….You hear the chimes of the ice-cream van before you see the van itself. It’s a street or two in the distance, but you know it’s on its way. Those jingle-jangle chimes – sometimes a bit wonky but still recognisable as the song Greensleeves – are as much the sound of summer as waves crashing, flies buzzing, air conditioners humming and barbecues sizzling. The sound of promise. The sound of hot, dry days. The sound of standing on the road or the footpath in your bathers and your thongs and holding onto your notes and coins and trying to decide between gelati or soft-serve. Lemon gelati? Chocolate ice-cream with a sprinkle of nuts?….

The 1200-word article looks at how ice-cream vans have stayed the test of time for close to 70 years. I interview Albert Cerminara, whose family business has been running for 45 years. And I take  a brief look at the tune Greensleeves.

A big thank you to The Big Issue for the opportunity to write the story for edition #628, now available from street vendors or The Big Issue’s subscription service.

Edition #628 also features stories about Dolly Parton, the movie Penguin Bloom, the band Shame, and the southern coast of Croatian island of Hvar, which the locals calls “the sunniest place in Europe”. Good spot for an ice-cream van, I reckon.