Back in the school days, we had many vendors selling things right outside our school. Some other day, I will write about every single thing that was sold outside our school. Starting from churumuri, thothapuri mango slice with salt & chilli powder (during summers), cycle bombe (cycle candy), posters man etc.
One fine day, we noticed a man in french beard and well dressed and holding a box on his two wheeler. He was publicizing that he was selling a new type of an “ice cream”. I was obviously attracted. But I never reached to him.
A week later, this man somehow made it inside our school and he was allowed to speak to every class and promote his “ice cream”. He showed his ice cream and it was a mini version of ice candy. He said it was called “popsicle”. It was just some artificially sweetened water in orange flavour, frozen inside a thin plastic tube and we could start licking them! This became an instant hit in our school soon after he did the promotion inside our school. I really don’t understand how these people got inside the school or rather – how our school administration allowed such people to market things to us for free!
He would come near our school and his stocks would get over in 10 minutes. I remember after the promotion inside our school, for the first 4-5 days, students would fight for his stocks. He started with orange flavour and then moved on to grape flavour.
I had requested my dad to get this from city. I had even written down the name on a paper and given him. For the first time, he read it as “paapu cycle” (paapu in Kannada is baby). And then I told him it’s a type of ice cream. He asked in the city and the vendors told him it was a cheap ice candy. It used to cost Rs. 1 or 2 I guess. Those days, we could get ice candies from Joy (brand) for about 4 or 5 rupees. We realised it wasn’t a good thing. However, I did buy and eat it a few times. And when the colour stuck on my tongue, I realised it isn’t good. So stopped having it.
A few years later when we were in the high school, a new brand started “softie ice cream” which was cheaper than the available packed ice creams. The cheapest ones were sold on the hand carts with bells. They were not safe and we didn’t know from where they came. The ones properly packed like Joy, Kwality Walls and Arun Ice creams were all quite costly. Softie ice creams were marketed as being good quality, good quantity and good price. Softie ice creams could be sold by bakeries and other shops by getting a softie vending machine. We paid Rs. 10 and they gave a double scoop on one cone. So it was a good deal. The vendor had to press a button and the ice cream would flow on the cone.
I had a ritual to have one softie ice cream while returning from school every Saturday. Saturday used to be half day. Noon used to be hot and ice cream made things better. Softie ice creams started with vanilla and proceeded to chocolate also. And then, after a few years, this brand totally stopped! Or the bakeries found the work of putting the ice cream on the cone tiring or waste of time, for the commission they got. Most of the bakeries stopped having these machines later. There was one in the bakery situated in “Kuvempu trust”.
