The Good Old Ice Cream Truck
Some of my earliest childhood memories feature an ice cream truck and I don't think I'm the only one to say that! I've already written about the Ice
Cream Man, when he would visit our part of town (I even remember the time of day!) and what I used to look forward to buying from him.
The truck itself though was something I never paid much attention to (other than the sound of its jingle as it came nearer to our house). Until I got older that is .. and then I realised just how wonderfully colourful and varied ice cream trucks used to be - and indeed still are as these 2 photographs show.
A definitive, classic ice cream truck is one on 4 wheels, driven by the ice
cream man himself and usually painted in colourful livery - red, blue and
white are the colors I remember most. The vehicle might have its owner's
name on it (eg. Gerry's Ices) or the brand of the ice cream it sold;
sometimes the only words on it were simply "Ice Cream". The one in the top photograph was parked up at a seaside resort I visited in England. Saying just "Ice Cream" on
it, it allowed the owner/driver to choose his brand of ice cream or indeed perhaps
he was selling his own homemade products. Unfortunately I didn't get to
ask him as he'd sold out and closed for the day when I took the photo!
Another thing I remember from when I was a child is how I was told to be careful crossing the road when going to the ice cream truck. Indeed, I recall how the drivers usually had signs on the back of their vehicle reminding other drivers to look out for children crossing with sayings such as "Drivers remember, children forget".
The photo above is a good example of how the ice cream truck tradition lives on today - and thankfully so. The lure and excitement of ice cream for children is timeless so the safety issue of getting to the vehicle for that special treat remains paramount.