![]() After a University of Texas football game one night in 1962, an Austin 7-Eleven saw so much foot traffic that the store was forced to remain open into the wee hours of the morning the store subsequently experimented with a 24-hour operation on weekends, and soon most franchises followed suit.Īs 7-Eleven became more successful, it sought to introduce more “original” products. Rebranded as “7-Eleven,” the franchise grew to 100 locations by the early 1950s. During the Great Depression, however, “Tot’Em Stores” went bankrupt.īut in 1946, the company rebounded, offering unprecedented operating hours - 7 am to 11 pm. He bought out the ice plant, opened several storefronts, and operated them under the moniker “Tot’Em Stores ” in the early days, each store would be adorned with an original, ornately-carved totem pole imported from Alaska. ![]() Thompson Jr., noticed his employee was using the company’s ice to preserve the goods, and saw potential in the idea. The 7-Eleven franchise started in 1928, when an ice manufacturing employee started selling milk, eggs, and other perishables in front of his Dallas factory. For a rental fee, businesses could license a specified number of ICEE dispensers and have exclusive distribution rights in their territories.īy the mid-1960s, 300 companies had ICEE machines in operation 7-Eleven was one of them.ħ-Eleven christening store #2,000 in 1968 7-Eleven Taylor’s designs were modified and finalized by a staff artist at Mitchell Company (the machine manufacturer), and the ICEE company formulated a business plan. She also conceived the idea to use a polar bear, though the goofy (but endearing) mascot used by Knedlik was eventually developed by Norsworthy-Mercer, an external ad agency. Taylor coined the “ICEE” name, and drew up a mock sketch of the iconic original logo - four letters placed in blue and red boxes, adorned with ice (a feature that has remained unchanged today). Initially, Knedlik thought to name his product “scoldasice” but when an ad-man friend persuaded him otherwise, he hired a young local artist, Ruth E. ICEE’s polas bear Source: Steve Snodgrass The machine featured a separate spout for each flavor (only two at this point), and a “tumbler” which constantly rotated the contents to keep them from becoming a frozen block. The company developed an interest in becoming an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and agreed to help Knedlik with his vision.įive years of trial and error ensued, resulting in a contraption that utilized an automobile air conditioning unit to replicate a slushy consistency. Mitchell Company - a Dallas-based outfit that had previously made cotton cleaning equipment, but had “pivoted” into selling aftermarket automobile air conditioners. ![]() When people began to show up demanding the beverages, Knedlik realized he had to find a way to scale, and formulated plans to build a machine that could help him do so. On one occasion, he left the sodas in a little too long, and had to apologetically serve them to his customers half-frozen they were immensely popular. Knedlik’s franchise didn’t have a soda fountain, so he began placing shipments of bottled soda in his freezer to keep them cool. He did well for a while, but when a series of poor hotel investments whittled his finances, he cashed out, moved to Kansas, and took over a Dairy Queen. Omar Knedlik was an unlikely inventor: he grew up poor, fought in World War II, and subsequently purchased a few ice cream shops with his military pay. In 1958, a Dairy Queen owner in Kansas inadvertently started what would become a beverage empire. The beverage - essentially frozen, flavored sugar water blasted with carbon dioxide - comes in an unending flow of flavors and especially entices its suitors during the summer months.īut the icy treat has an intriguing history: it was discovered accidentally, became a staple of “cool kid” culture in the 60s and 70s, and has continued to thrive thanks to brilliant marketing (and occasional deliciousness). They stain tongues green, red, and blue they send blood sugar levels on Odyssean voyages they induce brain-freezes that crumble even the most stoic men.Įvery year, 7,290,000 gallons of Slurpee are consumed worldwide - enough to fill 12 Olympic-size pools. ![]()
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