‘Hokey-pokey’ was a slang term for ice cream in general in the 19th and early 20th centuries in several areas, including New York City and parts of Great Britain, specifically for the ice cream sold by street vendors, or ‘hokey-pokey’ men.
Take a look these vintage photos to see how the mobile ice cream vendors have changed over the years.
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| An old London ice cream cart in 1876 |
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| Ice cream vendor in Turkey, 1898 |
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| A mobile ice cream vendor in the 1900s |
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| Man with his ice cream cart, New Mexico, 1912 |
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| Ice cream seller with horse in the 1920s |
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| Pure Ice Cream vendor, ca. 1920s |
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| Walls Ice Cream vendor, ca. 1920s. |
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| Walls Ice Cream vendor, ca. 1920s. |
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| Noaker’s Ice Cream, 1925 |
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| People posing in front of a Dreyer’s Ice Cream truck, ca. 1930s |
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| A young cyclist buys some refreshment at an ice cream stall during the 1932 heatwave |
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| Ice-cream truck during the Feast of Mt Carmel, at the corner of 114th and 1st Avenue, New York, on 16 July 1934 |
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| Dixie Ice Cream trucks, 1936 |
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| Colville Ice Cream truck being loaded in 1937 |
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| An ice cream vendor wearing waders sells Bailey’s ice cream to two women bathing in the sea at Brighton, 7th August 1939 |
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| A Sharpless Mack Ice Cream truck departing the plant, Allentown, PA, 1942 |
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| Ice cream break for the North High School band, West Springfield, Massachusetts, spring of 1947 |
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| Ice cream wagon, Reading, PA, 1949 |
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| Good Humor ice-cream truck, Los Angeles, ca. 1949-1954 |
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| Swell Time ice-cream, East Fresno, 1950 |