Late 60s Ice Cream Van companies on the South Coast

[Geep7]

Not entirely sure if this is the right place to ask this question, but here goes.

 

So I'm looking to put an ice cream van on my layout, but I'm unsure which company it should be. Walls, Tonibell, Lyons Maid?

 

My layout is based around the Portsmouth / Hayling Island / Chichester area of the south coast, in the 1968 - 1973 period.

 

Any help greatly recieved.

[PhilJ W]

Check out local history sites, those that do photographs in particular. Also those that do vintage postcards.

[Geep7]

9 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Check out local history sites, those that do photographs in particular. Also those that do vintage postcards.

I had done a search on the internet, but maybe I was being a bit too specific. I'll try a more general search and see if that turns up something.

[Nearholmer]

Hayling in the ‘70s, with Lyon’s Maid putting in an appearance.

 

 

[BernardTPM]

Mr. Softee and Mr. Whippy were other common van operators.

Edited February 26, 2020 by BernardTPM

[PhilJ W]

I run a local history group on Facebook and some information on local businesses comes up quite often, including a local ice cream vendor. Unfortunately my group covers Essex, some distance from your area.

[BernardTPM]

I would imagine in Essex for ice cream Rossi would be the Status Quo.

[Geep7]

I was leaning towards a Walls or Tonibell van, but seeing that Lyons Maid sign on Hayling Island makes me think to go with that company.

 

Next question, what make / model or van for circa 1969-70? Ford Anglia? Bedford CA?

[Nearholmer]

Which prompts the probably unhelpful thought that c1970 the small Italian independents were still hanging in there against the giant corporations. Our local was Mr Di Mascio who made his own ice cream, had about four beautiful Morris J vans in royal blue and primrose yellow livery, and covered a radius of c15 miles. He was engaged in a fight for survival with a Walls agent who my father would refuse to buy from, because he was putting the old guy out of business.

 

New food hygiene regulations came out in 1970/71, which put some of these small firms out of business because they enforced separation between domestic and commercial kitchens and required a lot of other precautions - I remember a friend's family having to build a complete new commercial kitchen, expensive steel units etc, to comply with it.

 

Oxford Diecast make a Morris J in Di Mascio livery, but it is a different Mr Di Mascio ......... quite a common name in ice cream circles.

[Nearholmer]

More unhelpful nostalgia!

 

 

[Nearholmer]

Lantavian

 

Can you run Di Mascio (or possibly Di Maggio) through the K&S Courier in the 60's to see what turns up?

 

Kevin

[Geep7]

12 minutes ago, Lantavian said:

It even has MP3 files of ice cream vans so you could add DCC sound to yours.

 Isn't that the music they play to tell you they've sold out? (Well that's what I tell my son anyway..... )

 

Nice idea for exhibitions, along with the seagull track and the sound fitted locos....

Edited February 26, 2020 by Geep7

[Geep7]

12 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Lantavian

 

Can you run Di Mascio (or possibly Di Maggio) through the K&S Courier in the 60's to see what turns up?

 

Kevin

 

Funny you should mention that name, as it was one that came up last night when I was chatting with my parents about the subject.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I worked for an Ice Cream company based at Ash Green* back in the late 90s. Parked around the yard were a collection of old Bedford CAs and CFs (marked up as Walls), obtained locally (certainly the CAs were 1960s vintage). My first van was a 1974 Bedford CF.

 

* Near Guildford...

Edited February 26, 2020 by Claude_Dreyfus
Typo

[Nearholmer]

Lantavian

 

Many thanks; that is fascinating.

 

I reckon that the 1941 auction sale probably related to the poor guy's property being flogged-off when he was interned as an "enemy alien" during WW2 (notice the 'It', presumably for 'Italian', possibly for 'internee', after his name).

 

The family was certainly in business through the 50s and 60s.

 

Kevin

[Owd Bob]

These vans used to work around The Porthmadoc area up until the mid 2000's. Hope they may be of help or interest, especially the Lyons Maid livery.

 

[BernardTPM]

3 hours ago, Geep7 said:

I was leaning towards a Walls or Tonibell van, but seeing that Lyons Maid sign on Hayling Island makes me think to go with that company.

