5 Things You Didn't Know About Mister Softee

There's something that brings out the inner child in each of us when we hear that familiar jingle or get handed our cone through the open window.
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The familiar jingle of the ice cream man is one we associate with warm summer days, childhood, and a perfectly swirled ice cream cone. But did you know that the Mister Softee song, played thousands of times per day, has lyrics? We've rounded up 10 things that you most likely didn't know about everybody's favorite ice cream man, Mister Softee.

Mister Softee, which is most popular in the Northeast but operates about 600 trucks across 16 states, was founded in 1956 by two Philadelphia brothers, William and James Conway. As the very first ice cream truck operators, they outgrew their original building within two years and in 1958 moved to Runnemede, N.J., where they're still headquartered.

Along with soft-serve ice cream cones, shakes, and sundaes, Mister Softee ice cream trucks also sell a wide variety of ice cream bars and pops. There's something that brings out the inner child in each of us when we hear that familiar jingle or get handed our cone through the open window; there's something inherently awesome about being served delicious food out of a truck, and the ice cream man was certainly a forerunner to all modern-day food trucks.

Like most chains, Mister Softee is a franchise operation; most franchisees own multiple trucks and hire college students and other seasonal employees to be drivers, and each truck has its own set turf, which they call a "marketing area." Information about both becoming a franchise owner and being hired to be a driver is available on their website.

So read on to learn about Mister Softee lore like the lyrics to that magical (and occasionally annoying) jingle, what the surprising only other country where they exist is, and what it takes to make it as a driver.

You Can Buy a Mister Softee Bobble Head
Mini-musical trucks and banks, t-shirts, beach towels, and bobbleheads are available for sale at the Softee Store. Photo Credit: © Flickr / dotpolkaClick Here to see More Things You Didn’t Know About Mister Softee
Don’t Even Think about Ripping off Their Name
If you spot a Mister Softee truck, look closely at the name; a Master Softee truck has been spotted in New York, and is being sued for trademark infringement. Photo Credit: © Flickr / Drew Stefani
You Can Download the Jingle as a Ringtone
If you really love that jingle, you can download a ringtone of it. Photo Credit: © Flickr / ShannonClick Here to see More Things You Didn’t Know About Mister Softee
Locations in China Sell Green Tea Ice Cream
The first location of Mister Softee in China opened in Suzhou, Jiangsu in 2007, and they’ve been expanding through China’s eastern region since 2008. There are standalone Mister Softee stores and kiosks there as well as trucks, whose unique offerings include green tea and red bean ice cream, kiwi sundaes, and milk tea floats. Photo Credit: © Flickr / Kevin
The Jingle is in 6/8 time
The jingle follows a fairly standard A-B-A format with a coda at the end, and is actually in 6/8 time, meaning that each measure has two more beats than most songs, which are in 4/4. It was written in the key of E-flat major, but the version many trucks play is transposed up a half-step, to E. Click Here to see More Things You Didn’t Know About Mister SofteePhoto Credit: © Flickr / A. Strakey

-Dan Myers, The Daily Meal

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