Dairy Queen 1953-20??

Moniteau County, Missouri

Dairy Queen

1953-20??

From the 2000 History of Moniteau County:

The California Dairy Queen

The Dairy Queen at California has been in business 47 years as of the year 2000.

Rellis and Pauline Wilson opened Wilson's Dairy Queen April 29, 1953, after moving to California from Windsor with two small children, David and Eric, in March of the same year. It was a seasonal operation, opening every year in the early spring and closing in the late fall. The menu, limited to a few soft drinks, soft-serve products and hot dogs for the first year, gradually expanded to include a large selection of soft drinks, soft-serve products and the well-known foot-long chili dog.

Some exterior remodeling took place from time to time over the years, including the building of a house on the lot behind the business in 1956, which the family moved into in 1957. A daughter, Cathy, was born in 1960.

The Dairy Queen continued to be operated as a family business until the middle 1960's when outside help began to be hired, both because the business had expanded and the older son, who was in college, fulfilled a military obligation.

A large number of young people, mostly high school students, were employed at the Dairy Queen from then on.

The Wilson's sold the business in February 1987 when it became the California Dairy Queen. The new owners were Jerry & Merna Vanderpool, who moved from Sedalia to California to run the business. The Vanderpools remodeled the business extensively, converting it to inside service, with a line of Dairy Queen Brazier products.

After Jerry's death, Merna continued to operate the business.

Cal and Charlotte Gerlach purchased the business on October 17, 1998, from the Vanderpool family after Merna also passed away.

The Gerlach's did extensive remodeling, including an enlargement of the building, making it necessary to move the Wilson family house off the lot. The house was moved to a new location on Cooper Street.

Going out of the 1990's into the 2000's, the California Dairy Queen had a larger inside area, drive-through service, a fully concrete parking lot, and a menu that was once more expanded. A mainstay of the California Dairy Queen menu is the well-known foot-long chili dog.

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