The Popsicle Man

As a kid growing up, one of the highlights of the day during the summertime was the arrival of the popsicle man. The guy who frequented our neighborhood in Ann Arbor for years was called The Big Mouse, and he quickly learned that stopping in front of our house each day meant a sure sale! We'd run into him around town too, at events like the Carnival or the Soap Box Derby. We even saw him at the State Fair in Detroit once! When the Big Mouse stopped coming around, the Good Humor Man - Jerry Poquette (pictured above) took his place. But the Big Mouse was my favorite, and I wrote a little poem about him a few years back:

I'd hear the bells a-jingling and I knew I was in luck
"Hey mom, can I have a dime? Here comes the ice cream truck!"
Every day he'd come on by, pull right up by our house,
Ann Arbor's favorite ice cream man, the guy we called "Big Mouse"
What a deal on popsicles - 10 cents, or was it a nickel
He had every flavor in the world it seems, except for pickle
Where he got that silly name I guess we'll never know
But he was a BIG deal to us, Mouse - where'd you ever go?