We cannot always guarantee a hot summer but at Coventry Transport Museum we can offer another HOT exhibition for the summer.
All things Ice Cream will be on display from 19th July until 26th September, everything from “Stop Me and Buy One” ice cream tricycles to highly decorated Hokey Pokey vans from the past. All era’s are covered, from the early part of the century we have hand carts which plied their trade on the streets with ice cream being scooped from big shiny tubs. In the Twenties vendors moved on with motor vans and on display will be a 1928 Morris Cowley which has come all the way from Appledore in Devon. Starting its life as a two seat car, it was converted for £50 by a firm of coachbuilders in Devon; they had to cut a hole in the floor for Mr. Hocking (the owner) to put his legs through, so that he stood on the road and was at the same level as his customers.
Coming from Leicester we have a rather special van, as it was built in Coventry by the local D. Di. Mascio Company, who were famous for quality ice cream products and in fact a D.Di. was the local term for an ice cream. Children would say “I would like a D.Di please”. It is owned by Tina Cox, now in her eighties, who looks after it with pride as she used it in her younger days around the New Parks area of Leicester. Our newest exhibit is a Bedford HA which is decorated with pictures of Batman & Robin along with the “Kapow”, “Wallop”, and “Bang”! sound bubbles as seen in the TV films.
To support the exhibition there is a wonderful array of old photographs depicting the history of the industry, ‘Lick Glasses’ that were the forerunner to ice cream cones, also moulds that were used to make ice cream cones when it was discovered that the ‘Lick Glasses’ were not very hygienic.
The Ice Cream Dream Team will be on hand to explain things for you, they will show you how the van chimes work – we’ll have a selection of 10 chimes to choose from and play, how the Whippy machine operates, how salt was used to lower the temperature of ice and where the ice came from.
In fact everything “From Cow to Cone....it’s Superlicious”!
The latest news from the gallery is that we now have a genuine Mr. Softee ice cream van from Leicester. It is a 1963 BMC van in full Mr. Softee livery in iconic sky blue and white! A fascinating fact is that if you wanted to buy an equivalent van today with all of the equipment onboard it would cost £135,000!
To find out more about this exhibition contact - Clive Skelhon, Head of Marketing & PR at Coventry Transport Museum. Tel: 02476 234295
Click here to see the BBC Midlands Today feature on the gallery
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