Travelling Shops
Ted came round on a Saturday, and Ron would come round on Monday. Ron was the only one that had paraffin, Ted didn't have paraffin. They both used to have sweets, soap-powder, tea, things like that. They would just come round, stop at certain points, and people used to come out and get it. Ted's one was an old coach, and at the back was sweets. Sometimes he'd go in for a cuppa next-door-but-one, because the woman there was his cousin, and leave her son and me in the back selling sweets to the other kids.
I can remember at one time, we had about seven ice cream vans used to come round. Rossi's, Basti's, Eldorado, Mr Dinky, Walls, Lyons Maid...all with their own different ice creams. You used to take your own glass out to Rossi's, and he'd put your ice cream in the glass for you. It was the same bloke for three generations, we all remember him. He worked for Basti's first, then Rossi's, then went back to Italy.
The fish and chip van used to come round once a week from East Tilbury, on a Monday night I think. There was a hot chestnut trike on Sundays, a seafood van, a rag-and-bone, and a knife grinder on a bicycle. Every now and then, a big lorry would come, with blocks of ice for the freezers. As kids we used to go with our hankies and get a lump of ice to suck as a treat.
From stories told at Aveley History Society.
I can remember at one time, we had about seven ice cream vans used to come round. Rossi's, Basti's, Eldorado, Mr Dinky, Walls, Lyons Maid...all with their own different ice creams. You used to take your own glass out to Rossi's, and he'd put your ice cream in the glass for you. It was the same bloke for three generations, we all remember him. He worked for Basti's first, then Rossi's, then went back to Italy.
The fish and chip van used to come round once a week from East Tilbury, on a Monday night I think. There was a hot chestnut trike on Sundays, a seafood van, a rag-and-bone, and a knife grinder on a bicycle. Every now and then, a big lorry would come, with blocks of ice for the freezers. As kids we used to go with our hankies and get a lump of ice to suck as a treat.
From stories told at Aveley History Society.
