Wednesday, November 15, 2006

A Minnesota Dairy Queen


Minnesota is where Dairy Queen started so it makes sense that there are so many of them here. It also helps explain why there are big long lines outside them in the summertime (tradition and all that), but I've never seen Dairy Queens close down in the winter like they do here. The first year I saw this Dairy Queen on Lex at 94, I thought, "How sad. It went out of business." But it was right back in business the next year. So now, every winter when I see the DQ all boarded up I just think, "Shhhhh, she's sleeping."

4 comments:

Meg said...

I had no idea DQ was a Minnesota institution. Right now 3M is running this campaign where the top prise is a trip to Scotland, because of an arbitrary name they gave to their tapes, but I wished it was a trip to Minnesota, the home of 3M. I wonder if I could request a change if I won it.

Ame said...

HI KATE! HEY! We have DQ's here too...and I, like Meg, had no idea it got its roots in MN! NEAT! And ya know what? It seems like one of our stores goes into hibernation here too...but then again, our winters are nothing to sneeze at, so probably not! Which is a GOOD thing...can never have too many soft-serves! :-)

Honey Bunny said...

the DQ where i grew up in upstate NY closes between labor day and memorial day. i love DQ.

Anonymous said...

hi!

i enjoyed your comment on the local dairy queen "sleeping" for the winter. DQ is based in MN, however - DQ began in Illinois. (FYI)
--
"Dairy Queen began with a 10 cent sale of a then unnamed product on August 4, 1938, in Kankakee, Illinois. A father and son in the mix plant business in Green River, Illinois, had been experimenting with a soft frozen dairy product for some time. They contacted Sherb Noble, a good friend and customer, who agreed to run the "all you can eat" trial sale at his walk-in ice cream store. They sold thousands of the soft ice cream treat. With great success under their belts, first "Dairy Queen" store opened in Joliet, Illinois in 1940."

keep up the nice photos!