Dairy Queen Vermilion Ad – March 31, 1965

Spring 2020 has been off to a crazy start, with all of the precautions being taken to control the Coronavirus. But hopefully things will begin to get back to normal by the beginning of summer.

One of those things to look forward to along with the warm weather is the opening of Romp's Dairy Dock on Liberty Avenue (U. S. Route 6).

As you can see in the above ad at the top of this post, back in 1965 the popular soft serve ice cream stand was part of the Dairy Queen system. The ad appeared in the Vermilion Photojournal on March 31, 1965 – 55 years ago today.

Romp’s has been a favorite topic on this blog since I moved to Vermilion.

I posted an interesting 1963 article about the history of Romp’s here, as well as a Grand Opening ad for the Dairy Queen from June 1964 here. Romps’s also made it into this article about the flooding that took place back in January 1959.

Anyway, whenever Romp’s Dairy Dock does open this year, it will be a pleasant sight indeed.

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.

The Dairy Queen on Route 20

I exchange a lot of emails with the person behind the great Oberlin In The Past Facebook page. As we both feel it's our duty to perpetuate local history online, we have a lot in common. And The Oberlin In The Past Facebook page is a gem, always full of wonderful, rarely seen vintage photos.

A week or two ago we were discussing soft serve ice cream stands in the Oberlin area, including the gone but not forgotten Dari Land on Route 58, as well as the Dairy Twist on Route 20 east of town, which is still in business and very popular.

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

I remarked how the Dairy Twist sign is obviously a retrofitted Dairy Queen sign, and a question arose. Did Oberlin have an actual Dairy Queen – and when?

I had to admit I didn't really know. I remembered my father taking my brothers and I fishing at Oberlin Reservoir in the early 1970s, and getting soft serve ice cream afterwards somewhere out there in that neck of the woods (on Route 20 if I remember correctly). But I have no idea what the name of the place was.

So I had to look it up in the few vintage Oberlin phone books and old Lorain County directories available at the Lorain Public Library.

It turns out that the Oberlin area had not one, but two Dairy Queens.

The first one – as best as I can tell – showed up in the phone book for the first time in the 1957-58 phone book (below). It was on Route 20 West.

The listing promptly disappeared in subsequent editions.

It wasn't until the 1973 edition of the Dickman Criss-Criss Directory that Dairy Queen appeared again, this time on Route 20 East (below).

As you can see, Dairy Queen and many other listings have no address at all, and are arranged alphabetically (for maximum confusion for someone trying to figure it out 40 years later). 

The Dairy Queen on Route 20 West apparently didn't last very long either. It too seemed to disappear in subsequent books.

I did find a listing for something called Polar Freeze Bar on Route 20 West in the 1978 book, but I don't know if it was a dairy stand or a poorly insulated tavern.

Anyway, the Dairy Twist seemed to first appear in the 1981 directory, and an online website that features businesses and their incorporation dates states that it was established in 1984.

At any rate, the company made great use of the former DQ sign, and I'm glad they found the recipe for success in Oberlin.

Dairy Queen Time – 1956

Well here's a sign of spring: an ad for the former Lorain Dairy Queen on E. Erie during its heyday, announcing that it was reopening for the season. The ad ran in the Lorain Journal on March 30, 1956.

Giving away 500 free cones was a great promotional gimmick. I wonder how long it took to give them all away?

I used to like the fact that the Dairy Queen on E. Erie closed for the season. Back in the mid-1980s, the store used to have a big sale of its prepackaged goodies (those made on the premises) on the day it was closing. We would pick up a couple of bags of Fudge Nut Bars.

Now the Fudge Nut Bar (the spouse's favorite back then) isn't even on the menu anymore. The treat I used to get – the Mr. Misty® (as well as the Mr. Misty Float) – isn't either.

Anyway, it's sad to drive by the shuttered store today and see Terry's Dairy – the former DQ – for sale.

