That Very Recognizable Ice Cream Truck Song May Soon Be Replaced!

That song we heard that alerts us that Mr. Ice Cream Truck is coming down the street is called “Turkey in the Straw,” but did you know that that tune has a very dark past?

“Turkey in the Straw” is a song that became popular thanks to minstrel shows back in the 1800s.  These shows would include comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that were said to portray people of African American descent.  However, the shows would often include white people dressed in blackface and portraying African Americans as lazy, dim-witted, or buffoonish.

Due to its popularity in these shows, “Turkey in the Straw” was played in ice cream parlors.  That then translated to the tune becoming the theme song of ice cream trucks around the United States.

Good Humor Ice Cream reached out to Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and asked him to write a new jingle for ice cream trucks to play…and he’s done it.

We’re dropping a different kind of track: a new ice cream truck jingle. Sound UP to hear why I collabed with @GoodHumor.
Check out the full track here: https://t.co/KTXx2Dd9xT #GoodHumorPartner pic.twitter.com/9SXxvuTGCu

— RZA! (@RZA) August 13, 2020

Rza (pronounced Riz-uh) from the Wu-Tang Clan put together his own jingle and now they’re offering it to ice cream trucks everywhere for free with the hope that they will replace “Turkey in the Straw.”

Good Humor says it’s available to drivers starting this month.