Some vans plied their trade on a daily basis throughout the year whilst others which were like swallows, arriving in early summer and departing come the start of autumn.
To my knowledge there was no Pavlov but whenever any of us heard the sound of the chimes, whether we were thinking about ice cream or not, we were quickly attuned!
The original ice cream van in the brand new community of Oxgangs was Ernie's remembered primarily for his distinctive orange and cream Volkswagen van and by common consent, a bit grumpy.
As the 1960s progressed and Ernie melted away our favourite ice cream van was 'Tony's' who ran his business from a large blue van.
In his demeanour Tony was the opposite of Ernie.
Tony wasn't his real name, but Mario. Initially I don't know if it was his own business but given the flair and entrepreneurship of the Italian community in Edinburgh I suspect it probably was.
Mario had film star looks with dark hair and flashing brown eyes, a bit like Seve Ballesteros; however he was quite small in height. I only ever saw him from outside the van from where he looked down upon us below so I was never aware of this until years afterwards when Les Ramage told me.
I found Mario to be a lovely guy and an excellent salesman. He had that great gift, that when he served you, you felt you were his favourite customer. Many former residents recall how you wouldn't receive any change from him with chews being thrown in to the value instead!
His van always looked quite classy and clean. The ice cream was good. In addition to the ice cream I went through long phases of buying 'Topics' and also packets of 'Oddfellows.' I wouldn't thank you for the latter today - quite medicinal. For many years Tony's Ice Cream Van appeared at four o'clock opposite The Stair on the other side of the road. And then come the evening, the musical chimes could be heard at around seven o'clock, but now on The Stair's side where he parked outside 4 Oxgangs Avenue. This was perfect timing for a post tea, pudding with my mother enjoying either an oyster or a perhaps a 'black man' (chocolate wafer).
Because he didn't visit Oxgangs Avenue I was unaware that Arcari's sold ice cream in Oxgangs; a pity as I loved their ice cream. Eddie Arcari operated his shop out of 99 Portobello High Street and the legend goes that this is where the the name of the famous '99' originated from to thereafter reach cult status throughout the United Kingdom.
The irregulars were 'Mr Bongo' who served up bongos. These were hard frozen balls of ice cream covered in chocolate on the end of a stick - at the time quite a novelty.
Ice cream vans are a bit of a rarity nowadays particularly here in the Highlands where I live today. But occasionally, on a quiet summer's evening, drifting across from Strathpeffer to the hamlet of Jamestown carried on a zephyr breeze we hear the sound of musical chimes.
Back in around 2005 when visiting my mother at Stenhouse, Edinburgh I got a lovely surprise to see Mario driving along in an ice cream van. But this time the van had his own name on it - 'Mario's' so by then he was definitely self-employed? Although his hair was grey he looked as handsome as ever. My sons Atticus and d’Artagnan were both there and were thrilled because they'd been brought up hearing about the novelty of the Oxgangs ice cream vans from back in the day.
Postscript: Mario Angelucci (‘Tony’) died peacefully on 21, May, 2008 at St Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh
Eddie Arcari
So, for us the other regular ice cream van throughout the four seasons was Jola's, a most odd name. There was less of a relationship there; similar to Ernie it was more of a transaction. The ice cream was very average; however we enjoyed the 'Payne's Poppets.' I naturally thought there was only one Jola‘s ice cream van. However, on one occasion at Morningside Road I thought I was seeing double - gosh! two Jola vans at Miller Crescent were parked in a line taking stock on board; one served Oxgangs whilst the other must have served another local Edinburgh community.
The irregulars were 'Mr Bongo' who served up bongos. These were hard frozen balls of ice cream covered in chocolate on the end of a stick - at the time quite a novelty.
The other more interesting van was Mr Whippy who only seemed to ply his trade in the summer months. He always kept the van’s engine running. The combination of the smell of diesel; the distinctive ice cream; the big queues and the summer heat was a powerful mixture. The ice cream was good and it was magical to see the way it emerged from the tap and the expert way the vendor curled the ice cream on top of the cone.
Ice cream vans are a bit of a rarity nowadays particularly here in the Highlands where I live today. But occasionally, on a quiet summer's evening, drifting across from Strathpeffer to the hamlet of Jamestown carried on a zephyr breeze we hear the sound of musical chimes.
Back in around 2005 when visiting my mother at Stenhouse, Edinburgh I got a lovely surprise to see Mario driving along in an ice cream van. But this time the van had his own name on it - 'Mario's' so by then he was definitely self-employed? Although his hair was grey he looked as handsome as ever. My sons Atticus and d’Artagnan were both there and were thrilled because they'd been brought up hearing about the novelty of the Oxgangs ice cream vans from back in the day.
Postscript: Mario Angelucci (‘Tony’) died peacefully on 21, May, 2008 at St Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh
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