In Australia when someone thinks of an icecream van, it is almost always a 'Mr Whippy' van.

In their pink and white regalia, Greensleeves tinkling out through top-mounted speakers, these vans were always to be found by the foreshore of the Swan River when I was a kid, and are a significant part of the childhood of many Australians.

Mr Whippy vans originally sold only soft-serve icecream, usually only in vanilla. There were a number of variants on the standard 'soft serve cone' available. Some were dipped in liquid chocolate (which set hard on contact with the icecream) and some came with a 'flake' in the top, but all were incredibly tasty. Later the vans started distributing popsicle type ice lollies, soft drinks, potato crisps, etc, but the soft serve icecream they sold was a constant in an ever changing world.

Until sometime in the mid 90's, a British company who owned the 'Mr Whippy' trademark somehow forced all owners of these Mr Whippy vans to stop using the name. Not wanting to lose the recognisability of their vans, and not wanting to spend money on having the vans repainted, the proprietors of said vans did something very devious with white paint.

These days you will not see a Mr Whippy van in Perth. Instead you will find 'Mr W_____', 'Mr Whip__', 'Mr _hippy', 'Mr _hip__', and the somewhat confusing (or confused) 'Mr __ippy'. I'm guessing he caught on to the renaming trend a little late in the game.

The vans are now all privately run, which means that in the last five years or so the quality of their soft-serve has dropped markedly, probably due to cost cutting measures.

Thankfully the vans still have their 'Beware of Children' signs on the back, which remain a constant source of amusement to twelve year olds everywhere.

Addendum: In certain (childish) minds, the term 'Mr Whippy' is also applicable to a certain type/texture of poop. I do not feel the desire to go into detail on this one.