Velvet Freeze

I visited a friend in St. Louis this weekend. She kept asking what I wanted to do, and I had one emphatic answer: go out for ice cream! Amongst a wealth of options, we ended up at Velvet Freeze, and I gotta say, I loved it!

St. Louis is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of the ice cream cone. Legend has it an ice cream vendor at the worlds fair in 1904 ran out of bowls and got creative with the assistance of the waffle vendor next door. Regardless of the literal accuracy of that tale, ice cream continued to flourish in the area.

Velvet Freeze was around as an ice cream factory and chain as early as 1934, and ran 50 shops in and beyond the St. Louis area through the 70s. Shops started closing and the company changed hands a few times, and by 2001 there was only one left.

This shop still hand makes its ice cream, and sells all sorts of candies, cookies, and novelties to go with it. The peppermint ice cream was SPECTACULAR. Check it out next time you’re in St. Louis - it’s in Jennings. Word to the wise, it’s cash and EBT only.

Ice cream history! What a legacy.