This story was previously published on Stratford Today.
How many kids his age have as cool a summer job as Lincoln Millen?
The answer is likely not many, as Millen launched his retro-themed Back to the Freezer ice cream bike business in Stratford on Canada Day. He first appeared during the city’s parade near his Waterloo Street home, and the buzz has steadily increased since then.
It’s a throwback to the 1980s, as the bike is a nostalgic nod to the armies of Dickie Dee ice cream peddlers that used to be everywhere and could draw you in with a simple ring of their finely-tuned bells. You heard that, and you knew something cold and sweet was rolling into your neighbourhood - something that Millen and his dad, Morgan, are counting on.
“It’s largely banking off that nostalgia, people remembering these bikes from when they were young,” Lincoln said. “You meet a lot of people doing this, and I was shocked by how good the reception was to the Facebook post I put up. I had people contacting me, telling me they remembered Dickie Dee from when they were kids. I’ve already connected with so many people over this.”
Morgan said they found the bike for sale in Barrie, restored by former Dickie Dee employee Joe Kelsey. It was more than just a sale, as the Millens learned tricks of the trade from Kelsey and how to modernize them in the process. The bike itself was a rare find, Morgan said, as the company destroyed much of their fleet. Kelsey bought as many as he could and has restored them over time, keeping them ready for a rolling revival of sorts.
“Joe’s been amazing, helping us with the learning curve,” Morgan said. “He’s helped us with getting the graphics on the bike, the designs, installation … even down to things like getting the proper ice packs and helping us line up distributors. We deal with Horton’s Dairy out of Wingham because everything we sell has to be individually pre-packaged with the nutritional information on it. When we got into this, I initially thought we could just go get stuff at Costco but that’s not how it works.”
He added similar comments to Lincoln’s, saying people just come running when they hear the bells ringing … the sounds of summer from their own youth that many people now get to share with their own kids.
Even the look has that retro vibe to it, and Lincoln said they picked the ‘Back to the Future’ theme because it captured that moment in time where Dickie Dee was as much a part of pop culture as time-travelling Deloreans were. Being just 15 years old, the younger Millen said he wasn’t sure at first this was going to be something he would like.
Consider him a convert.
“This was a random opportunity that came up, and I openly admit I wasn’t super on board with it because I thought it would be weird among my age group,” he laughed. “But it’s been great. The community engagement has really been something to see.”
Being in business for himself has also helped Lincoln learn a few things: learning the municipal bylaws governing food sales and the regulations he has to follow, budgeting for and marketing his products, and maintaining control of his finances. The added benefit of getting to work as a tandem with his dad is - pardon the pun - the cherry on top of the sundae (sorry, none of those in the bike).
“It’s been fun working with Lincoln and seeing him grow into talking with people while he’s on the bike,” Morgan said. “COVID was tough on everyone, but on his age group especially - they missed out on a lot of face-to-face interactions, so this has helped in that area a lot. The bike does a lot of talking for us.”
Lincoln couldn’t help but agree, and he says the bike is a fantastic ice breaker.
“The bike is a signal, almost like a flare, and people see or hear it coming and they come over and tell me all about what it was like to get a treat from Dickie Dee in their childhood,” he said. “They talk all about their experiences and I admit that I can’t fully relate, but I kinda know what it’s like now.”
Admittedly, Lincoln has sampled pretty much all of his products (his favourite being the NERDS-flavoured Bomb Pop), and he said they like having the novelty stuff that features iconic cartoon characters like SpongeBob Square Pants or the Minions because that grabs the attention of kids when they see the bike up close. But there are ‘classics’ like ice cream sandwiches and Cyclone pops as well. It’s still early days and the duo are learning where they can and can’t be for sales, but they’re figuring it out as they roll along.
“It’s our first year doing this and we honestly weren’t expecting a whole lot to happen because we’re still learning,” Morgan said. “But we’re branching out and doing advertising for private events, and we work with the city to make sure we’re going where we’re supposed to. But we’ve got an agreement with KW Surplus to be able to sell out there, and we’re fine-tuning what times we go there to make sure we hit the busy times.”
So listen for the familiar chimes of those handlebar bells, or maybe you’ll get lucky and hear the 80s-themed tunes Morgan has pumping out on a vintage boombox. Just keep a watchful eye for Back to the Freezer around town and on social media. Oh yeah, about that name…?
“It started out as kind of a joke, that if the ice cream doesn’t sell then it goes back to the freezer,” Morgan said, laughing at the thought. “We did consider The Rolling Cones, but we liked this one better. It kind of worked and it’s kind of cheesy and fun, and that’s how we found it.”
