The Ice Wagon

I heard the ice cream truck go bye yesterday and it reminded me of one of many happy times from the past. The ice cream truck was a brightly painted vehicle with music to capture the interest of the children. Two dollars bought you a small ice cream cut in squares and held with a wooden stick.

When I was a child we had the experience of having a ice delivery service to our homes. At first a team of horses pulled a huge wagon of ice covered with saw dust and the whole wagon covered with a tarp. Ice boxes were the best way of keeping food cool if you did not own a fridge. Most people in our end of town had these boxes and Allan's Ice Service came twice a week and delivered the ice directly to your door and ice box.

The ice man was very skilled and with his ice pick he could cut a 25 cent block and every size upward. There was little waste but we children followed the wagon until we had our fill of really cool ice. This was a great treat on a hot summer day and sometimes the driver would let us carry ice to our homes with the big tongs.

We got to know the iceman and respected him and we were appreciative of his generosity. One day he made a mistake and the cut was such that it was unsuitable for sale. He gave me the ice and I wrapped it up in my shirt and ran home to mom. Mom was quick on her feet an decided we should make ice cream that eve. We had an old three paddle ice cream maker and with our own cream , what could be better.

That evening after supper we all took our turn churning the cream until we had the most delicious vanilla ice cream. There was never enough to satisfy our hunger for this treat but Mom said it all came about because of the generosity of our ice man. I can still taste it and I have never had any since that could match Mom,s ice cream.