1950's Lorain Dairy Queen Ads

I've remarked in this blog a few times how my family never went to Dairy Queen or any of the soft serve ice cream type places while I was growing up in the 1960's. For my parents, ice cream had to be real ice cream – frozen ice milk need not apply.

I was never really crazy about Dennis the Menace either, so the mischievous moppet's appearances in Dairy Queen advertising did nothing to make me want to patronize the place.

But my wife, who grew up with Dairy Queen, still likes to go there to get one of their signature creations. So Dairy Queen is in rotation along with our other soft serve ice cream choices, such as Avon Dairy Isle and Terry's Dairy. (For real ice cream, though, it's gotta be Toft's in Sandusky!)

Here's a couple of newspaper ads from the 1950's that show the present Terry's Dairy's original identity, as Lorain's Dairy Queen.

The ad at left is from April 16, 1958. It's a real attention-getter with a nice, clean easy-to-read layout and great illustration.

The next ad (below) is more of a curiosity. It's still branded with the Lorain Dairy Queen's 903 East Erie Avenue address, but the ad really isn't directed to the ice-cream loving public. It's more of a corporate ad touting DQ's success and promoting the concept of free enterprise.

If this ad doesn't make you want your own DQ franchise, nothing will!

It's an interesting ad, copy-wise. It even boldly describes the Dairy Queen product not as ice cream but as... er... "dairy-food" that comes out of a spigot. (It reminds me of the similarly-named Kraft "cheese food".)

The ad goes on to say how healthy DQ is for you, since it's loaded with milk.

We had Dairy Queen on Friday night (we went to the newly renovated Amherst one). Somehow I don't think my Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard – full of brownies, cocoa fudge, and chocolate bits (not to mention 660 calories!) – was all that healthy!

But it sure was good! (Small wonder that I've ordered the same thing the last four times we've gone to Dairy Queen!)

From Dairy Queen to Dutch Treat

Yesterday I posted the newspaper ad for the Grand Opening of the Sheffield Lake Dairy Queen that was at the corner of Abbe and East Lake Road back in 1952. I imagine the scene back then looked a lot like the blissful illustration above (poached from this site).

Well, I did a little research and found out that the store wasn't a Dairy Queen for very long. By 1954 the store was Dutch Treat, with the same owner. The Dutch Treat lasted a lot longer, at least through the late 1960's, when they offered pizza!

So although it is unlikely that someone will remember the Dairy Queen, if someone knows anything about the Dutch Treat, please leave a comment!

1952 Sheffield Lake Dairy Queen Ad

Here's something that caught my eye on a newpaper microfilm roll: a 1952 ad for the Grand Opening of the Sheffield Lake Dairy Queen. The ad ran on Friday, May 2, 1952. (Click on it for a close look – sorry it's a little grubby.)

When I first saw the ad, I thought it was for Lorain's Dairy Queen on East Erie Avenue (now Terry's Dairy). But I was surprised (and a little impressed) to see that Sheffield Lake had a Dairy Queen franchise. This ad may be the only photo of what it looked like in existence!

I'm not sure how long the Dairy Queen branding lasted for this business. I know at some point it turned into Dutch Treat. But if you drive by the corner of Abbe Road and East Lake Road today, you won't see anything on the southeast corner but a parking lot for the long-gone The Spot nightclub.

Soft serve ice cream must be a tricky business. Some stores have the right ingredients for success, such as the newly remodeled K-Cream Corner (at the corner of Oberlin Avenue and West Erie) as well as the popular Avon Dairy Treat out on Route 611. Others struggle to stay alive.

The funny thing is, I can't even remember going to any Dairy Queen while growing up. My family would go to the Lorain Creamery for ice cream, but soft serve ice cream was a treat reserved for outings such as fishing. Much later, the Avon Lake Dairy Queen became a preferred high school destination because of their miniature golf course.

Does anybody out there remember the Sheffield Lake Dairy Queen? If so, be sure to post a comment!