Food For Thought (1950s)

[Music] ah ice cream more and more of it all sorts of times all sorts of Ages all over the place winter and summer more and more ice cream here's a phenomenon of the 20th century a social habit practically unknown in this for years ago great-grandfather didn't know much about it and even to Father ice cream was a new fangled thing vaguely connected with the Italians [Music] this was the chap who started it all up his methods were limited his public small yet he started a demand that was to snowball on until it ended with great modern Ultra hyic Dairy plants until somehow ice cream had to be carried from end to end of the country here was the first answer to the problem remember walie stop me and buy one the man who introduced a new eating Habit to a surprised but interested public ice cream that was hygienically produced just before the war we had 8,000 of these little blue shops on Wheels 8,000 Wallies alas when the war came like a good many other things Wallie and his ises had to disappear he never came back but people remembered and when production started again it seemed as though 50 million people were determined to make up for lost time this was partly because ice cream habits were changing people were beginning to realize that ice cream was good with meals summer and winter ice cream was becoming something more than just the kid's penis it had grown up and come of age people didn't always want to buy their ice cream on the spur of the moment now quite often they wanted to buy it with their shopping so to meet this all the year round demand the shopkeeper took over thousands of shopkeepers all over the country with thousands of shop boards until the site became as familiar as old wal's track thousands of shopkeepers with thousands of refrigerators now a completely new type of organization had to be developed for with the new agents came new problems how to get the ice cream from here to here customers even young customers don't like to be kept waiting here was part of the answer insulated super Vans some of them capable of carrying 2,000 gallons of ice cream the whole thing had to be planned like a military operation from the factory C store to the vans from the Vans to the depot each Depot and there are a hundred of them covers a particular area or District then from the depos by smaller Vans to the local [Music] agent and from the agent to the the customer but it wasn't only in towns people wanted ice cream and in the country there would be a shop for Miles alas the tinkle of Old wal's Bell was gone [Music] forever so in Country Places a new type of service began to appear waly but with a truck instead of a track specially designed motor Vans to carry ice cream to the customer who would otherwise have gone without but even in towns there are times when the ordinary distribution me not so very ordinary either W the office calling waly Baker waly office calling waly Baker are you receiving me over Wy back office Wy back office we're saing you loud and clear over waly offic to waly Baker I have a message for you call at hmer Thon Road thoron heat deliver two cans chop bars three cans tubs five cans brickets understood over B your office message received over and out the offer over and out new methods to meet new demands and old methods for El demands I've got a to beat the favorite come on [Music] G now it's a question of supplying Millions the day of the Oki pokei man has gone and the great ultramodern hygienic Dairy plants with their gleaming pasteurizing rooms have arrived to replace the old Barrow in the backyard Ru of Thum has given way to progress now and behind the doors of the laboratory scientific control has taken over the wooden handle of the old ice cream freezer turns no more but the wheels of a new generation turn faster and more [Music] efficiently a phenomenon of the 20 Century a social habit practically unknown in this country 40 years ago what would Grandad have thought about it all I'll have a chalk bar please [Music]