The History of Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen is a fast-food restaurant specializing in ice cream, frozen yogurt, and soft-serve. With over 6,000 locations worldwide, Dairy Queen is one of the largest fast-food chains in the world! Here is a brief history of this beloved ice cream spot:
1940: The first Dairy Queen opens in Joliet, Illinois.
In 1940, entrepreneur John Freemont "J.F." McCullough, his son Alex, and their friend Sherb Noble opened the first Dairy Queen in Joliet, Illinois.
J.F. and his son had developed a soft-serve recipe two years before and sold it as a trial run at Sherb's ice cream shop. It did so well that they opened the first Dairy Queen shortly after in the 501 N Chicago Street location. This restaurant closed in the 1950s, but the building is a city-designated landmark today.
The restaurant sold ice cream and other refreshments but did not have any seating space for customers to enjoy their treats; instead, they were encouraged to take them home or eat them on the go.
Changes through the years
After the original restaurant opened in 1940, Dairy Queen employed a franchise system to expand its operations. Ten stores in 1941 grew to 100 by 1947, bringing many changes to the restaurant. They opened their first franchise in Kankakee, Illinois, opened their first store outside of Illinois, and added hard-packed ice cream sandwiches and sundaes to the menu.
By 1953, they had expanded into Canada with a franchise in Melville, Saskatchewan, and two years later, they had 2,600 stores across North America.
The franchise's success led to 1 million gallons of ice cream being produced annually by 13 dairies throughout the country.
In 1985, they introduced the beloved Blizzard to the menu. This mix of soft-serve ice cream and candy mix-ins was an instant hit and remains their staple ice cream product today.
There are now more than 6,000 Dairy Queen locations worldwide.
Dairy Queen has more than 6,000 locations worldwide. It is the world's largest chain of soft-serve ice cream stores and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which also owns Fruitopia, Blue Bunny, and See's Candies.
Dairy Queen uses fresh ingredients, and today, they offer a variety of dairy products and treats, from classic soft-serve to hard serve, ice cream cakes, and smoothies. Some locations also provide hot and fried foods.
Dairy Queen is a great place to get ice cream. It has been around for over 75 years, supporting dairy farmers along the way!
