Frostop Root Beer Revisited

Courtesy Frostop Root Beer

And you thought I was done writing about root beer, having devoted recent posts to Frostie Root Beer and A&W Root Beer.

Well, I happened to be in Ace Hardware in Vermilion yesterday when I noticed a nice, cold bottle of Frostop Root Beer in their refrigerated cooler along with a few other unusual brands. I couldn't resist.

Why? Because it brought back memories of seeing the huge Frostop Root Beer mug atop its drive-in building on U. S. Route 6 in Huron, just east of the railroad overpass. I don't remember Mom and Dad ever taking us there; it was just one of those roadside landmarks that you watched for from the backseat of the car on the way to Cedar Point or the Wileswood Country Store.

U. S. Route 6 should have been nicknamed the Root Beer Route, with all of the various stands situated on it from Lorain to Huron, serving up the foamy beverage in frosted mugs.

I've written about the Frostop Drive-in in Huron before back here, posting some vintage ads.

May 26, 1961 ad from Sandusky Register

I also posted a rare photo of the iconic sign after the location became the home of Berardi's (of Cedar Point fame).

I wasn't aware that the chain was founded in Springfield, Ohio in 1926. Today the company maintains its headquarters in Bexley, Ohio and offers a wide variety of soda pops in addition to its beloved root beer. Here is the link to its colorful, well-done website.

And visit the great Roadside Architecture website to see a great photo collection of existing and repurposed Frostop giant mugs.

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Many of us remember the Frostop Drive-in located in Huron. But were there other local locations?

Apparently there was one at Route 57 and Butternut Road. I found a mention of a theft there in the September 12, 1960 Lorain Journal.

And believe it or not, Lorain had one too – sort of.

By the 1970s, roadside root beer stands had become a thing of the past. In view of this, the corporate owners decided to bundle the Frostop root beer business with two other restaurant brands. Thus was born the 3 in One: Frostop Root Beer, Dairy Isle and Chick'N-Out, all under one roof.

Here's a September 26, 1975 ad for the then-recently-opened Lorain restaurant, located at W. 30th and Broadway (where Little Caesars Pizza is today).

3 in One seemed like a pretty good idea. A 1974 ad promoting the purchase of a franchise noted that Dairy Isle had been around for 25 years. And a Journal newspaper article noted that the 3 in One Lorain store was owned by John Wargo, and was part of the Commissary Corp of Utica, Michigan's chain of 125 stores.

Dairy Isle probably had the best name recognition of the three brands (after all, who doesn't like ice cream?), and references to it in the Journal would always say "the Dairy Isle 3 in One."

The Roadside Architecture website has a page devoted to Dairy Isle as well. It points out that the chain was founded in Wooster, Ohio in 1951.

Here's the former location of the 3 in One today.

As for Chick'N-Out, I'm not sure what happened to the brand despite its plucky logo. It seems to have laid an egg as a chicken franchise, because today there are a lot of Mom and Pop restaurants with that name, but with no link to the one that shared space with Frostop and Dairy Isle.