Show Us Your Memorabilia

Posted by JT under A Smile and a Story® on

Dairy Queen® treats have been around for a long time. And in the decades since 1938, when J.F. “Grandpa” McCullough and his son, Alex, first invented the “Cone With The Curl On Top,” a lot of plastic spoons, paper cups, uniforms, T-shirts, collectibles, promotional items and, well… stuff… featuring our trademark ellipse logo have come and gone.

Around the home office there is no shortage of DQ® memorabilia.  For instance, in the mailroom, you’ll find vintage signage:

In various offices, cubicles and meeting rooms, you’ll come across old product packaging:

Promotional items from days gone by:

Toys:

And more…

So, we’re wondering. What old-school, unique, or just plain wacky DQ items do you have around the house? Take a photo and e-mail it to blog@idq.com by Aug. 31.  Our ten favorite photo submissions will be featured right here on this blog, and each winner will receive a $5 gift card.

And if, while you’re poking around in your basement or the dusty back corner of that closet you haven’t cleaned out in a while, you should happen across one of these:

You might be interested to know it’s worth $104.50.

Comments

ok, I go way back. A neighbourhood gentleman used to take me or one of my siblings (there are 8 of us girls, and 3 boys) one at a time to Dairy Queen on different occasions. As I come from a very big family, Dairy Queen was not in the equation, and that was what we wanted. So, Mr. Legge would take us, one at a time, about every month……you do the math……to Dairy Queen. That memory goes down in history for all of us. Does my memory serve me correct? Was there a whistle in the swirl of the ice cream many many years ago? I know you are asking for photos……hey, we didn’t have the money for the ice cream or to take pictures. But Dairy Queen is a very early and wonderful memory for me an my family.
Was there ever a whistle?

My Great Aunt and Uncle ran the Dairy Queen in Hillsboro, IL in the 50′s. I have so many great pieces of memorabilia that I found in their attic. My favorite is the DQ softserve cone whistle. I’ll have to dig it out and take a photo of it for you.

Eileen — Great story — I love hearing the memories. I am sorry you don’t have a photo, and, yes!, there have been cone whistles available over the years. You can visit http://www.dqredribbon.com to find various DQ and OJ items for sale. I know that a few years ago we had some cone whistles, however I don’t see them available right now. Keep checking the DQ Red Ribbon site out for new and updated items. I hope this answers your question!

When will you be posting the photos of memorabilia that people have sent in?

And do you know what the final total was from Miracle Treat Day?

i have a sweet nell and a dq dude rubber figure purchased approx. 33 years ago, can anyone tell a exact year?

My mom bought my two brothers and myself dolls that were printed on the fabric. there were two boy ones and one girl. I can’t remember what they were named because I was only 4 or 5 this was the early 70s in Dallas. This was the only time I remembered going to Dairy Queen at that time. Can anyone remember what I am talking about?

Andrea, we did come up with the answer for you! There were four dolls, 2 cowboys (Curly and DQ Kid), 1 girl (Nelly) and a horse(Queenie). If you go click on the link below, at the bottom of the page you will see a menu bar which has pictures of these characters.

http://www.dqtexas.com/menu.htm

My husband was going through some old childhood toys, and found a small white plastic building with a blue snap on Dairy Queen roof. There is a slot on the roof and we think it may have been a promotional bank? It measures 2″ x 3″ by 2″ tall. Do you have any clues to what this item is? I have not seen one like it on collector sites.

Patty, how cool is this? I think you may be right. I will send around some inquiries to see if anyone has any information about this item. Otherwise, other collectors may be your best resource!

I have a bell inscribed Dairy Queen Rings The Bell
Does anyone know anything about this bell

Thanks Dan

Want to see an original Vintage 1960s-70s Girls Dairy Queen Car-Hop uniform. E-bay Item#260629324107

I have a pair of Dairy Queen Dollies. They are salt and pepper shakers. They are flat on one side so I assume they fit back to back. They are so cute, but I never see them anywhere. Can you tell me their age and approx value?

Hi, Teri — I am sorry! We cannot tell you the age or the value. You may want to connect wiht your local antiques or collectible experts.

There’s a DQ not far from where I live that has retained its vintage design. They’ve also retained a character sign that sits where a weathervane would on a cupola. It looks like it used to turn, but it doesn’t now. The sign is a very cute almost Netherlands-looking girl (a dairy maid?) in a pointed corner hat that is actually the same as the red DQ symbol’s.

Does she have a name? I found two glasses online, but I haven’t been able to find her anywhere else. I do have a photo of the sign if you would like one. She’s faded, but you can tell she was holding a tray with a drink and a swirled ice cream treat on it.

