• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

The Ice Cream Man

  • Thread starter Thread starter Frantic
  • Start date Start date
00001691.jpg


For those who may remember the area of Birmingham at the time, here's Palmer Street (?) in the mid 1960's with a topical scene.
 
When we heard the ice cream man's chimes, our dad used to say the chimes meant he had run out of ice cream!!!
 
i liked mr whippy.he come on a sat night in phillips st aston.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
hello.ernie. i know the stuff you are on about.i buy the mint flavor.and rum and raisin .sorry mate i can not spell the word
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The ice cream man on the caravan site in Prestatyn had the best whippy ice cream I have tasted in a long time!! Mom especially liked the fizzy sherbert dip he put on them, along with the juice and sprinkles lol.
Sue
 
Just to revive this lovely thread, most Friday evenings in the summer early 60s Dad would treat me and my two sisters, and sometimes himself and Mum to ice cream when the chimes of Mr Whippys pink and cream van was heard.
Ahh happy days.
 
...I seem to remember the Tonibell vans being blue and then at some stage changing to pink...I'm sure I'm not imagining that, if someone could confirm this for me please !!


There are millions of pink Tonibell vans featured on Google but apart from the model toy variety there doesn't seem to be any of the earlier blue vehicles at all. That's the point of re-branding though: the old has to get vapourised in order to favour the new...



I don't think either of the above are currently active on the forum, but for those interested here's a blue Tonibell van from 1963...


tb20.jpg



tb19.jpg



A brief history of Tonibell, taken from this site...

http://www.basildon.com/history/industry/tonibell.html


"From the late 1950s a familiar sight and sound around the streets of Basildon was a Tonibell ice cream van. The company, known as Tonibell Manufacturing Co. Ltd, was founded as Tonis in 1937 by Italian born Toni Pignatelli and his wife.

Originally operating from a shop in Burnt Oak, Middlesex, their first vehicle did not take to the streets until 1951 by which time they were joined by their son Ronald. During the fifties the business grew and Basildon, with its new town status offering fresh custom, was seen as the ideal place to expand operations.

Their first depot, a yard adjacent to the Laindon Service Station on the Southend bound carriageway of the A127 before the Fortune-of-War roundabout, opened sometime in the late 1950s. They continued here, having become Tonibell following a change of name in 1960, before relocating during 1962 to No.1 Bowlers Croft off Honywood Road on the No.1 Nevendon Industrial Estate, where they were able to manufacture ice-cream in-house.

Their vehicles were custom variations of among others; Morris vans and the Bedford CA series with Picador bodies. Early vehicles were finished in a blue livery with some featuring a scaled down cow astride the front roof. Later models also included the cow and a memorable colour change to pink, which was probably how people best remember them. A feature of the livery was the company's lettering, all in lower case. They also had a specially written chime.

In addition to the street operations there were several ice cream parlours and snack bars in Basildon town centre. These were branded Tonis and situated at 5 South Gunnels, and from around 1963, 11 Market Pavement. The Market Pavement shop lasted until the 1980s before being bought by Tony Dow of Martins Mobile Sales of Durham Road, Laindon, who then re-opened for a time as Diamonds Resturant.

In April 1966, and now operating as Tonibell (Essex) Limited, they relocated again to larger premises at Bentalls on Industrial Estate No.2 at Pipps Hill. At this time the Basildon concern was operating 24 vans which cost around £1,800 each when new or about £500 if second hand and up to the company's standard. In November 1967 as the business continued to expand they were advertising for Driver/Salesman aged 25 to 40 with potential earnings of between £20 to £40 a week. The successful applicants would also get to use the 'mobile shop' to and from home. It was at Bentalls around the turn of the 1970s that the livery change from blue to pink occured.

Tonibell remained at Bentalls until the early 1990s when the depot closed.

Tonibell is still seen around locally as Gary Levine of Canvey Island operates several vans in their livery and the chimes can still be heard on many T.V. programmes that feature the sound of an ice cream van on the background soundtrack.

For anyone wanting to learn more about the history of tonibell, Steve Tillyer has written a book called The tonibell Story".
 
Last edited:
Along with two others called "The Mr Whippy Story"and "The Mister Softee Story", all recent and available from Amazon. A great story, Down Memory Lane!

Maurice :-)
 
The ice cream van around Hockley was Verrechio.

