Ice creams for 10c for Tip Top birthday

**Lias** · 20th November 2006, 08:03

Ice creams for 10c for Tip Top birthday
20 November 2006

The classic kiwi summer treat of a Tip Top ice cream in a cone for 10c, guaranteed to melt down your hand if you take too long to eat it, is coming to a dairy near you.

Tip Top, the iconic New Zealand ice cream brand, is 70 years old this week and current owner Fonterra has lined up 13 dairies to sell ice creams for 10c "just like the old days". The deal is for a single scoop from 2pm to 5pm on either Thursday or Friday while stocks last.

The name Tip Top is thought to have originated from a conversation on a train when Tip Top ice cream founders Len Malaghan and Albert Hayman overheard a man describing his meal as "Tip Top".

Back in 1936 when it all began the ice cream was a summer-time treat sold only from milk bars and dairies. Tip Top milk bars were an innovation and the original one was in Manners Street, Wellington.

The Eskimo Pie did not come along until the early 1950s and the first ice cream on a stick - the Topsy - was marketed soon after.

These days New Zealanders consume 1.9 million litres of milk in the form of Tip Top ice cream each year.

The dairies chosen for the 10c promotion each have their own story to tell and some of them have been selling Tip Top ice cream for 70 years.

# They are as follows, including the day of the promotion: Rangitoto Superette, Takapuna, Friday
# Ollies, Royal Oak, Auckland, Friday
# Lakeside Cafe, Hamilton, Thursday
# Rotokawa Dairy, Rotorua, Thursday
# Cool Cat Ice Cream Parlour, Napier, Friday
# Northern Dairy, Stratford, Thursday; Oriental Bay Store, Wellington, Thursday
# Day's Bay Pavillion, Eastbourne, Friday
# Black Cat Super 7, Nelson, Thursday
# Redcliffs Dairy, Christchurch, Friday
# Tui's Treats, Fairlie, Thursday
# Foodlands, Dunedin, Friday
# Caltex Savoy, Invercargill, Thursday

**dnos** · 20th November 2006, 08:07

Darn it. None up here.
Sounds awesome.

**Ghost Lemur** · 20th November 2006, 08:45

Mmmm between 2pm and 5 pm on a Thursday and Friday.

Sounds like a cheap way to make it seem like you're giving away a fortune. Just make it while everyone is at work/school.

**bobsmith** · 20th November 2006, 08:45

I hate this stupid suicide capital.... None here either....

**Lissa** · 20th November 2006, 09:57

Thats just cruel.... was hoping for some hokey pokey.

**Motu** · 20th November 2006, 11:18

Ah,General Foods,that brings back memories...I worked there in about 1975 I think.So did my father about 10 years earlier,I have a photo somewhere of him working on a Leyland Hippo,and I used to work on the same truck.The workshop ran 24 hrs,but the mechanics worked two rotating shifts,a 6.00am to 3.00pm and a miday to 9.00pm - with a huge fleet of trucks we needed to catch them before they went out for the day,or after they came back.We also serviced the RFL fleet (Refridgerated Freight Lines),they kept their yard on the General Foods site,most of their work was hauling for General Foods so it worked for them.We had a panelbeater and a paintshop as well,and the maintenance guys for the plant had a seperate workshop.

Man,what a place to work at,with so many people on site it was like a small town,it would make a good plot for a soap or reality show.Every day at least 4 PTC buses (Passenger Transport Company) would come on site and drop off all the girls who worked in the factory,at least 3 of the buses came from GI alone.To get to the cafeteria we had to walk past the icecream floor where the girls maned (womaned) the machines churning out Topsies,Toppas and Fruju's - there was a lot of serious looking and banter between us...and a hell of a lot more behind the scenes,the clap and crabs went through the complex like a Mexican Wave.

We were very well fed - a break at 8.00am on the early shift for breakfast,two filled rolls and a cup of tea,or maybe scull a pint of milk from the fridge.The normal 10.00am and 3.00pm breaks.Lunch was a big opperation and staggered from 11.00am to 1.00pm,so you could go up whenever you liked,although our breaks always seemed to coincide with the girls on the floor,we would sit at seperate tables and ignore each other with many looks.There were several meals on offer as well as the normal pastries and cakes.We had to pay for lunch,but it was heavily subsidised by the company.The evening shift went up at 5.00pm for dinner ( if the girls were on overtime they would come up and giggle at a seperate table) We had roast meats,steaks or chops,baked vegies and peas and corn,dessert was icecream and canned fruit of course.At 7.00pm we went up for our evening break,a cup of tea or scull a pint if milk if there was any left...or we would break into the kitchen to find leftovers.If we worked overtime,and 16hr double shifts were common,we went down to the Irvines factory at 9.00pm - they were baking then and we might have a fresh pie,and an apple or apricot pie for dessert.In the workshop there was a freezer with a constant supply of Fruju's,Topsies or Eskimo Pies - oh boy,we were certainly well fed!

Sorry for the ramble,but I thought a worker eye view might be helpful...