Monday, September 25, 2006

Very Good Humor

One day when I was a kid, the Good Humor man came by, jingling his bells. Ice cream trucks did not play a tune in those days. They just jingled, but a kid could hear him coming from blocks away.  It is a natural kid talent.

I stopped him an bought a Milk Nickel.  Five cents bought an ice cream on a stick. (Wages were about a dollar a day for adults, and kid's allowances were small.. Good Humor also had a ten cent ice cream and was it SMOOTH, but we got very few of those.)

I enjoyed my Milk Nickel.  And LO and behold, it had a FREE stick inside.  A FREE stick could be turned in for another ice cream.  But by now the ice cream wagon was blocks away. 

No matter, I knew where he parked his truck by the side of Wilshire Blvd to catch the evening traffic. So I hiked to Wilshire, found the ice cream man, and turned in my FREE stick for another Milk Nickel.

Believe it or not, that one had a FREE stick in it too.  Gleefully I turned in the FREE stick and got my third ice cream bar.  Now, a miracle happened.  The Good Humor man offered me a free Milk Nickel if i would pick up the littered sticks and wrappers that had collected around the truck.

So I picked up wrappers and was awarded my fourth ice cream in a row.  I ate it, and then went home to supper.

I don't imagine I ate much supper, but I was sure in a good humor.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awww cute entry. We didn't have an ice cream man in our small town and we didn't get an allowance either. We were more into drinking Big Red soda with peanuts in. Paula

Anonymous said...

ha ha, love this entry.....i can see you running and so excited and enjoying that ice cream....i remember being small and hearing the bells as the truck came down my street. I often got a bombpop....it is red, white and blue..i dont know if its called a bombpop now or not. It was not ice cream.
lisa

Anonymous said...

I can see a young lad with a 4 foot smile, thanks for sharing this!

Anonymous said...

Hope you don't mind if I share this in Down Home. These are the stories we all love! Tammy

Anonymous said...

I LOVED THIS ENTRY, CHUCK! I COULD JUST SEE YOU CHASING DOWN THAT ICE CREAM TRUCK! A FREE ICE CREAM WAS A THRILL TO KIDS BACK THEN!
HUGS,CARLENE

Anonymous said...

LOL.  The simple pleasures of childhood.

Krissy
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink

Anonymous said...

Oh those were the good ole days.  I loved the ice cream man too, but we rarely had the money to stop him.  A few weeks ago I had to go to an appointment and on the way home spotted an ice cream truck.  I actually got excited-- at my age!  Some of us never grow old.  Annie

Anonymous said...

LOL...What a great entry Chuck!!! Love, Bam

Anonymous said...

I reckon you would still chase the ice cream lorry Chuck, on your mobility scooter, just for the fun of it. (That's if you're not too busy chasing the female of the species around that home of yours). Keep laughing. Behave yourself.
Love Sylvia xx

http://journals.aol.co.uk/Sylviam4000/YeOldeEnglishPosy/

Anonymous said...

What a fortunate day that was!  Never lose that kid in you.  I hope you always chase down and catch the GOOD HUMOR man.
Nelishia
http://journals.aol.com/nelishianatl/WISHINGANDHOPING/
http://journals.aol.com/tsalagiprincess1/JumpingOffTheDeepEnd/