

      This one, spotted at the Sandbach Transport Festival, looks a little
      cramped for the driver:

      
      (image credit:
        Zan Wheelock)

      Cute ice cream truck spotted in Utrecht, Holland:

      
      (image credit:
        Rudy Roels)

      Check out the Ice Princess, hard to resist of a hot summer day (left)...
      and the one on the right claims to be "often licked, never beaten":

      
      (images via
        1,
        2)

      How about this little three-wheeled one? (left image) ...Italy is famous
      for its ice cream and there are still a few scooters making the deliveries
      there (right):

      
      (images via
        1,
        2)

      We mentioned at the beginning of the article about the bikes and tricycles
      that were used as the first ice cream distribution vehicles. Today, in
      some parts of Southeast Asia, ice cream is still frequently often sold
      from modified motorcycles with attached freezer sidecars. This one’s from
      Cambodia:

      
      (image
        via)

      Here is the ice cream "truck" in Astana, Kazakhstan:

      
      (image
        via)

      Hot Rod Ice Cream Trucks

      "Good Human!.. I Scream!" - more
      info:

      
      
      (images
        via)

      ...and another one, 1947 Ford half-ton pickup conversion, spotted in
      Newport, WA (more
      info):

      
      (images
        via)

      CONTINUE TO "STEAM BUSES & TRUCKS!" ->

      ALSO CHECK OUT OUR WEIRD AUTO CATEGORY ->

      Avi Abrams is the creator, writer, and owner of Dark Roasted
        Blend;
      Simon Rose is the
        author of science fiction and fantasy novels for children, including
        The Alchemist's Portrait,
        The Sorcerer's Letterbox,
        The Clone Conspiracy,
        The Emerald Curse,
        The Heretic's Tomb
        and
        The Doomsday Mask
        and
        The Time Camera.

  



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YOUR COMMENTS::

4 Comments:

Blogger Keir Hardie said...

Wonderful! By the time I was a kid in the 70s in the UK the scene was very homogenous, it was all about the Bedford CF (as chosen by Banksy - and The KLF) - even a Ford Transit ice cream van was a relatively uncommon sight.

___  
Blogger Unknown said...

(N)ice!! I lived for a few years in Utrecht, and often saw that cute icecream truck, it's right on the middle of a bridge below the Dom-tower. Supercool to see it here on DRB!

___  
Anonymous Gregoryno6 said...

Mr Whippy vans were common in Melbourne during the 1960s, but there must have been a dispute over naming rights. The local Mr Whippy became John Creamy (I think) but kept that pink and white colour scheme.
There's still one rolling around Perth in pink and white today. I think he's stalking me - first I'd hear that damn Greensleeves around the neighbourhood at home, then he started cruising the industrial area where I worked. Would he go away if I bought an icecream?

___  
Anonymous OptimizePress 2.0 said...

WOW does this take me back... :) Getting Ice Creams from the old Commer van that used to park outside my school... Those were the days... :)

___  

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