Friday, June 7, 2019

Romp’s Dairy Queen Grand Opening – June 1964

Romp’s Dairy Dock has been an iconic Vermilion business for decades, serving up popular frozen ice cream treats at its familiar location on U. S. Route 6 as part of Romp's Water Port since the 1960s.
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But did you know that it started out as a Dairy Queen franchise?

That’s right.  At the top of this post is a Grand Opening ad, as it appeared in the Vermilion Photojournal on June 17, 1964 – 55 years ago this month.

And here’s a shot from this past Sunday afternoon. The building really hasn’t changed that much, and that’s part of its nostalgic charm.

It’s obvious that at some point it simply made sense from a marketing standpoint to bring the ice cream stand and Putt-Putt miniature golf course under the Romp’s banner.
Anyway, it’s a comforting sign of spring to see Romp’s Dairy Dock open and busy as usual. Be part of the tradition and stop there on your visit to Vermilion!
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I posted a great Journal article from 1963 about the Romp’s marina complex back here. The article includes an interesting history of how it came to be.
My post also provides a look at what the property was like back in Lake Shore Electric days.

2 comments:

Mark said...

Love Romps.. never knew it was a Dairy Queen at first

Anonymous said...

Back in High School mid-70's, we would ride our bikes from Lorain to Romps just to play Putt-Putt. All that way on Lake Rd. we must have been nuts!! I think they had an all day rate plus we always stopped for a milkshake for the long ride home. Ahhh to be 15 again.