The first McDonald’s restaurant was opened in 1948 in San Bernardino California. Today we tend to think of McDonald’s as the pioneer fast food franchised restaurant. But by the time that first McDonald’s opened, there were already over 100 Dairy Queens.

In 1938 in Moline, Illinois, John Fremont McCullough and his son Alex developed a way to make soft-serve ice cream. They convinced a friend to offer the product at his ice cream store in Kankakee, Illinois, and it was an immediate smash hit with his customers.

Noble and the McCulloughs opened the first Dairy Queen store on June 22, 1940, along historic Route 66 in Joliet, Illinois. While this Dairy Queen has not been in operation since the 1950s, the building still stands at 501 N Chicago Street as a city-designated landmark.

Realizing they had a great business opportunity but needing a better way to dispense the ice cream, the McCulloughs soon discovered a freezer invented by Harry Oltz of Hammond, Indiana that dispensed a steady flow of ice cream. The rest, of course, is history.

The McCulloughs opened the first “Dairy Queen” (taking its name from the term the elder McCullough used for “cow”), in Joliet, Illinois on June 22, 1940, eighty-four years ago today.

Dairy Queen’s first menu items included soft serve cones, sundaes and ice cream by the pint and quart. A cone cost a nickel, and a sundae cost 8 cents.

Dairy Queen (DQ) is an American multinational fast food chain founded in 1940 and currently headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. The first Dairy Queen was owned and operated by Sherb Noble and first opened on June 22, 1940, in Joliet, Illinois. It serves a variety of hot and fried food, as well as original frozen dairy products that vary from location to location.

As of March, 2024, Dairy Queen had more than 7000 stores in 27 countries, including more than 4166 in the United States

10+ Fascinating Facts About Dairy Queen To Sweeten Your Day https://bit.ly/4edDw9g