Last week, I shared an article on Gardens to Gables Facebook page about Parker’s Dairy Palace in New Castle, Delaware, recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 1954 building, with its tilted ice cream cone neon sign, not only made me consider having ice cream for lunch, but piqued my curiosity about the number of still-standing ice cream stands in Kentucky. So I am appealing to you, dear reader, to please share with me the names and locations of any ice cream stands in your neck of the woods!
The Frosty-ette in Sandgap, Jackson County, Kentucky.
I grew up with summer-time trips to our local stand, Berryman’s Tastee Treat, and as a fan of roadside architecture (and ice cream), I am always looking for other examples as I travel. My list thus far (see below) isn’t very long – so surely there are other examples out there?
Kentucky has 120 counties, so I know there are more ice cream stands out there!
I have visited some of the sites on my list – some are still in service, and others are sadly not in operation. My dream is to be able to travel to each site, photograph it, and gather some history so I can write about it – and in that way, preserve the story of this element of American roadside architecture even if the building vanishes from the landscape.
An ice cream stand on Route 29 in Virginia.
Walk-up/drive-in roadside food stands grew in tandem with the popularity of the automobile and road trips in the 1950s. Ice cream in a cone, after all, is the perfect food to eat while driving!
“Selling” the roadside experience began in the second decade of the 20th century – corporations (like oil companies) realized there was money to be made in promoting travel – travel by automobile, that is.
Of course, the development of this type of roadside food stand occurred before the Interstate Highway System marched across the country, replacing roads that wound through communities with highways that sped past those same towns. Interstate exits with a panoply of fast food restaurants, gas stations, and strip malls – all dizzingly alike, no matter where in the country you might be – have transformed our experience of the landscape from the car.
An updated version of the historic neon sign for an ice cream stand, Ohio.
Ice cream stands, once a novelty that may have hawked regional food specialties, or advertised their wares with buildings shaped like animals or signs featuring oversized representation of their offerings (fancy a large neon ice cream cone, anyone?) now seem quaint and…historic.
One of my favorite ice cream signs. Horse Cave, Hart County, Kentucky.
Going to a walk-up ice cream stand is an exercise in nostalgia. Even my hometown ice cream stand now has a drive-through – its original 1950s tiled building still stands on East Main Street, but the business relocated to a former fast food restaurant building years ago.
So as we look ahead to winter (and you know that Christmas decorations are already up in the big box retailers), talk to me about ice cream. Share this post with your fellow Kentuckians, and let’s see how many we can find, identify, and remember.
great project — I’ll send you photos and info it run across any.
Cliffside is still in Frankfort, I think. It is now the Cliffside Diner, on the old road to Lawrenceburg. Opened around 1948 and looked much different then. In the early ‘50s three of my friends and I took swimming lessons at the old YMCA in downtown Frankfort. We lived in Lawrenceburg and on Saturdays one patient mother would drive us to the swimming lessons. Afterward we always stopped at Cliffside for chili dogs and ice cream! As I remember it was a walk up building, no seating, and a window where you ordered. The chili dogs were great! I still remember them!
I am trying to find a photo of the Fairgrounds Drive-In from the 1950’s, 60’s or 70’s. It is located in Lawrenceburg. It was heavily damaged in a fire a few years ago. Renovation included the addition of a hipped roof. Their coney dogs and and jiffy burgers (original style with just pickles, mustard, and onion) are my favorite. I highly recommend trying it if you are ever in Lawrenceburg.
Belew’s Dairy Bar in Aurora, near Land Between the Lakes in Western Kentucky. https://www.facebook.com/BelewsDairyBar/
My grandparents started the 88 Dip in Marion, Ky in 1952 with Gene & Thelma Cruse. The Dip is still serving ice cream plus food daily in Marion.