Ding a ling a ling, Ding a ling a ling!
Do you recall that sound? Do you miss that sound?
Do you remember growing up, living in your first neighborhood and playing with your friends outside?
Do you remember this sound? Ding a ling a ling, Ding a ling a ling? I do. I miss those times and that sound. My friends and I would hear that sound and lose our minds! We would forget what we were doing or playing and sprint to our house and get money. To a seven year old that was the greatest sound of the day – it meant that the ICE CREAM MAN was right around the corner. It meant that I would have a brief but important conversation with my Mom that went something like this:
Merrill – Mom, can I have a dollar?
Mom – No.
Merrill – Mom, can I my allowance for the week?
Mom – I gave it to you yesterday!
Merrill – Mom, how about I promise to be really good for the rest of the week and be your best friend – please, please can I have a dollar?
Mom – Ok here you go. (As I am running off, she says be home in an hour for dinner!)
Sound familiar?
My question is what did you pick? What was your ice cream of choice? Was it the fudge pop? Italian ice? Blow pop? You were on top of the world with money in hand and the biggest decision of the day.
For me I loved the malted milk cup. It was chocolate and great and tasted fantastic every day of the year!
What did you choose?
I look forward to hearing your choices.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:38 am
I used to love this thing called a “bullet”. It was just a popsicle (it came in a round, elongated shape) but somehow it seemed bigger and better than just a regular popsicle. Back in my day, it cost a dime.
The last time I chased down the ice cream man, I didn’t have enough money. An ice cream bar cost about $2.50.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:56 am
My two favs were the orange sherbert push-up pop and the ghost, which was a ghost shaped ice cream on a stick that had gum balls for the eyes.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:05 am
I was the biggest pain when the ice cream truck came around. I wanted to get the most for my money; so i would ask the sizes of everything. Of course, i always ended up with the rocket i think it was called, it was blue, red and white and had a gum ball at the bottom, or a Drumstick.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:26 am
I always picked the orange push-pop or the Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream on a stick. The best day was when I was in college and my roommate and I heard the ice cream truck! We both ran for our money just like little kids!!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Good Humor Toasted Almond Bar. Or is that going too far back for you young folks.??
September 10th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Robert,
That is hysterical. Growing up a bunch of times I didn’t have enough money but never as an adult. Wow - $2.50 for an ice cream - sounds like I will need to give/raise my kids allowance very soon.
Merrill
September 10th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Well, I am a very picky eater and I was a very picky little girl. When the ice cream man came around, we would also run and scream like maniacs and my Mom would come to the window knowing the deal because she too heard the bell (and wanted ice cream her self). I grew up in the Bronx and always lived in a 2 or 3 story house. My Mom would get a few dollars, attach it to a clothes pin and let it soar through the air. I always had to have a flat bottom cone with soft chocolate ice cream and chocolate sprinkles…no rainbow sprinkles….and heaven forbid I got my cone with some rainbow sprinkles on it or the cone was wrong - forget about it.
Nowadays when I hear the ice cream man, which is not that frequent, I buy a small cup with soft serve Vanilla ice cream for my dog, Kennedy. The neighbors all stare, but my “son” is happy and licks at that ice cream like a champ
September 10th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
I go back even before the ice cream trucks so the ding a ling was made by the silver bell on our bikes. When my kids were little I would get the coconut popsicle from “Jack & Jill”.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
The Good Humor man in New Rochelle, NY was indeed a daily treat for our family in the summer. My favorite was the Chocolate Sundae cup. Also liked the Creamsicle. And, Ed, I remember the Toasted Almond.
September 10th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
In my hometown (a suburb of New Orleans), we not only had an ice cream truck drive through our neighborhood, but we also had a sno-ball truck. (A sno-ball is finely shaved ice with syrup in a cup, similar to a snow cone but definitely not the same. Sno-balls are much, much better!) The sno-ball truck had about 50 flavors to choose from, so it always took awhile to order. My favorite flavor of snowball is Ice Cream-Cream!
September 10th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
My favorite was always the Fudgesicle.
We have vacationed the last two summers in Destin and there is an ice cream guy on the beach. He walks along the beach pulling a small boat on wheels with an ice compartment full of ice cream. It plays the theme from the Entertainer as he walks along. He comes by twice a day, up the beach in the morning and back down the beach in the afternoon.
My daugher squeals with delight when she hears the music and comes running to get money. I don’t remember the last time I saw an ice cream truck come through a neighborhood. It’s great that she gets to experience what I did as a kid if only for one week a year.
September 10th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
The ice cream truck is an amazing memory from my childhood but the better story is from my son (who is now 11). For the first five years of his life, he would wait to hear the sound of the ice cream truck coming down the street. It was not ding a ling a ling, it was an old piano tune, I think something from the 20s. One day this little five year old looked up at me and said, “Dad, when I get married I want that to be my wedding song” There my friends is the importance of the ice cream truck!
September 11th, 2007 at 8:42 am
The bomb pop was always my favorite It was red, white, and blue and shaped, well, like a bomb!
These days I see them in the grocery store from time to time and I can’t help remembering those summer days when we would be playing on the slip and slide, or running through the sprinklers in the back yard and hear the sound of the Good Humor Man!
September 11th, 2007 at 10:37 am
Peter Pallagi was the name of our ice cream man. He had that job for years so he became a friend. I doubt many kids could say that today. In fact, when I got my first autograph book I got his and our milkman’s (we had the same one for years also) autograph! But I am digressing. The ringing of the bell was always my favorite time of day. Since we always had ice cream in the freezer, I always ordered an orange popsicle. I still love them today.
September 11th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
I always got the Fudge Bomb. It was a fudgesicle on the top and bottom and had a layer of banana in the middle. Does anyone know where I can find one of those right now?
We actually have an ice cream truck come through our neighborhood about once a month. My son still comes yelling, but now he wants at least $2.25.
September 12th, 2007 at 6:27 am
Steve,
Maybe I am getting sentimental in my old age - but I think I just shed a tear!
What a great comment!
Merrill
September 12th, 2007 at 6:28 am
Melanie,
Great question - I thought I saw them in Tom Thumb - I will check the next time I am there and let you know.
Merrill