This post is dedicated to Alden's right foot.
The song featured above was written in the 1950s and use as the tune for a participation dance many of us are familiar with from kindergarten days.
The dance is known variously as the Hokey Pokey, the Hokey Cokey - in UK and Canada and the Hokey Tokey in New Zealand, possibly to differentiate it from the other Hokey Pokey.
And that brings us to icecream...
Hokey Pokey is a slang term for icecream used in the 19th century and early 20th century, especially by street vendors spruiking their wares.
The term may have been derived from 'hocus pocus' or from similar sounding Italian words.
Hokey Pokey is one thing that New Zealanders can lay claim to 100% without any question of doubt!
(Unlike pavlova...jandals...lamingtons...) Made with little balls of hard glassy toffee in NZ or with chunks of honeycomb in Australia, it is the 2nd best seller after vanilla in New Zealand.
If you haven't done your exercise today how about dancing a little Hokey Pokey - if you've forgotten the tune look at:
http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/hokey.htm
And if you haven't had your sweet fix for the day why not try the other Hokey Pokey...you won't regret it...
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My mother from Scotland used to call an ice cream cone a 'pokey hat'. Am not sure if that term is still used.
ReplyDeleteHi VioletSky - I have never heard that but it fits with the "hokey pokey' term coming from street vendors of old. Thanks for you contribution.
ReplyDeleteI knew that there was something I had left off -yes lamingtons - definitively a New Zealand invention just like all the other New Zealand invention on my list.
ReplyDeleteAlden - took the bait just like I knew he would.
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