DQ® Memories

Posted by Carolyn K under A Smile and a Story®,Dairy Queen,Eats & Treats,In the Community on

I was back in the Chicagoland area this past September, and had a chance to take my youngest daughter to the DQ store my family used to go to when I was a girl.  Such memories – and it hasn’t changed much.  When I was younger it was out in the middle of no place – of course everything has built up around it.  We moved from that area when I was 10…so it feels as if it has been a couple of lifetimes since I’d been there.

Mom and Dad always made trips to the DQ store a special treat.  We didn’t go too often – but on a hot summer night, nothing beat a DQ treat.  Usually we got cones or sundaes – though I remember Mr. Misty’s (now our Arctic Rush), DQ Push-Ups (Do any of you remember the pushups???) and root beer floats.  If we were really good, or had done something special, we could order the BIGGEST item on the menu – the Banana Split. 

 Of course we took photos.  My daughter just laughs at me – and then poses for the photo.  This one is one of my favorites. Right up there with photos of us at the World’s Largest Frying Pan, The Field of Dreams and the Spam Can…

Comments

Your post brings up the old DQ treats. I used to love one that, if memory serves, was called the Frosty. It was vanilla soft-serve and a cola beverage of choice (mine was always Dr. Pepper) mixed together like a milkshake. Those were my favorite DQ treats!

DQ has always been a big part of our family as well. One year we took our 5 kids on a road trip, had the whole thing mapped out and budgeted to the dime. What we failed to budget though was daily stops at DQ for 7 blizzards! Over a week-long trip, that’s alot of Blizzards! LOL! We all still laugh about it today.

When my daughter was a baby, I took her to Dairy Queen one very hot day to start to introduce her to the spoon, which until then, she had no use for. Until then, she ate everything with her hands unless I fed her.
It was a very hot day, and I dressed her in her oldest clothes, took a fistful of bibs, a tin of baby wipes, and off we went. We ordered our ice cream, and I sat her down in one of their high chairs, gave her her ice cream, and a spoon, and started eating my ice cream. Now, as ice cream is cold, and certainly not too hard to eat with your hands, she finally picked up her spoon, and enjoyed what was left of her ice cream.
We all had a good laugh as she had ice cream everywhere, but after a while she became successful at finding her mouth, and was so proud of her newfound independence. I had to use almost half a box of baby wipes just to put her in the car, and she had to have a bath when she got home, but as she played quietly after her bath, her tummy full, I took down her baby book to write this memory down, even though I knew this was one memory I would never forget.

in my hometown we used to have an old dq that was awesome wen i was a child. unfortunately they built a new one and altho i still love dq, i miss the old fashioned treats the other had! now adays it seems dq is more about the food than the icecream and tht just shldnt be :)

I am a senior…..and years ago when I became single again…my first job out was with DQ in Moline Illinois on 23rd Avenue and I dearly loved the job and conversations with all of the neighbor people….such fun. I had to leave for a job making more money but I will never forget the DQ…

I LOVE Dairy Queen! My very first job 45 summers ago was at a Dairy Queen in Springfield, IL. Our store was connected to the famous first Cozy Dog restaurant. Every day I had a chocolate shake and a cozy dog during the shift I worked. The original building is no longer there nor is the DQ. But Cozy Dog built a new building full of Cozy Dog and Route 66 memorabilia. As it turned out many years later my husband and I purchased a small strip mall in a town nearby with a DQ. We purchased it from Mr. Gilbert Stein who was the founder of DQ with his first store in Galesburg, IL. We loved going as often as we could to enjoy a Blizzard, a cone (dipped in the fudge, as my son called it), buster bars, sundaes, Mr. Misty or a Dilly Bar (wonder how many of those I made ~ and they had to be perfect). As we travel, we still look for a DQ to stop and have a snack. Still my favorite treat is an DQ, but mostly Blizzards. Fond memories!

This makes me remember the days when I was little and we would go to the DQ on Minnehaha pkwy next to Minnehaha falls in Minneapolis MN.
Me and my friends would ride our bikes up there and I would get one of my Favorites, Large crunch cone, or a PBF. From there we’d head to the falls and eat.
When I started dating, the same thing happened, DQ and then the falls……
Ive moved out of state but when I go home to visit I take my kids there and do the same thing with them. DQ, then the falls.

Last I heard it was now gone. Thats a shame if it is! I have a lot of memories from there dating back to the 60′s!

Fran, I’m not entirely sure what you’re asking for…if you are asking if the Blizzardmobile can come visit your grandson, I am sorry, that isn’t possible. However, if you are looking to purchase something for your grandson, you may find what you are looking for at http://www.dqredribbon.com.

Yes I too visit a Dairy Queen in Hudson, WI that I have been going to since I was a kid. Yes I remember Mr. Misty Floats(orange and cherry) my favs. I also remember the orange Push-ups. It would drip down my hand on a hot day and I would lick it off. I also loved the rootbeer floats too. My Grandma Karhryn would treat us three girls after we had dinner. Also a very wealthy neighbor would pile all the kids in the neighborhood in his Caddy and treat us all. What fine memories of Dairy Queen on the river.

I remember DQ when I was in high school. Years later I managed two DQ’s for eleven years and I still love there food. I have lots of good memories from all those years. Nov. 16, 2010

Awww, such a neat story!! I just loved it. :) It reminded me of some of the special memories I had as a little girl when my family and I used to visit DQ! I agree, it does seem like two lifetime ago now! ha ha. My Mom keeps pictures of us to this day. I can still remember the yummy smells once we walked inside, wow. Great memories.

Long live DQ!! (:

Boo to Dairy Queen! We look forward to December every year for the best blizzard ever-the Candy Cane Blizzard! But this year it is not available!! We are very disappointed in Dairy Queen!

The Dairy Queen in Covington, GA was my first job and I loved it! I have the best memories of closing the store on Friday and Saturday nights. The closing crew was the best! At that time we called the orders out over a HUGE microphone that was placed next to our cash registers. The cooks in the back would write the orders down on a big stainless steel table with a black grease marker. We wore brown smocks with a yellow, red and white checked pattern on the shoulders and a matching derby hat. MY forearms would be covered with hot fudge and there wasnt a night I didnt leave sticky from elbow to hands and knees to shoes! That was also when the Blizzard was first introduced and we always served them upside down! There was an old homeless guy that would come in and order a cheeseburger and he would pick the sesame seeds off the bun and eat them one by one. I think it was so he would be able to sit inside longer ;-) I always think about him to this day. My parents would “go to town” on saturdays and run errands and we usually would stop at Dairy Queen to get ice cream. I think they still serve the best ice cream! I also LOVED making the ice cream cakes, the chocolate crunch was the best! It was always fun making any of the treats – the Dilly Bar was my favorite! My grannie would buy them in bags!

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