Thanks in advance!

Martha, thanks for writing! What I can tell you is that this girl was called “Little Miss Dairy Queen” and the information we have indicates she showed up on signage developed in Pennsylvania in 1961. It sounds like she was used in signage after that — however we have no information regarding how long she was used or how often she was used. I hope this helps!

I too have a pair of DQ dolls. Made on fabric. The girl is sweet nell and the boy is DQ kid. I would like to know if anyone knows how much they are worth or if they know where i can find any information on them. I’ve looked everywhere I can think of.

Growing up my dad used to call me sweet Nell after the cartoon character of Dairy Queen.Does anyone have a pic of her that I could save to my computer? I would love to have that as my profile picture on my facebook since that’s the nckname my family knows me by. lol

Hi, Rebecca! Go to http://www.dqtexas.com and you will see the cartoon characters at the bottom of the homepage you’ll see the characters. Hold your mouse over the line drawings and you’ll be able to see a full-color version of the character and its name.

When I was very young my folks bought a Dairy Queen in our local town. During the early 60′s the franchise sent them Monkey’s holding a banana, for display. I would love to find one. My niece tore it apart!!
thanks
Jeri

Jeri, I am sorry! We do not have any information regarding a monkey holding a banana. Good luck with your search!

15 Mar 11 To Leanne (1 Dec 2010) who has a cloth DQ Kid and Nell. I would like to know the price and condition of the dolls as I am interested in buying them.

Your topic Show Us Your Memorabilia | Dairy Queen Blog was interesting.I found it on Sunday searching for antique salt and pepper shakers.I Like to read Posts on antique salt and pepper shakers.

In a photo above, there is a DQ plate sitting near a rag doll. I broke mine and was wondering if you knew how I could replace it.

I have a small 2 blade dairy queen knife. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if this was a promotional item and around when. Looks like it might be stainless, has a blade on one side and a file on the other. Metal Dairy Queen symbol on the outside. Please write with any information! Thank You!

I have two DQ ice cream cone exit and enter lights. Does anyone know how rare they are or how much they may be worth? I assume they are from the 60′s, maybe even the 50′s. cmonbone@yahoo.com

i have a kids meal sack, looks old, it has the dq kid on front and curly, sweet nell and queenie on the back. It has a coupon for a free DQ treat with purchase of kids meal. Can anyone tell me about this?

I HAVE A DAIRY QUEEN CONE USED FOR ADVERTISING (ICE CREAM VANNILA COLOR-THE CONE A NATURAL COLOR MEASURING 24″ HT MADE OF SOME SORT OF PRESSED PAPER)AROUND THE TOP OF CONE IN RAISED LETTERING “EAT IT ALL” ANYONE KNOW HOW OLD IT MAY BE AND ITS WORTH?

Hi!
In response to Eileen Drumm’s question about the Dairy Queen whistle, I still have my whistle from the 1960s. It is a plastic whistle that is shaped like a Dairy Queen and it serves as a reminder of all the pleasure that Dairy Queen has given us in the past and still gives all its faithful customers today.

I have a old Dairy Queen plastic flute. it is the coolest thing! We are trying to figure if it is worth a few bucks.

What is being planned for the 75th anniversay of Dairy Queen in 2015? How about artifacts from each era (or photographs of artifacts) on public display. Maybe the first Dairy Queen spoon or different cups that represent each era of time. Or a different poster from each era or posters that show the introducton of new products throughout the company history. There probably is not too much that exists (other than photos) before 1955 and certainly before 1949 going back to the early days of the 1940′s. Please let me know if there is anything in the works. All the best, Jeff Vick

Is it true that you folks sell boxed Dilly Bars and Buster Bars and Ice Cream Sandwiches? I’d love to have a couple boxes of those for myself.

If all these were also sold via retail (to such stores as Safeway, Walmart and other retailers where frozen foods are sold), your sales could be increased a little further since the people who want to eat these but can’t go to a DQ will be happy.

Hi Benjamin,

It is true, we do sell our delicious novelties by the box. Though at this time our novelties are only sold within our DQ stores. Check with your local stores to purchase our boxed novelties. I’m not aware of any plans to start selling them at grocery stores. I will be sure to share your suggestion with our Product Development team!

How many locations do you currently have in the United States, as well as outside of the US? A 2005 study I saw said 5600+ but there has to be more by now. Thank you.

Hi Tarren,
Thanks for your question. We have roughly 5,700 stores in the U.S. with over 500 in Canada. Our biggest country of growth right now is China, we have over 500 stores in operation there right now. Without counting our Canadian stores, our International stores count over 1,050.

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