The temperature in Florida has been in the 90’s, and when you factor in the humidity, we’re in the low 100’s. These are the perfect days for ice cream and ices, for a summertime afternoon treat. Fortunately, all we have to do, is open our freezers, and chose from the wide variety of ice cream or ices that are now available in our local grocery stores, and supermarkets.
Which brings me back to those hot humid summer days growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y. During the summer months, from the end of June until the beginning of September, school was out, and all the kids on the block were on our summer vacation. That’s when, we all eagerly awaited the daily afternoon visits of the ice cream truck.
There were two different brands of ice cream and ices. Each one had their own truck, which would drive slowly down the street, ringing their bells. The trucks were essentially the same. The driver sat in an open-air cab. Behind him, making up the majority of the truck, was a very big, heavily insulated ice box. There were thick insulated doors on all three sides of the truck that were accessed when the driver retrieved whatever ice cream or ices the customer ordered. They used dry ice to keep all the ice cream and ices frozen. There was the Good Humor truck, and Bungalow Bar truck.
The favorite on our street was Bungalow Bar. I’m not sure if there was a difference in the quality, but there was a price difference. Good Humor charged 10 cents for an ice cream pop, while Bungalow Bar charged 5 cents.
The Bungalow Bar truck had a chocolate-colored roof on the top of the truck, complete with shingles. The ice cream truck had a wide variety of ice cream and ices to choose from. There were the ice cream pops that came in an assortment of flavors and toppings. There was vanilla, chocolate and strawberry pops, covered with a thin chocolate coating. A toasted almond encrusted vanilla pop, and probably some other fruit flavors covered with a thin chocolate coating. Then there were the ice pops, which included Creamsciles, Fudgsciles and the twin fruit flavored pop. Along with ice cream sandwiches, there were also Dixie Cups. Dixie Cups were small cups filled with either vanilla, chocolate or a combination of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. The Dixie Cups came with a small wooden spoon. The nice thing about Dixie Cups, was that they printed on the underside of the cover a picture of cowboy movie stars. The picture was protected from the ice cream by this thin transparent film that you removed when you opened the Dixie Cup. With so many, ice cream and ices to choose from, including getting a cowboy movie star’s picture, it was difficult for me to have one particular favorite.
During the summer afternoons when the trucks came, a lot of the mothers, had finished their shopping and the housework. They would bring their beach chairs downstairs to sit and chat with the neighbors. You have to remember, that the apartments had no air conditioning, and it was cooler in the street. So, if my mother was sitting downstairs, when the Bungalow Truck came, she would have the money to pay for my ice cream. If not, I would go into the alley below our apartment, and yell to her that the Bungalow Bar Truck was here. She would wrap the money in paper, and throw it down to me.
Now, that I’m lactose intolerant, I can only remember those delicious hot summer days, and be content with frozen yogurt.
