A driver of Mr. Whippy has revealed the real reason why the vans disappeared from Sydney’s streets, and why ice cream lovers will never hear the iconic Greensleeves tune again.
The employee, named Paul, appeared on the Kyle & Jackie O show Thursday after co-host Kyle Sandilands complained about not being Mr. Whippy trucks outside shopping centers.
Paul revealed that the pink and white trucks don’t show up because they are usually hired for parties and events, such as weddings.
‘We are flat. Everyone wants us for events, weddings and birthdays,” he told the radio hosts.
“We’re not (in malls) anymore. But there are future plans to be there again.”
A driver of Mr. Whippy has shared the real reason the vans disappeared from Sydney’s streets, and why ice cream lovers will never hear the iconic Greensleeves tune again
Paul then offered a visit to the KIIS FM studios and gave Kyle and the team a free Mr. Whippy ice cream gift.
The ice cream vans rarely pass through the suburbs these days, but Jackie ‘O’ Henderson explained that there is a van parked outside her property in the eastern suburbs.
“Across from me at my house, there’s a regular Mr. Whippy who serves ice cream all the time in his pink van,” she said.
Ten of the original Mr. Whippy vans were shipped from Britain in 1962 when the popular franchise was started in Sydney, and at least one is still in operation in Queensland’s Hervey Bay, a popular ‘retirement town’.
An employee told The Kyle and Jackie O Show that the pink and white trucks don’t show up because they are usually hired for parties and events, such as weddings
Since the 1960s, vans packed with sweet treats and blasting tunes have become a regular feature of the suburbs and the subject of important childhood memories.
Only a handful of the original vans still operate in Australia, with most ice cream vans trying to imitate the style.
Others look very different and opt for very modern vehicles, while keeping the bright paint jobs, ice cream cone motifs and lighting.
In 2022, nostalgic Australians were transported back in time after photos of one of the original Mr. country’s whippy vans took the internet by storm.
The photo, which shows the pink and yellow Commer Carrier with illuminated ice cream cone lights, was an instant hit with people of all ages.
An elderly woman said the photo reminded her of the first time she heard the iconic Greensleeves tune ringing down her street.
“I’ve booked a van to come to my retirement home, I can’t wait to hear the music playing when it pulls into our parking lot,” she said excitedly.
A man said that as a boy he chased the ice cream truck through the streets on his bicycle, hoping to find him in time for a soft serve.
“When he stopped, the music stopped and I had to wait for him to start moving to start my search again,” he said.
He wasn’t the only one who struggled to secure a soft serve or had to work hard for it.
Ten of the original Mr. Whippy vans were shipped from Britain in 1962 when the popular franchise was started in Sydney, and at least one is still in operation in Queensland’s Hervey Bay, a popular ‘retirement town’.
“By the time we ran to Mom’s to get money, he was already down the street, so it was a race between us to get him first,” one woman said.
‘We heard the van a mile away and ran to my aunts. We would have ice cream and then we would both run back to my house. By the time the van got there it was time for another ice cream,” said another woman.
But not all the memories were so sweet, with one woman revealing she was run over shortly after receiving a severe jolt from one of the vans as a child.
‘The Mr. Whippy truck didn’t hit the curb when I was younger, it parked about five feet away,” she explained.
‘When I crossed in front of the truck I couldn’t see the car coming, he didn’t see me and we met in the middle of the road.
A Mr. Whippy franchise in Queensland proudly shows off one of the original vans in their fleet, left, as well as other ‘older’ modern vehicles, right
The operators now mimic the old-fashioned uniforms and brightly colored vans
“I was lucky enough to be badly bruised and was given some free big shakes by Mr Whippy afterwards,” she said.
Others said Mr. Whippy would find them every week so they didn’t have to search the streets for the nice van.
‘There used to be one who came to our primary school every Friday. That put some pressure on the parents who came to pick up their children. In retrospect, it was pretty cheeky of Mr. Whippy,” one woman laughed.
Robby Staff has one of the original vans in his collection and is proud that it is still functioning.
‘We regularly visit elderly care institutions with our ice cream vans. The van in this post is one of my vintage vans still running on the Fraser Coast, Queensland,” he wrote on the post.