Ice cream trucks from the good 'ole days

Check out all these vintage ice cream trucks! They have a colorful history that comes in all shapes and sizes--from motorcycles, vans, and long trucks.

Typically, these vans traveled throughout urban and suburban neighborhoods where many children lived. How many of us are still taken back to our childhood summers when we hear “The Entertainer” or a bell version of “Do Your Ears Hang Low?”

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. 

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.  

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. 

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. 

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

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

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

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(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:

 


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

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

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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)

Follow the link to see more vintage ice cream trucks: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2012/01/cute-vintage-ice-cream-trucks.html