Click on photos to enlargeCOSMO IN LIVING COLOR
* Cosmo at 2010 class of 1975 reunion at Eisenhower Park. Picture courtesy Larry Loewy.
* Cosmo and Samm, April 1998 when he was 81 years of age. Samm is the grand daughter of Marilyn Monsrud Frese.
* Cosmo with Samm, October 2000. She will be 16 this month.
By MARILYN MONSRUD FRESE '63
What I always found amazing is that Cosmo (or Cozzy as we called him) had the ability to remember every kid's name. He drove the streets of north Levittown for nearly 50 years.
I swear he must have had a map of each street and house with the kids' names on it hidden in his truck. I moved around the corner from where I grew up and Cosmo was still working as our ice cream man. My kids got to buy their ice cream from Cosmo throughout their childhood too. That was one of the many benefits of staying in Levittown all these years.
There is a photo of mine posted here of Cosmo at age 81. I wrote on the back, "Taken in April 1998". He's selling ice cream to my oldest granddaughter, Samm. She was the third of three generations of us buying our ice cream from Cosmo, never from anyone else. This was on our block, Furrow Lane.
Cosmo also remembered all the kids birthdays as well as their names. And as a parent, I know he didn't ask the parents. He really cared about the children on his routes, and he always took his time with them (or I guess I should say "us"). He would never rush the kid who couldn't decide what he wanted, and if any other kids would start getting annoyed with the one who was taking so long and holding up the line, Cosmo would make sure that kid never got to get nasty with the little undecided. A truly kind and gentle man was our Cosmo.
So many Levittowners adored Cosmo, including Sally Mann '61. She commented recently, "We waited for him and the special ring and I got my cup of butter pecan but more important was the contact - so positive, so caring."
According to my classmate, Tom Filiberto, "Cosmo is still alive. He's in his early 90s, lives in Bethpage and grows tomatoes."
12 comments:
Coz was the coolest. He was my first charge account.
I was at 39 Furrow.
Sally
love cosmo :)
The most amazing and kind man I remember kicking the crap out of someone after they rolled up on a bicycle and open his freezer door and stole ice cream from him while he was driving
He was the best! I always loved to hear him say (Black Cherry), when asking the soda flavors. What a nice man!
Cosmo is my parents next door neighbor. He just turned 97 years old!!
When my son had his moving up ceremony from Summit Lane to Wisdom Lane a few years ago there was a slide photo show featuring all the kids and teachers, the last slide was a picture of Cosmo with his truck and the auditorium went crazy.
Just heard from Tom Filiberto that news 12 will be doing an interview with Cosmo and his family
ON FRIDAY, JUNE 26TH, NEWS 12 WILL BE INTERVIEWING COSMO AND COSMO'S FAMILY. THAN HEADING TO LEVITTOWN BETWEEN TWELVE NOON AND ONE PM TO MEET WITH LEVITTOWNER'S SO THEY TOO CAN SHARE THERE MEMORIES OF COSMO.DOES ANYONE HAVE A SUGGESTION OF A PARK OR MEETING SPOT IN LEVITTOWN WHERE WE COULD ALL MEET ?
I HOPE TO SEE ANY MANY AS POSSIBLE FROM LEVITTOWN COME AND SHARE THERE STORIES. THEY WILL ALSO BE READING SOME OF THE LETTERS ALREADY SENT. IF YOU HAVENT SENT A LETTER OR CARD YET, PLEASE DO !!!!!! I AM REACHING OUT TO NEWSDAY AS WELL...HOPEFULLY THEY TOO WILL COVER THE "LETTERS TO COSMO" STORY FROM ALL US LEVITTOWNERS !!!!!
WE WILL BE MEETING AT NORTH VILLAGE GREEN ......NOW KNOWN AS WOLCOTT POOL AND PARK !
I have no other info at this time.
June 9, 2015 at 3:49 PM
I never lived in Levittown,but I visited the town often, and Cosmo and his conventional truck was always a familiar site. I worked as a box boy pulling ice cream orders at a depot he bought from. His orders were always large. The ice cream business went through some hard times. But Cosmo jwas not effected by the down turn. Because he knew the secret to the business. Its about creating a habit, by always keeping to a schedule, and knowing each child’s name and likes. Cosmo was part of every child’s daily routine. Ask any child in Levittown what was the best part of his summer, he’d say “ stopping the ice cream man and getting his favorite treat.” One fellow vendor to another Cosmo “your the man.”
My wife and I bought a home here in December of 1988. I never really paid attention to him when he came down the block, as at the time we had no children. But that all changed, and a few children later, we were regulars. As others have stated, he knew every kids names and birthdays. That blew me away. One year he started to apologize to me for having to raise his prices. I told him I completely understood as his price was the same year after year. He told me that he had to raise it a nickel. I said a nickel? He again apologized. I said to him, nothing to apologize for.
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