Here in Saltaire, we still have frequent visits from the ice-cream man, selling ice-cream from his van. It's another of those traditions - along with the cinema organ and getting milk delivered in glass bottles - that is rapidly dying out. His van in itself must be a classic...H reg...how old is that? I know some people hate the van's chimes, finding them intrusive, but I always think it's a cheering sound. I remember the thrill, as a child staying at my great aunt's house, of running out to the street with a hot little coin in my palm and exchanging it for a whippy ice-cream cone. And looking at the local kids, especially the littlest ones, there is evidently still the same thrill. (Yes, you can buy ice-cream from the supermarket, but not the whippy ones with a chocolate flake!) I sometimes think I should do my bit to support the old custom, but then I look at my waistline....
Yes it's like people now complain about the ringing of church bells.
ReplyDeleteWe are slowly but surely lose contact with our past and our heritage which is really sad. Without the past we have no future.