Summary: It’s the ice cream truck jingle. Even Mike’s hated Mr. Softee one. Mike provides the secret origin of the jingle, touching on the Great Depression, the growth of the American middle class, the Good Humor Man, refrigeration, and bobsled bells. -- Sources -- Ice Cream: A Global History by Laura B. Weiss http://www.amazon.com/Ice-Cream-Global-History-Reaktion/dp/1861897928 Ding, Ding!: The Commodity Aesthetic of Ice Cream Truck Music by Daniel T Neely http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199913657.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199913657-e-005 The real song of the summer: a brief history of ice cream truck music http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2013/7/The-real-song-of-the-summer-a-brief-history-of-ice-cream-truck-music A Brief History of the Ice Cream Truck http://mentalfloss.com/article/52281/brief-history-ice-cream-truck Nichols Electronics Co http://www.nicholselectronicsco.com/ Putting the ‘Mr.’ in Soft Ice Cream http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/19/nyregion/putting-the-mr-in-soft-ice-cream.html Racist History of “Turkey in the Straw”: Recall That Ice Cream Truck Song? We Have Unpleasant News For You http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/05/11/310708342/recall-that-ice-cream-truck-song-we-have-unpleasant-news-for-you That Viral Story About the Racist Ice Cream Song Is Wrong http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117792/racist-ice-cream-song-story-nprcom-wrong -- A previous version of this episode contained the following music -- Intro: Ice Cream Man by Tom Waits from Closing Time Break #1: Shut Up And Drive (Far Away) by the Deftons from Around the Fur Break #2: Star Spangled Banner, Rock Version