Next question, what make / model or van for circa 1969-70? Ford Anglia? Bedford CA?

The Bedford CA would have been the most common type.

[BernardTPM]

3 hours ago, Lantavian said:

It even has MP3 files of ice cream vans so you could add DCC sound to yours.

Not any I recognised though - where's 'Greensleeves'?

[ThePipersSon]

You could always look at this book .....

 

Famous fleets - ice cream vehicles

[crompton 33]

I remember these back in the 1970's . Nice to have something a little diffrent. Plus the Bedford CF van. 

 

[Joseph_Pestell]

Which van might depend a bit on where it is trading. Busy locations would need a large van based on the Bedford CF / Commer etc. Our local round, on quiet Surrey residential streets, was a Ford Anglia (Wall's).

Edited February 26, 2020 by Joseph_Pestell

[PhilJ W]

7 hours ago, Geep7 said:

I was leaning towards a Walls or Tonibell van, but seeing that Lyons Maid sign on Hayling Island makes me think to go with that company.

 

Next question, what make / model or van for circa 1969-70? Ford Anglia? Bedford CA?

Anything from the 50's onwards. Ice cream vans tend to do very low mileages so many remain in service for 25 years or more. The only alterations would be to the interior 'shop' part of the vehicle. Some quite unusual vehicles have been used such as Landrovers and a 1930's Rolls Royce.

[Nearholmer]

Having reminded myself of Mr Di Mascio, I googled around the history of what seems to be a large ice-cream clan.

 

Started with one family member in Glasgow, and spread through others setting-up business all over the place, notably Coventry, Tunbridge Wells (with an ice cream parlour in St Leonard’s on Sea too), Somerset, the Great Yarmouth area (a late starter and still going), South Wales etc etc. Gallones in Northampton have been mentioned above - another branch of the family.

Not one big business, but multiple separate ones started by different family members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Geep7]

17 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Having reminded myself of Mr Di Mascio, I googled around the history of what seems to be a large ice-cream clan.

 

Started with one family member in Glasgow, and spread through others setting-up business all over the place, notably Coventry, Tunbridge Wells (with an ice cream parlour in St Leonard’s on Sea too), Somerset, the Great Yarmouth area (a late starter and still going), South Wales etc etc. Gallones in Northampton have been mentioned above - another branch of the family.

Not one big business, but multiple separate ones started by different family members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mother mentioned the parlour at St. Leonard's, as she spent most summers down there. I guess this would be the one.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

There is definitely an art to driving and operating an ice cream van.

 

For a start they were heavy. They were full of stock, fridges, freezers, not to mention the whippy machine itself; a combination that meant some vans weighed over 3 tons at the start of the day. The whippy mix came in gallon containers, with the consistency of batter mix. We tended to carry 10-15 depending on fridge capacity.

 

The whippy machine also made the van very top heavy (not helped by the tall fibreglass cabin with lots of windows (which made the van like a furnace in the summer)). I never tipped one over, but a colleague did coming off the Hog's Back. 

 

Our Transit vans tended to be ex rental, so had been thoroughly ragged by the time they got converted. That, combined with the weight, meant they had the acceleration and manoeuvrability of an oil tanker. The Bedfords were older, but less thrashed...

 

The whippy machine itself was a beast. Some are electric, but ours were belt-driven directly from the engine. They operated at engine idle speed (meaning the vans engine was running all day), but you had to watch to disengage from the drive belt before you drive off. A sharp increase in engine revs could cause some damage. They also operated under quite some pressure (to get the combination of mix and air right, to give the perfect ice-cream!). You needed to release the pressure before cleaning it. Failing to do so, and releasing the T-piece in the hopper could result in said item shooting through the roof of the van, and sending a fountain of mix over you and everything else!

 

In our vans, the chimes were provided by a small wind-up music box fixed to the dashboard, wired up to a pair of speakers fitted to the roof of the cab. My van, a C reg mark 2 Transit, serenaded the punters with something called the Tonibell Jingle. We all tried to avoid the Bedford CF2 which not only was painted pink and white, but also played the Teddy Bear's Picnic!

 

This was the 1990s, so little bit off topic, but this thread gave the chance to wander down memory lane a bit. 

Edited February 26, 2020 by Claude_Dreyfus