🍦 Here comes Mister Softee | Morning Newsletter

Wake up, Saturday. We’ve got partly sunny skies and will approach 82 degrees.

Today, I’m talking about the Philly origins of an ice cream company that’s making the rounds again now that the weather’s warming up.

Plus, there’s news on Philly’s AI-powered plan to crack down on noisy cars, a new indoor pickleball facility coming to the city, and what President Donald Trump is doing to get Independence Park ready for the nation’s 250th birthday.

— Paola Pérez ([email protected])

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One recent evening, I had just arrived home when I heard the recognizable jingle coming up the street. I interrupted my goodbye to a friend on the phone and gasped: “Ooh! It’s back! The ice cream truck is back! Oh my God! The first sign of spring!”

That’s Mister Softee, of course, which serves up both the flavor and sound of the spring and summer months in the Philly region. I couldn’t catch it in time, but hearing the truck turning the corner was a reassuring reminder that warmer temperatures were on the way. That unexpected moment of happiness also got me thinking about Mister Softee’s lore. The company was born in none other than Philadelphia. These days, there are over 600 trucks spreading joy across the United States.

I dug up a piece my colleague Jason Nark penned long ago that detailed the start of the brand. It happened in West Philly in the 1950s, when brothers William and James Conway married ice cream with home delivery, and gave out green ice cream on St. Patrick’s Day. They went on to set up headquarters in South Jersey. Combined with its twinkling song (written in the ‘60s by a Philadelphia ad agency), iconic “Conehead” logo, and deliciously sweet frozen treats, Mister Softee would revolutionize the ice cream business.

Over the decades, Mister Softee has gone to court to fight many impostors. U.S. Marshals have confiscated wannabe trucks, forcing fake operators to cough up thousands in legal fees. And the company, unknowingly thrust into politics, even fielded chilling accusations by Ben & Jerry of being “fake ice cream.” The family-owned business may serve it soft, but Mister Softee is hard as nails on its trademark.

There are plenty of places in the region slinging good soft-serve cones, but Mister Softee’s simplicity is special. You know the saying: often imitated, never duplicated. Knockoffs will try to fool people (you’ve been warned, though), and haters can say what they want. All the more ice cream for the rest of us to enjoy. Mister Softee and its blue-and-white fleet is one Philly staple that I’m glad to hear echoing through city streets. As my colleague Lynette Hazelton put it: “The World’s a Twisted Place. Thank God We’ll Always Have Mister Softee.”

Earlier this month, Sen. Dave McCormick introduced a bipartisan bill to create a task force that would disrupt fentanyl distribution into the United States.

Christopher E. Kelly is a professor of criminal justice at St. Joseph’s University. As the opioid crisis persists in Pennsylvania, and especially in Philadelphia, Kelly says McCormick’s proposal falls short because it follows the playbook of the failed war on drugs by targeting only part of the problem. The plan is cosponsored by John Fetterman, the state’s senior senator.

“The initiative Pennsylvania’s junior senator has proposed will do precisely nothing to turn the tide of the crisis,” Kelly writes.

Read Kelly’s take on McCormick’s plan, the “Iron Law of Prohibition” and how economics apply to illicit drug markets.

In related news: A Philadelphia-area nonprofit that tests for new and dangerous substances in the country’s illicit drug supply hasn’t received the federal funding it depends on for months — forcing the organization to furlough a third of its staff amid a growing testing backlog.

An Easton woman attended an auction in Montco and went home with a charcoal drawing. She’s convinced it’s an original by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

How much did she pay for it?

A) $420

B) $12

C) $55

D) she got it for free

Think you know? Check your answer.

Hint: Behind her hazel eyes

KNACKERS LOLLY

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Kate Hetherington who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Pep Band. The Birds are parting ways with the musicians who serenade the Linc on Sundays and helped make “Fly, Eagles Fly” the unofficial Philadelphia anthem.

Hetherington said of the news: “They will be missed. Can’t understand the logic with letting them go. They bring so much joy to everyone and without them, Eagles fans would not have their fight song.”

March Madness continues with Villanova’s women’s basketball team now headed to Indianapolis to face Belmont in the WBIT Final Four, after their 71-61 win over Portland on Thursday. Catch up courtside with Katie Lewis and check out staff photographer Charles Fox’s pictures from the game.

Follow the journey of a cheesesteak on its way to a hungry mouth in Florida.

You know you’re talking to a Philadelphian when they pronounce “oranges” like this.

And check out photographer South Street Sam’s portraits of Will Smith and Quinta Brunson on their recent stops around Philly. Sam’s callback to the classic “he got moneyyyy” meme is everything.

👋🏽 See you tomorrow morning.

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