Ours announces the arrival of FAB lollies, vapes and Es to the tune of The A Team.
When I was a kid it was Green Sleaves from a vehicle that looked like it pre-dated the Battle of Britain.
I also have memories of the kid from over the road letting one of the tyres down and getting dragged through the hatch and covered in raspberry sauce for his troubles.
It was Popeye the sailor man for us kids 😃
Our local van (which comes around every Sunday at 3pm) does the classic Teddy Bear's Picnic at the moment, but a few years ago the same van definitely did the A Team too.
The one that currently does the rounds keeps it real with "Greensleeves" turned up to 11.
The Blue Peter theme. Which we assume is a wind-up, as one of its most famous ever presenters lives just outside the village.
Match of the Day theme tune features regularly for ours.
Match of the Day here too, are we neighbours?
My local ice-cream van plays a rousing rendition of John Philip Sousa's march called The Liberty Bell.
Although most folk just know it as the Monty Python theme.
When my kids were young they thought* the usic indicated that the van had run out of ice cream.
*I may have accidently taught them this was the case.
We have two. The first is “I love to go a wandering…”
I don’t know the name of the second, but it goes:
de-diddly-diddly-ding
de-ding-de-ding-de-ding-ding
Home: Match of the Day.
Work: Greensleeves (Delivering supplies to the ladies of the nearby 'massage parlour' Illusions)
We used to have one. It was Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone. You know a tune is a classic when you can convert it into an ice cream jingle and it still sounds good.
The bloke was very, very old though and we haven't seen him since 'the before times'.
I used to know the owner of the cafe that did deliveries to the local knocking shop. Salted jacket spuds. Takes away the taste apparently.
Said knocking shop is above a chippy, which doesn't say much for the quality of the chips if they have to bring their salty potato based lunches in from further afield.
O Sole Mio (aka just one Cornetto)
I tell the kids when they play the tune that means they've sold out
The van in question chucks out so much smoke it probably has its own private hole in the ozone layer
At uni,on the dodgy estate in Stoke, there was one that had the zither music from the third man. Not good for come down paranoia on a sunday morning!
Home: Match of the Day.
From previous threads mentioning locations, I think that's probably the same van as me.
local van plays the mothy python theme tune
van I can hear when out on my bike in Glennifer braes plays dixieland
Not the ice cream van but our regular sandwich van on the estate plays the old Batman theme - "Dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner....." you know the rest
One near me plays the theme from the Third Man. I love the idea that the kids of south east London are all into 1940s British film noir.
I’ll have a (Harry) Lime Sorbet please?
this piece of badass music 😉
edit only joking but it would be great if it was.
Not local, but down Tenby a few weekends ago and was treated to Benny Hill
The Ace of Spades would make a great jingle.
Whistle while you work,
Hitler is a berk...
I don’t know the tune but it comes with this…
I only know it as the Roger Ramjet theme tune but I’m sure it must have originally come from something else.
I did think the other day that there needs to be a better nationwide app that tracks ice-cream vans real-time so I could go and find one. Would be perfect for long ride refreshments too.
I also have memories of the kid from over the road letting one of the tyres down and getting dragged through the hatch and covered in raspberry sauce for his troubles.
After they found the body, the inquest concluded that he'd topped himself.
Working in Wakefield one time, the morning was punctuated by an ice-cream van playing the Batman theme. "Oh," says someone, "the sandwiches are here." Huh?
So I moseyed down to the car park, to discover The Bap Van.
Mine's on the estate now. Match of the Day.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly here
I'd love it if we had this one:
What a bizarre and fascinating thread. Where do they get these from? I assume they aren't real music boxes any more and are recordings, but they all sound exactly like music boxes so that must mean someone is putting these tunes out. Somewhere there's a company producing these and selecting the tunes. Can someone get Dave Gorman on to it please?
When I was a kid it was Teddybear's Picnic and Greensleeves, but in my part of Cardiff it's Match of the Day.
Most of the country's 5,000 ice-cream van chimes are made by MicroMiniatures in Staffordshire, which for 25 years has offered the most technologically advanced chimes (most are now digital) and an extensive range of tunes, from Jerusalem to The Stripper, via Nessun Dorma, Cherry Ripe and Waltzing Matilda.
"Our most popular chimes are O Sole Mio, Greensleeves and Match of the Day," says the company's Rich Lister. "We also provide a service to have custom chimes, so if the customer wants a particular song or their own jingle we can put this on to a chime. Most recently, we have produced Soul Limbo (the Test Match Cricket theme) and Amarillo of Tony Christie & Peter Kay fame."
http://www.microminiatures.com/tunes.html
Bobby Shaftoe.
Driven by Paolo - I've him known for years, and he has a PhD in Italian. Takes payment by card too.
Always fancied being an ice cream man. Seems like a chilled job.
When I was a kid our local one played La Cucaracha. There were two local Italian firms and the daughters of both were at my school. Hated each other. Ice cream wars have ruined generations 😂
Ours is "Lucky, Lucky, Lucky Me".
Not heard that until moving here.
Back home (South East) the ones I recall have alreadt been mentioned (Greensleeves & Match of the day are definitely ones I remember).
Said knocking shop is above a chippy, which doesn’t say much for the quality of the chips if they have to bring their salty potato based lunches in from further afield.
Home of the Jumbo Cod?
I always thought the knocking shop was the one that looks like an undertakers on the other end of the block.....you live and learn.
Hitler Has Only Got One Ball..
Home of the Jumbo Cod?
Kerrect!
Never could work out if "Jumbo Cod" was a big fish from the chippy downstairs or some sort of specialist service/beating from upstairs.
I'm just trying to get over the fact that ice cream vans are able to play tunes other than Greensleeves!
... and am reminded also of the Ivor Biggun song about the Ice Cream man.
"Match of the Day"
I hate it 🙁
Doo doo dooo, doo doo dooo, do doo do doo do do dooooo.
No one here buys ice cream from the 'van', because our local town centre has a home made 'gelato shop'. Only £2.50 for a small 'baked' cone. At least 8 flavours on any given day. Queues out of the shop at the weekend, in this scorchio weather.
