What would you like to talk about today?
Last time I talked about what was going on in my home when I was kid. Today I’d like to move out into the street.
Meaning?
Two things. This was when I was somewhere between 5 and 9 years old, while we were still in the rental.
Okay.
And down our street would come two guys at different times, one on foot and one in a truck. First the guy on foot. Ever hear of an organ grinder?
I’ve heard the term.
I guess today we would call him a street performer. He walked down our street cranking a music box on top of a pole. A leg, so he could set it down. And he had a monkey with him.
A monkey?
Yep. And the monkey was dressed in red and he was carrying a cup.
The idea was that the man was entertaining us and we would donate a few coins in return. Of course, he wouldn’t get much from us kids. Pennies and nickels and dimes. But remember this was during The Great Depression, so he was content with whatever he could collect.
Wow.
The fun part for us was in handing our coins to the monkey. It felt funny with that little hand taking a coin from us and dropping it in his cup.
I’ll bet.
Now for the guy in a truck. It was a guy selling ice cream. Specifically, Good Humor.
He would drive down our street ringing his bell, and we would all run out with our dimes and wait for him. I guess each of us had his favorite. Mine was ice cream on a stick covered with toasted coconut. Or maybe toasted almond.
Looks good.
It was. But, you know what? Good Humor had something else going for it. The so-called Lucky Stick.
What was that?
Well, when we finished the ice cream, and we got down to the stick, we’d find writing on it.
Usually it was just advertising promoting the company. But every once n a while someone would get one that read Lucky Stick. Save it and next time turn it in for a free ice cream.
That is lucky.
Right. But there was one downside to Good Humor.
What’s that?
The price. Good Humor had a competitor called Bungalow Bar. You would recognize it by the look of the truck. It had a sloped roof and a gate for a door, making it look like a small cottage, or bungalow.
But the main thing is that it sold essentially the same ice cream for half the price. While Good Humor sold ice cream on a stick for a dime, Bungalow Bar sold it for a nickel.
You can imagine which truck we were hoping for. Save a nickel for another day. Hey, I’ve got some other recollections about ice cream, but could we save that for next time?
Okay. See you then.