

Suitably Chastised Where the Teacher can see me All posts by this member | 1 of 61 Wed 17th Aug 2011 10:54pm Member: Joined Jul 2011 Total posts:126 Ok, we'll test your theory out then Rob, food topics, and whether I'll get a response from this post.
D Di Mascio, surely all Cov kids remember this institution.
I can remember collecting dandelion leaves for our local seller for his rabbits and in return receiving an ice cream.
Then one day, shock and horror, Mr. Whippy, followed by Mr. Softie came on the scene. ![]() ![]() |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
Greg Coventry All posts by this member | 2 of 61 Wed 17th Aug 2011 11:13pm Member: Joined Apr 2011 Total posts:242 I had a book out from our local library, some months ago, which was the complete history of D.Di`s.
It is a fascinating story and there are quite a few nostalgic pictures of their vehicles and premises.
From memory, I think the family just decided to stop trading in the 70`s. |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
Suitably Chastised Where the Teacher can see me All posts by this member Thread starter | 3 of 61 Wed 17th Aug 2011 11:19pm Member: Joined Jul 2011 Total posts:126 Would be interested to read the said book Greg. I'm a Cov Kid in exile, so no library ticket I'm afraid. Any thoughts??? |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
dutchman Spon End All posts by this member | 4 of 61 Wed 17th Aug 2011 11:28pm Member: Joined Mar 2010 Total posts:3011 Not wishing to stifle debate on the subject here, but newbies might want to catch up on the thread started by the late Larry Broadhurst. That particular forum is now locked but the posts in it can still be read.
To quote from one of the articles referenced in the thread:
"In the 50s and 60s "D Di" was a byword for ice cream in the city. The fleet of vans would set out from the factory in Stoney Stanton Road to cover the whole city.
The Di Mascio family, headed by Dioniso Di Mascio, came from near Cassino in Italy and settled in Scotland just before the outbreak of the Second World War.
They came to Coventry in 1932 and started D Di Mascio Ice Cream from King William Street, Hillfields.
D Di Mascio came to an end in 1980." |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
dutchman Spon End All posts by this member | 5 of 61 Wed 17th Aug 2011 11:32pm Member: Joined Mar 2010 Total posts:3011 On 17th Aug 2011 11:19pm, Suitably Chastised said:
Would be interested to read the said book Greg. I'm a Cov Kid in exile, so no library ticket I'm afraid. Any thoughts???
Quoting from my own post in the Telegraph forum in answer to the same question:
On Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:31 pm, dutchman said:
I borrowed it from the library and was unimpressed. It focuses mainly on a particular type of ice cream van from a particular period and not much else.
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Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
mayjan Green Lane,Coventry All posts by this member | 6 of 61 Wed 17th Aug 2011 11:41pm Member: Joined Oct 2010 Total posts:258 Growing up in Hillfields I loved D Di's ice cream, it was so delicious, yellow and creamy. I used to enjoy sitting inside the ice cream parlour and eating it from the glass dishes they served it in. My dad often used to fetch us kids one home on a Sunday when he came from the Howitzers Club at lunchtime - yummy. The book is on Amazon for sale at around £10, haven't read it myself so can't comment. |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
dutchman Spon End All posts by this member | 7 of 61 Wed 17th Aug 2011 11:59pm Member: Joined Mar 2010 Total posts:3011 It was years before I knew they even had a parlour.
The first place I ever lived in Coventry was Hawkins Road in Earlsdon. My mum thought cornets were a waste of money so we sat on the kerb with empty teacups in hand waiting for the van to come around: "Bing-bong, bing-bong". Then we handed the cups to the driver, he filled them for us, then we went back inside the house to eat the ice creams with a spoon. Every other kid had a cornet so I wanted a cornet! ![]() |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
PhilipInCoventry Holbrooks All posts by this member | 8 of 61 Thu 18th Aug 2011 8:18am Moderator: Joined Apr 2010 Total posts:3948 Hello. D Di. Fabulous. An institution almost in Coventry. At one time their depot was in Broad St., Foleshill. At my Sunday school, a delivery of D Di was often the high point for games afternoons. Yum yum. I want one now. ![]() |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
IslandCafe Plymouth, Devon All posts by this member | 9 of 61 Thu 18th Aug 2011 1:05pm Member: Joined Feb 2010 Total posts:86 With all this talk of ice cream vans it reminds me of the times in the early 50's when my pet monkey whenever he heard the chimes of the van would do his best to escape, he often succeeded and then would join the queue of children and when it was his turn the seller would break off the end of a cornet and give him a small ice cream, he would then join the other kids sitting on the wall and finish it off. Some things he did were not so funny. Alan Alan |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
dutchman Spon End All posts by this member | 10 of 61 Thu 18th Aug 2011 5:03pm Member: Joined Mar 2010 Total posts:3011 And on days when the fair was in town the ice cream vans were all massed together on Hearsall Common! |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
TonyS Coventry All posts by this member | 11 of 61 Thu 18th Aug 2011 5:22pm Moderator: Joined Jan 2011 Total posts:1556 I also used to LOVE the expectation of a visit from the D Di van ![]() ![]() |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
PhilipInCoventry Holbrooks All posts by this member | 12 of 61 Thu 18th Aug 2011 9:56pm Moderator: Joined Apr 2010 Total posts:3948 The RASPBERRY JUICE? Why did we call it 'MONKEY JUICE'? Or was that just me? ![]() |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
TonyS Coventry All posts by this member | 13 of 61 Fri 19th Aug 2011 9:00am Moderator: Joined Jan 2011 Total posts:1556 Guess that's just you Philip!! ![]() |
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LesM Melbourne, Australia All posts by this member | 14 of 61 Sat 20th Aug 2011 6:57am Member: Joined Jul 2011 Total posts:47 Afraid I have declare I was part of the "monkey pack", as I remember calling it monkey juice too, TonyS ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di | |
LesM Melbourne, Australia All posts by this member | 15 of 61 Sat 20th Aug 2011 7:51am Member: Joined Jul 2011 Total posts:47 I never was quite quick enough, by the time I had heard the chimes of the Mr D Di van and my mum had found her purse he was off down the street! I remember a man coming up my street riding a tricycle with a 'fridge on it selling ice creams and lollies like a "Stop Me and Buy One Man". He told us never to put our hands in the 'fridge as it would tear the flesh off our fingers! ![]() |
Industry, Business and Work - D Di |