Yes, We Had a Mobile French Fry Truck in My Hometown

Though the Quad Cities has been home for nearly 20 years now, I'm originally from Canada.

I was born in Toronto, and raised in a small town in Eastern Ontario. Cornwall was an hour west of Montreal, Quebec and an hour south of the Canadian capital of Ottawa. The city was known for being one of the first English settlements in Canada, but what made it unique during my childhood was the French Fry truck.

Yes, I said French Fry truck.

Most folks recall the ice cream truck patrolling the streets of their youth. In fact, the ice cream truck still passes by my Rock Island home each summer night. But, as a kid in Cornwall, we had the French Fry truck.

The Seguin family had an army of trucks equipped with a deep fryer powered by a propane tank. Think about that for a second - a truck with a huge, exposed propane tank attached to the back, and hot grease sloshing around inside of it, rolling down the streets of your  neighborhood serving french fries to your kids. What could go wrong?

Some of my fondest childhood memories are getting a box of fresh cut Seguin 'Patates Frites' (french for french fries) on a summer night and hosing them down with salt and white vinegar. Once the box was empty, you could drink the remaining fry-soaked vinegar, and even chew on the cardboard.

I know, you had to be there.

When I tell Midwest friends about the French Fry truck I'm often met with blank stares of disbelief, but as you can see from the pic above, there was a french fry truck, and it was an awesome rolling-bomb of deep-fried goodness.