Classic Cushman Ice Cream Truck
Donation protected
Good day all!
My name is Jesse Talton. I'm a proud father of four, and have a mobile ice cream vending business that I operate to earn money while I go back to college for my Electrical Engineering degree.
I got involved in the ice cream business at the age of 15 with my father, who had recently retired from 18 years with the U.S. Air Force and was looking for something he could do to occupy his time while spending it with me. He purchased a 1960's model postal truck, which was right-hand drive and converted it to sell ice cream. He named the business "Way Cool Ice Cream". I have many fond memories of working on it with him, serving the neighborhood children and turning heads everywhere we went. We weren't in it for the money, it was to be able to spend time with one another.
Roughly three years ago, I decided to get into the ice cream business myself so I could share the same joys with my own children. Unfortunately, my luck with vehicles has not been great. The ice cream truck I had spun a bearing in the motor effectively leaving me destitute and had to be sold for scrap. As I watched the truck leave on a dolly, I swore to myself I would not allow this to be the end of my ice cream dream.
Fast forward to two months ago. As I'm perusing Craigslist in search for the next big thing, I come across a 1972 model Cushman Truckster. It was an oddity among vehicles, a 3-wheeled cart with a pickup truck bed that wasn't more than 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. Immediately I showed the ad to my father, who was genuinely interested in helping me acquire this rickity piece of history.
Two days later, we are headed home with the cushman in tow. No title, only a bill of sale, and a hope and a prayer. Over the next ten days I spent 8+ hours a day sanding her down to bare metal, priming and painting. During that time, I had the laborous task of trying to track down the history of the cushman in order to get it legally tagged and titled. Through my investigation, I found that the last time she was titled was in 1977 through a local school district as a maintenence vehicle. Which means that she already gets along great with children!
8 days after purchase and many hours of labor later, she is starting to look like a real beauty! I laid down a classic white on red paint job, and she was starting to really take shape. My youngest daughter now even wanted to pose with it!
I hand-stitched a new seat cover that matched the paint to give it that true classic look.
Finally, I wired up the power inverter, an audio amplifier, and an outdoor horn speaker to little all the kiddies know we were coming! She was finally an all-out classic ice cream truck ready to do business!
Having gotten my permits through the town, the county, and the state, spent countless hours fighting with the DMV as to whether this was a car or a motorcycle and whether or not I had to wear a helmet while operating it, I was finally ready to sell some ice cream!
I spent the next three days driving the little Cushman everywhere in town. Children, parents, and elderly alike all LOVED the little truck! I could see the smiles of little old women light up in the retirement community as they reminisced about their childhoods while listening to Joplin's "The Entertainer" over the speaker.
"This is the first ice-cream truck I've seen in 40 years!" they would say. Little children jumping up and down in the yards yelling for me to stop, and even chasing me down on bicycles. I was brought to tears by a retired service member who purchased one for himself and told me stories of how his late wife absolutely loved the orange dreamscicle and how he wished she was here to enjoy it with him.
This job brings such joy to the community that I swear I will do whatever it takes to keep it alive and running. Unfortunately, I awoke this morning to find a large puddle of oil underneath the little cushman. Upon investigating further, it's not just a little leak. The frame is rusting through, and is causing the drivetrain to be out of alignment, which is causing problems much worse than I had expected to find. I've parked her for the time being, and begun looking for parts to begin a full restoration. I refuse to junk her.
I never had high prices, and I'm known for giving away ice cream to children who can't afford it. It's never been about the money, it's the joy that I can bring to others. I don't know who would to donate to this, but know that anything you can give towards the restoration of this truck would mean the world to me, my children, and my community. If this never brings a dollar to my table, I will still invest my own financial resources towards it until the dream is once again realized.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to look at my page, and I hope that one day I may come across you and help cool you off on a hot summer day!
My name is Jesse Talton. I'm a proud father of four, and have a mobile ice cream vending business that I operate to earn money while I go back to college for my Electrical Engineering degree.
I got involved in the ice cream business at the age of 15 with my father, who had recently retired from 18 years with the U.S. Air Force and was looking for something he could do to occupy his time while spending it with me. He purchased a 1960's model postal truck, which was right-hand drive and converted it to sell ice cream. He named the business "Way Cool Ice Cream". I have many fond memories of working on it with him, serving the neighborhood children and turning heads everywhere we went. We weren't in it for the money, it was to be able to spend time with one another.
Roughly three years ago, I decided to get into the ice cream business myself so I could share the same joys with my own children. Unfortunately, my luck with vehicles has not been great. The ice cream truck I had spun a bearing in the motor effectively leaving me destitute and had to be sold for scrap. As I watched the truck leave on a dolly, I swore to myself I would not allow this to be the end of my ice cream dream.
Fast forward to two months ago. As I'm perusing Craigslist in search for the next big thing, I come across a 1972 model Cushman Truckster. It was an oddity among vehicles, a 3-wheeled cart with a pickup truck bed that wasn't more than 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. Immediately I showed the ad to my father, who was genuinely interested in helping me acquire this rickity piece of history.
Two days later, we are headed home with the cushman in tow. No title, only a bill of sale, and a hope and a prayer. Over the next ten days I spent 8+ hours a day sanding her down to bare metal, priming and painting. During that time, I had the laborous task of trying to track down the history of the cushman in order to get it legally tagged and titled. Through my investigation, I found that the last time she was titled was in 1977 through a local school district as a maintenence vehicle. Which means that she already gets along great with children!
8 days after purchase and many hours of labor later, she is starting to look like a real beauty! I laid down a classic white on red paint job, and she was starting to really take shape. My youngest daughter now even wanted to pose with it!
I hand-stitched a new seat cover that matched the paint to give it that true classic look.
Finally, I wired up the power inverter, an audio amplifier, and an outdoor horn speaker to little all the kiddies know we were coming! She was finally an all-out classic ice cream truck ready to do business!
Having gotten my permits through the town, the county, and the state, spent countless hours fighting with the DMV as to whether this was a car or a motorcycle and whether or not I had to wear a helmet while operating it, I was finally ready to sell some ice cream!
I spent the next three days driving the little Cushman everywhere in town. Children, parents, and elderly alike all LOVED the little truck! I could see the smiles of little old women light up in the retirement community as they reminisced about their childhoods while listening to Joplin's "The Entertainer" over the speaker.
"This is the first ice-cream truck I've seen in 40 years!" they would say. Little children jumping up and down in the yards yelling for me to stop, and even chasing me down on bicycles. I was brought to tears by a retired service member who purchased one for himself and told me stories of how his late wife absolutely loved the orange dreamscicle and how he wished she was here to enjoy it with him.
This job brings such joy to the community that I swear I will do whatever it takes to keep it alive and running. Unfortunately, I awoke this morning to find a large puddle of oil underneath the little cushman. Upon investigating further, it's not just a little leak. The frame is rusting through, and is causing the drivetrain to be out of alignment, which is causing problems much worse than I had expected to find. I've parked her for the time being, and begun looking for parts to begin a full restoration. I refuse to junk her.
I never had high prices, and I'm known for giving away ice cream to children who can't afford it. It's never been about the money, it's the joy that I can bring to others. I don't know who would to donate to this, but know that anything you can give towards the restoration of this truck would mean the world to me, my children, and my community. If this never brings a dollar to my table, I will still invest my own financial resources towards it until the dream is once again realized.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to look at my page, and I hope that one day I may come across you and help cool you off on a hot summer day!
Organizer
Jesse Talton
Organizer
Mocksville, NC
