CAPE GAZE'rYE, Friday, May 23 - May 29, 1997 - 59
King's Ice Cream has the scoop, celebrating 25th anniversary
By Rosanne Pack
"One scoop or two? Will that be
a plain or a sugar cone?" In an era
of computer software, internet,
virtual reality games and nouveau
cuisine, some tried and true tradi-
tions of the Cape Region remain
cool and current, and cause the
competition to chill out.
King's Ice Cream is coming up
on a 25th Anniversary, and con-
noisseurs from Harbeson to
Hagerstown, from Washington,
D.C. to White House Beach, will
raise a cone in celebration and
thanks for the decades of pleasure
the King family has dished up for
all ages.
Since first serving up ice cream
in the original shop in Milton 25
years ago, King's Ice Cream has
earned awards and mentions in
"The Best of ..." publications and
competitions. However, year after
year, the most visible vote of con-
fidence comes when the line
stretches out the door and fills the
front porch of the Lewes store, as
it does, night after summer night
on Second Street.
Many years ago, Earl King said,
"If you're going to make ice
cream, make a good one."
And, with that simple philoso-
phy, Earl and his son Tom have
made a good one, now in 16 fla-
vors, for long enough to qualify as
one of the oldest continuously op-
erating family businesses in Sus-
sex County.
Earl bought a small general gro-
that much competition for the gro-
cery business in Milton, but as
other groceries opened, he had no
problem phasing out that end of
the business.
"He experimented with flavors
of ice cream, and the reputation
grew."
As Earl experimented, he could
taste success when he reached it,
and the recipe remained in his
head. He could repeat it flawless-
ly, over and over again.
Heartfelt recipes
"Then my father had a heart at-
tack," Tom said. "We realized the
recipes weren't written down, so I
had to go into intensive care and
get him to tell me what they were.
"He was all hooked up to IV
tubes and oxygen, and I'm sitting
there, writing down ice cream
recipes. The intensive care nurses
didn't appreciate it; I really got
some looks."
Happily, the elder King recov-
ered and went on to mix more ice
cream. The son bought out the fa-
ther several years ago; and Earl is
"mostly retired-" now. Tom carries
on the business and the tradition.
He didn't set out to have a career
in cones, and he worked for a
large corporation in the area after
he graduated from college. But
even then, he frequently worked
in the Milton store in the evenings
and came to know the routine of
many of their out-of-state cus-
tomers.
cery-deli in Milton in 1972, Tom "A stop in Miltonwas 0ften the
opened the Lewes store in 1981,! ..£irst ne ttll"its ihad i6, ;"
and from there, the Kings have
carved their place in the annals of
ice cream history. The Milton
general store offered six or seven
flavors in 1972, and within the
next two years, the patriarch had
tested and tasted the number of
flavors up to 16.
"My dad had no idea what he
was getting into when he bought
the store in Milton," Tom King
said. "He left a large corporation,
and wanted to own his own busi-
ness. At that time, there was not
Delaware beforethey checked in-
to their beach houses, and it was
their last stop before the Bay
Bridge as they left," King said.
Since his days as a part-timer
for his dad until now when he runs
the business full-time, he has seen
generations come up as customers
and as employees.
"A really neat thing is when the
kids that we've hired over the
years come back in with their
kids," he said. "We've had lots of
Cape Henlopen High kids here,
summer after summer; our chocolate chip makes a strong
friends' kids, then their brothers showing in the warmer months.
and sisters." Until very recently, he and his
King feels that the ice cream father were the only ones who
business hasn't changed much made the ice cream. With his fa-
over the years. Vanilla is still the ther's retirement, Tom is breaking
biggest seller even though mint in another ice cream maker.
"We kept doing the actual mix-
ing so we were assured of keeping
the quality up," he said.
The stores will sell more than
150 gallons a day in the summer,
and occasionally, a store will run
Continued on page 60
O0
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0o
STOCK UP
FOR THE WEEKEND!
Order Ready Made By The Pound
SUBS,
DELl
Boar00QHead Brand
Premium Meats & Cheeses By The Pound
Party Trays Salads Over Stuffed Sandwiches
Rosanne Pack photo
Double dipping has kept people in the Cape Region coming
to King's Ice Cream for 25 years. Owner/operator Tom King
offers a cool toast to 25 more years of a continued chilly suc-
cessful reception.
227-SUBS (7827)
Rt. 1 Lighthouse Plaza (next to K-Mart)
* Featuring Lulgis Dell
gon.oThurs. 9 - 9:30. Fri. & Sat. 9 - 10. Sun. 10 - 8
Or visit our other location on Rt. 24 - Peddler's Village
945-8300
Tues..Thurs. 9 - 8. Fri. & Sat. 9 - 10 p.m. • Sun. & Mon. 9 - 8
Taste What Eveqo.e's Ta.d.gAbouU
