Merrymobiles – Memphis Flyer

A few weeks ago, I posted a story about the Merrymobiles, those little merry-go-round-shaped ice cream carts that rolled along the streets of Memphis in the 1950s and 1960s. I mentioned that, for reasons unknown to even the world’s top scientists, just the sight of a Merrymobile made people smile.

Well, not always. I turned up a pair of old Memphis Press-Scimitar articles that told about the darker side of operating one of these contraptions.

The first story was headlined, “Merrymobile Man Claims She Drew Pistol on Him.” This being Memphis and all, I don’t know why this story surprised me, but dang — who would assault a Merrymobile driver? Well, Mrs. Shirley Marie Lucas, did. In July 1963, she operated the Pecan Hill Trailer Court at 2340 Raleigh-Millington Road. She later told police that she “loved children but hated litterbugs,” so one day when a Merrymobile came to a stop in front of her property, fearing that those beloved children might throw their popsicle wrappers on the ground — horrors! — she told the driver to move on. When he refused, she pulled a pistol on him!

It’s not clear what happened next, though I assume the driver did indeed move on, but the story says that charges of “disturbing the peace” against Mrs. Lucas were dropped, and she pleaded not guilty to carrying a pistol. I’m sure the Merrymobile driver decided to just avoid the trailer park after that. I certainly wouldn’t risk my life selling popsicles.

That’s the unfortunate driver, Robert Tramel, in the photo above. The newspaper said he was “mopping his brow after the stormy court hearing.”

The other event, from a child’s point of view, was probably more horrifying. Just imagine a little toddler, clutching his money in his hands, waiting on the curb after hearing the cheerful tinkle of the Merrymobile bells — only to see the little cart fly by IN FLAMES! Oh, I would have nightmares for years after witnessing such a terrifying sight.

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If you don’t remember Merrymobiles, you didn’t live in Memphis in the 1960s.

The brainchild of a local ice-cream vendor named Robert Heffelfinger, these red, white, and blue merry-go-rounds on three wheels rolled down suburban streets in the summertime. The putt-putt of the little one-cylinder engines and tinkling bells suspended from the aluminum canopy told every kid in the neighborhood, “The Merrymobile’s here!” and they’d scramble outside and wait on the curb, their fists clutching nickels and dimes. The driver could reach into freezers on either side of his seat and hand out ice-cold popsicles, Buried Treasures, Drumsticks, Eskimo Pies, and other mouthwatering delights. The prices were a treat, too. Back then, a popsicle cost six cents, an ice-cream sandwich a dime.

At one time, some 80 Merrymobiles operated out of the Merrymobile Ice Cream Company’s headquarters on Broad, but by 1973 the fleet had dwindled to a dozen. When the firm went out of business a few years later, most of the little cars ended up in a dump in Tipton County (or so I heard). But a handful survived, and one from the early 1950s, identified by a metal tag as number 43, sat forlornly outside Sid’s Auto Frame Alignment Shop in Millington for years.