Home > Ice cream van

An ice cream van ( British) or ice cream truck ( American) is a commercial vehicle which serves as a travelling retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near parks, beaches, or other areas where people congregate. Ice cream vans often travel near where children play — outside schools, in residential areas, or in other locations. They usually stop briefly before moving on to the next street. It is during their travel between stopping-off points that their characteristic chimes can usually be heard.

Ice cream vans are often brightly decorated and carry images of ice cream, or some other adornment, such as cartoon characters. Most (at least in Britain) have painted-on notices: "Stop me and buy one!" being perhaps the most popular, but also commonly encountered is the more cryptic "Watch that child!" written on the back of the van, serving as a warning to passing motorists that children may run out into the road at the sight of the van, or appear without warning from behind it. Along the sides, a large sliding window acts as a serving hatch, and this is often covered with small pictures of the available products, with their associated prices. The most distinctive, memorable, and evocative feature of ice cream vans is their melodic chimes, and often these take the form of a famous and recognisable tune.

Most ice cream vans tend to sell both pre-manufactured ice lollies ( American English: popsicles) in wrappers, and soft ice cream from a machine, served in a cone, and often with a chocolate flake (in Britain) or a sugary syrup flavoured with, for example, strawberryThe strawberry Fragaria is the fruit of a plant in the family Rosaceae (Rose Family). It is an accessory fruit; that is, the fleshy part is derived not from the ovaries (which are the seeds, actually achenes) but from the peg at the bottom of the hypanthi. Other vans tend to be run by small businesses, selling their own variety of ice cream.

At least in Britain, the operators of ice cream vans have also diversifiedDiversification is a measure of the commonality of a population. Greater diversification denotes a wider variety of elements within that population. Diversification is of central importance in investments. Diversification reduces the risk of a portfolio. to fill gaps in the marketA market is a mechanism which allows people to trade, normally governed by the theory of supply and demand. Both general and specialised markets, where only one commodity is traded, exist. Markets work by placing many interested sellers in one place, thus for soft drinks, using their capacity for refrigerated storageRefrigeration (from the Latin frigus frost) is generally the cooling of a body by the transfer of a portion of its heat away from it. Applications include conservation, especially of food, and lowering the temperature of drinks to one that is more agreeab to sell chilled cans and bottles.

A large proportion of ice cream vans are old vehicles, and as a consequence can be quite smelly and noisy, due to the need to keep the engineAn internal combustion engine is an engine that is powered by the expansion of hot combustion products of fuel directly acting within an engine. A piston internal combustion engine works by burning hydrocarbon or hydrogen fuel that presses on a piston; an running to supply energy for refrigeration. If stationary for a long period, as might be the case at a park where there is constant demandA demand is a forceful request. In economics it is a term for the call or need within a market for a particular commodity. It is effective demand when a person's wants or needs are endorsed by the person's ability to pay ( income and/or wealth). When this by new customers, this can disturb the tranquility and atmosphere of the area. If moving from place to place, a van's musical accompaniment can have a similar effect, albeit temporarily, although the irritation is aggravated by the annoying and repetitive nature of the melodyIn music, a melody is a series of linear events or a succession, not a simultaneity as in a chord. However, this succession must contain change of some kind and be perceived as a single entity (possibly gestalt) to be called a melody. Most specifically th used. Early vans were less bothersome because of the relatively primitive techniques they used: The refrigeration was ensured by large blocks of dry ice so the motor was always turned off when the van was stopped for sales. The chimes were operated by a hand driven crank or a take-off from the motor, so they were not heard as often.