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Q: Soft Serve Ice Cream History ( No Answer,   2 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Soft Serve Ice Cream History
Category: Reference, Education and News > General Reference
Asked by: beckastar-ga
List Price: $20.00
Posted: 03 Jun 2004 13:49 PDT
Expires: 03 Jul 2004 13:49 PDT
Question ID: 356053
I've been told that Henry Swenson from Columbus, Ohio invented soft
serve ice cream.  Is there merit to this allegation?  Where can I find
testimony to this?

Request for Question Clarification by juggler-ga on 03 Jun 2004 14:44 PDT
There are a couple competing claims as to the identity of the
inventor(s) of soft-serve ice cream, but I'm not locating any
references of the involvement of a "Henry Swenson."

Do you have any more information about Henry Swenson and his alleged
invention?  Where did you hear/read about this allegation?

Clarification of Question by beckastar-ga on 04 Jun 2004 14:15 PDT
I'm writing an application for historical status on a property that is
being purchased by my development company.  The current owner claims
that the man who invented soft serve ice cream used this former
factory to manufacture his product. I'm looking for evidence that soft
serve ice cream was invented in Columbus, and any other tidbits that
may help me trace the roots of this product back to this particular
property.
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Soft Serve Ice Cream History
From: czh-ga on 07 Jun 2004 13:38 PDT
 
Hello beckastar-ga,

The information I?ve found indicates that the founders of Dairy Queen
invented soft-serve ice cream in 1938 in Moline, Illinois. I can?t
find anything about a Henry Swanson. I also found that Swensen?s Ice
Cream was founded by Earle Swensen in 1948 in San Francisco. I hate to
be the bearer of bad news but I can?t finding anything on Henry
Swenson inventing soft serve ice cream. Sorry.

~ czh ~


http://www.davis411.com/site/DairyQueenofDavis/index.cfm 
The DQ Story

In 1938, near Moline, Illinois, J.F. McCullough and his son Alex,
developed the delicious dairy product millions have come to know as
"Dairy Queen" soft serve. The MCulloughs arranged to test their new
product in an ice cream retail shop in Kankakee, Illinois, owned by
Sherb Noble. Noble held an "All you Can Eat for 10 Cents" sale one
August afternoon. More than 1600 people lined up to try the new treat,
and the McCulloughs knew they had an exciting business oppurtunity.
All they needed now was an efficient way to dispense their soft serve
product - and they soon located a freezer, invented by Harry Oltz of
Hammond, Indiana, which could produce a continuous flow of the
product. J.F. McCullough often referred to the cow as "the Dairy
Queen" name originated. Thus, the "Dairy Queen" name originated. The
first "Dairy Queen" store, owned by Noble, opened in Joliet, Illinois
in 1940.


http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/IceCream/IceCreamHistory.htm
1938 - The father and son team, J. F. McCullough (better known as
Grandpa) and Alex McCullough invented soft-serve ice cream, an
invention that gave birth to the Dairy Queen. Grandpa McCullough knew
the mix tasted best before it was frozen into its final form, since
lower temperatures numbed the taste buds, robbing the mix of some of
its flavor. So he and Alex set out to find out two things: if
customers liked the taste of softer ice cream and if there was a
machine that would facilitate serving the creamy mix. They held a sale
for "All The Ice Cream You Can Eat For 10 Cents." They dished up 1,600
servings in two hours. They also came across a prototype machine when
Alex noticed a vendor selling frozen custard out of a special freezer
in Chicago.


http://www.qconline.com/progress98/business/prqueen2.html
Dairy Queen history curls though area
Nearly 60 years ago, in a small ice-cream plant in Green River,
67-year-old J.F. ``Grandpa'' McCullough and his 40-year-old son, Alex,
had a brainstorm that turned into a ``Blizzard.''

The pair ended up inventing soft-serve ice cream -- an invention that
gave birth to Dairy Queen.
Subject: Re: Soft Serve Ice Cream History
From: tutuzdad-ga on 07 Jun 2004 13:38 PDT
 
The most verifiable information points to JF "Grandpa" McCullough as
the modern inventor of soft serve ice cream around 1938. If your
person was said to have worked on his project "after" 1938 then
clearly he could not have invented it himself.

Soft serve ice cream was invented by [J.F.] "Grandpa" McCullough and
his son [Alex]. Their business was called the Homemade Ice Cream
Company, but was later named Dairy Queen.
ICE CREAM NOVELTIES
http://webstu.messiah.edu/~bc1179/Pages/page%205.htm

?In January 1940, the prototype freezer was ready and was installed in
"Grandpa" McCullough's basement for testing. It was during this time
that "Grandpa" McCullough discovered that "soft frozen" ice cream
dispensed by this new freezer tasted best when it had only 5 percent
butterfat rather than the standard 10 percent or more butterfat used
for regular ice cream. In fact, this newly developed "soft frozen"
product was not ice cream at all, but rather ice milk. The experiments
also concluded that the new "soft frozen" ice milk would taste
creamier, smoother, and would hold its shape best when served at 18º
F.

By Spring of 1940, the McCulloughs had finished their testing and then
ordered four freezers to be built to their new specifications. The
first two machines were finished in May 1940 and were slated to go to
Sherb Noble who had found a location in Joliet, IL, to start the new
business which would serve the new "soft frozen" ice milk. The store
was jointly owned by the McCulloughs and Noble but the new business
could not open its doors until it had a name.?

NORTH PENN DAIRY QUEEN
http://www.dairyqueen.org/history.html

?In 1938, near Moline, IL, two ice cream manufacturers, J.F. "Grandpa"
McCullough and his son, Alex, decided to find out how the public would
react to a "soft frozen" ice cream product.?
MCULLOUGH DOCUMENTS
http://www.kylefamily.us/id121.htm
(J F McCullough?s obituary is also listed in this page in which he is
credited with inventing the first soft serve product)

Let me know if this answers your question or at the very least serves
to dispute the person's claim to fame about "his" property.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

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