Carolina dear Verrecchia probably the first ice cream maker to have an ice cream parlour 1953/55 just before the hill going up Dudley Rd from Spring Hill . May have been the first ice cream vans with fluorescent lights early 60's Tony Verrecchia used to cover quite a lot of Birmingham, I remember him in Winson Green area while visiting my sister RIP in Harding St. Tony carried the business on from his Father then Tony died some years ago
 
Carolina dear Verrecchia probably the first ice cream maker to have an ice cream parlour 1953/55 just before the hill going up Dudley Rd from Spring Hill . May have been the first ice cream vans with fluorescent lights early 60's Tony Verrecchia used to cover quite a lot of Birmingham, I remember him in Winson Green area while visiting my sister RIP in Harding St. Tony carried the business on from his Father then Tony died some years ago
That's what we had in Paddington St. I thought it was Verrecchio's....
Dave A
 
Another building, in the background, to identify, in adap2it's post/ This might be easier than the other thread. :grinning:
If there is not a Verrecchia ice cream presence in Birmingham any more there is in Cambridge. I am not sure whether this an relation but the surname is not uncommon. Many in France, but not all in the ice cream trade.
 
Last edited:
WilliamStreeter,

Some languages change the ending of forenames and surnames according to whether they are males or female, and according to whether you are talking about them or talking to them. I'm not sure what the rules are in Italian as I don't speak the language. In Greek, a name of, say, Manolis Fragakis would, when referring to his wife or daughter, be, for instance, Sofia Fragaki. If I was talking to Manolis rather than about him, I would address him as Manoli.

A drummer friend of mine, who was married to an Italian lady, always said it was a very difficult language to learn. I can speak personally about learning the Greek language, which has the additional complication of not using the Latin alphabet like most of northen Europe. Fortunately I have a Greek son-in-law who speaks excellent English!

Maurice :-)
 
Italian is part of the languages usually known as Romance which derive from Latin (Classical and Vulgar). One thing about Italian, usually, is that most letters are pronounced, that is why it sounds expressive to some peoples ears.
 
WilliamStreeter,

Some languages change the ending of forenames and surnames according to whether they are males or female, and according to whether you are talking about them or talking to them. I'm not sure what the rules are in Italian as I don't speak the language. In Greek, a name of, say, Manolis Fragakis would, when referring to his wife or daughter, be, for instance, Sofia Fragaki. If I was talking to Manolis rather than about him, I would address him as Manoli.

A drummer friend of mine, who was married to an Italian lady, always said it was a very difficult language to learn. I can speak personally about learning the Greek language, which has the additional complication of not using the Latin alphabet like most of northen Europe. Fortunately I have a Greek son-in-law who speaks excellent English!

Maurice :)

I appreciate your point Maurice, I pointed this out mainly for the fact that all the ice cream vans and the parlour on Dudley Rd were all spelt with an a at the end of the surname . After all they were Bona Fide Italians and would know how they spelt their own name
 
The ice cream man on the caravan site in Prestatyn had the best whippy ice cream I have tasted in a long time!! Mom especially liked the fizzy sherbert dip he put on them, along with the juice and sprinkles lol.
Sue
na. honey ice cream made in Aberaeron is better.me thinks
 
My mother after working all week from 7 am till 4 pm used to sell ice cream on Sat & Sun from a bike for an Italian ice cream maker at the top of Erskine St.This was in 1946-49
 
Hi,
Back in the 60s I used to work with a young lady who
was related to the Verrecchia family.
From memory her name was Pat Holland.
Kind regards
Dave
 
Hi Dave89,

I remember that brand of ice cream very well when I lived in Brum it was lovely (soft & smooth). I left Brum in the early sixties with my parents and moved out to a country village in Staffs & the ice cream man used to come round on Sunday on his sidecar outfit & ring a bell to let you know he was around ha ha.

Lozellian.
 
How about the best cone ever a 99 that soft serve ice cream with a Cadburys Flake poking out the top, or the red sauce on top or the sprinkles (we called them 100's and Thousands) and do not forget the crushed nuts,

Hi Bob,

I certainly wouldn't disagree with you on that one mate I can almost taste one right now ha ha mmm. Do you remember the fruit sundaes you could get from the ice cream man, I seem to recall there were a variety of fruits, but they were mostly fruit cocktail, which came in little tubs complete with a wooden spoon mmm.

Lozellian.
 
Hi Bob,

I certainly wouldn't disagree with you on that one mate I can almost taste one right now ha ha mmm. Do you remember the fruit sundaes you could get from the ice cream man, I seem to recall there were a variety of fruits, but they were mostly fruit cocktail, which came in little tubs complete with a wooden spoon mmm.

Lozellian.
Walls Ice cream, the same kind the girl sold at the pictures during the intermission with that tray hanging round her neck with the little light,. How about Butterkist popcorn remember the add "do you love me" "of course l do I buy you Butterkist"
 
Back
Top