Meltdown: 12 Dripped, Dropped & Abandoned Ice Cream Trucks

If ice cream trucks are rolling symbols of childhood happiness, abandoned ice cream trucks are sadder than a dropped double-scoop cone on a hot summer day.

abandoned ice cream truck 1

This forlorn former ice cream truck has found an odd sort of peace, marooned amongst fellow relics of good times (not to mention Good Humor) past at the Pearsonville Junkyard in California’s High Desert. Kudos to Flickr users cins_city (top) and codywbratt (above) for capturing this one-eyed metal monster basking in the eerie twilight glow. Curiously, the decrepit van appears to have moved to a different location on the lot during the year between the two photographers’ visits.

Colorado Low

abandoned ice cream truck 2a

abandoned ice cream truck 2d

“Is there anything sadder than a junked ice cream truck?,” asks The Truth About Cars’ Murilee Martin, to which the answer is none… none more sad. This unusual minivan-style ice cream truck is destined to count down the days before it’s fed to the crusher in a Denver-area pull-your-own-parts salvage yard.

abandoned ice cream truck 2b

abandoned ice cream truck 2c

The clapped-out 1998 Ford Windstar van’s dayglo paint job and copious stickers haven’t faded much and from all indications it sold Blue Bunny brand ice cream, frozen treats and cold drinks – you’re a long way from Iowa, old friend. Sadly, it seems they’re sold out of Rice Pudding Bars… make that “gladly”.

Desert Desserts

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abandoned ice cream truck 3a

You can get your kicks on Route 66 but don’t expect to enjoy a cool, refreshing frozen treat afterwards… at least not from these abandoned ice cream trucks beached amidst the tumblin’ tumbleweeds somewhere in the Great Southwest. Doubtless these old blue Dodge ice cream trucks were once a welcome sight for tourists, travelers, cowboys and ind, er, Native Americans. Now they’ve been relegated to the modern equivalent of a bleached buffalo skull.

Forest Dumped

abandoned ice cream truck 4 alaska

From baking deserts to baked Alaska, abandoned ice cream trucks are everywhere it seems. “This is what happens to ice cream trucks in Alaska when they play the same annoying tune too much!,” notes Flickr user Van Vickle Photography after posting the above image taken in early August of 2013. One wonders, though, if an abandoned ice cream truck plays an annoying tune in an Alaskan forest, does anybody hear?