Milkshake Mania

Fun Facts about Milkshake

Sitting on a stool, spinning round and round while the machine whirs its magic brings back memories for the older crowd. Younger generations recall sitting at the local Dairy Queen sipping on a frothy, thick shake to cool off on hot summer evenings. And is there anything better than a creamy chocolate milkshake?

The milkshake: delectable, delicious, sinfully decadent comes with more than just cold sweetness sucked through a straw. So if you're crazy about milkshakes to read on for facts, trivia, opinions, and history concerning everything that shakes into a creamy froth of slurping yum.

1. Heritage Dictionary it's a "whipped beverage made from milk, flavoring, and usually ice cream." According to kids and grown-ups everywhere a creamy shake, milkshakes were considered to be wholesome drinks made with milk, flavorings and a jigger of whiskey for good measure.

2. The cousin of the milkshake, the malted milk arrived on the scene as a restorative for the ailing and was touted as a healthy food for infants in the year 1887.

3. Made with dried milk, malted barley, and wheat flour Walgreens in Wisconsin sold Horlick's Malted Milk and it became a huge success.

4. One day a soda jerk named Ivar "Pop" Coulson tossed a couple scoops of ice cream into a malted milk. Voila! The malt and milkshake became something more. A scrumptious treat began its trek into the hearts and homes of people everywhere.

5. Depending on where you live you may have a different name for the velvety ice cream treat. Where Rhode Island butts up against Massachusetts a milkshake becomes a "cabinet." Why? No one knows for sure, but there is speculation that it has something to do with the wooden enclosure where the mixing machine was stored.

6. What's the difference between a frappe and a milkshake? Ice cream. Which is which? In northern New England a velvet or frappe contains milk, flavoring, and ice cream. A milkshake is just that... milk and flavoring all shook up into a foaming froth.

7. You're in London and you long for a cool drink of whipped up ice cream, milk, and flavoring. You can ask for a milkshake, but ask for a thick shake and you'll get the same thing using the Queen's English.

8. It was the year 1910 or thereabout and the milkshake and malted milk had been satisfying soda fountain lovers for a few years. Instead of asking for a milkshake someone shortened it to just shake. "1'll have a shake please." The malted milk was shortened to just malt. "Make mine a malt!"

9. Sometime in the 1930s soda fountains decided to leave the drug store and stand on their own. The malt shop was born with jukebox jiving and milkshakes and malts king of the after school crowd.

10. Tall stainless steel tumblers are actually called mixing cans or malt cups. The mixing can is attached to a mixer that shakes and shimmies the contents into a soulfully sweet experience for the tongue.

11. An old-time soda fountain would pour your chocolate milkshake into a glass and then set the stainless steel mixing can right next to you. When you're glass looks to be nearly empty, just refill from the can. when through, suck the last bit from the straw, lick the outside, pat your tummy, and smile.

12. The milkshake brought Ray Croc, the founder of the McDonald's fast-food chain to his destiny. Upon being so impressed with Earl Princer's multi-mixer he took a risk with his life's savings and purchased the exclusive rights to sell the machine. He headed off cross-country to pitch the miracle milkshake mixer. One day while selling his wares he came across a hamburger stand called McDonald's in San Bernardino, California. Eventually he bought the hamburger stand and the rest of the story is as well-known as a chocolate milkshake.

13. Did you know that McDonald's uses seaweed in their milkshakes? Well not really the long stringy stuff we think of as seaweed, but an extract called carrageenan is added to the mix as a thickener and emulsifier.

14. The most popular milkshakes are: 1. Chocolate 2. Strawberry 3. Vanilla Are you surprised?

15. The typical Midwest chocolate shake is called a black and white. Vanilla ice cream, chocolate flavoring, and milkshake into what Midwesterners call the best dam shake money can buy.

16. In the world of food and drinks there are those purists who believe that tastes should not be sullied by mixing, unlike ingredients. A chocolate shake should be made with chocolate ice cream and flavoring. A strawberry shake should be made with strawberry ice cream and strawberry flavoring. You get the picture.

17. In Milwaukee a beer lover decided to combine his favorite beverage with ice cream. The beer milkshake was born. How does it taste? Your guess is as good as mine.

18. Back to purists for a moment. A purist believes that a great milkshake stands alone on taste.