Our founder and Dairy Queen Pioneer, Sherwood “Sherb” Noble, was born in Clemons, Iowa in 1908, the son of a country Doctor. Sherb took early to the dairy industry helping local farmers take their cows to pasture, then working in the local creamery. Sherb took a two year Dairy course in Ames, Iowa and then went back to run the local creamery. During that time he became acquainted with the McCoullough’s who sold hard pack ice cream. Through their connections he purchased some ice cream parlors in Kankakee and the surrounding areas. The McCoullough’s were innovators who felt ice cream tasetd best fresh from the feezer and didn’t freeze the taste buds, soft-serve ice cream. They wanted to try this product out, but dind’t know how. Sherb suggested and all-you-can-eat for 10 cent sale at one of his Kankakee stores. On August 4th, 1938 from 8-9:30 they did just that. It was a huge success, serving over 1600 servings in that time period. They knew they were on to something. They needed to perfect the machine and eventually did, leading to the very first Dairy Queen opening in Joliet on June 22, 1940. Sherb went on to open another location in Aurora the following year, but was then drafted to WWII. When he returned he continued to open Dairy Queen’s. Today, the Noble Family is proud to own ,and with the help of a great team operate, nine treat dairy queens. Sherb was a purist who chose not to introduce food and our family continues that tradition. We are very proud of the DQ heritage and appreciate the opportunity to serve all of our customers.
August 4, 1938 outside Sherb’s Ice Cream – 10 cent all you can eat soft-serve saleAdvertisement for initial Soft-Serve saleFirst Dairy Queen in Joliet, IL opened June 22, 1940
History
The History of Noble Stores, LLC
Our founder and Dairy Queen Pioneer, Sherwood “Sherb” Noble, was born in Clemons, Iowa in 1908, the son of a country Doctor. Sherb took early to the dairy industry helping local farmers take their cows to pasture, then working in the local creamery. Sherb took a two year Dairy course in Ames, Iowa and then went back to run the local creamery. During that time he became acquainted with the McCoullough’s who sold hard pack ice cream. Through their connections he purchased some ice cream parlors in Kankakee and the surrounding areas. The McCoullough’s were innovators who felt ice cream tasetd best fresh from the feezer and didn’t freeze the taste buds, soft-serve ice cream. They wanted to try this product out, but dind’t know how. Sherb suggested and all-you-can-eat for 10 cent sale at one of his Kankakee stores. On August 4th, 1938 from 8-9:30 they did just that. It was a huge success, serving over 1600 servings in that time period. They knew they were on to something. They needed to perfect the machine and eventually did, leading to the very first Dairy Queen opening in Joliet on June 22, 1940. Sherb went on to open another location in Aurora the following year, but was then drafted to WWII. When he returned he continued to open Dairy Queen’s. Today, the Noble Family is proud to own ,and with the help of a great team operate, nine treat dairy queens. Sherb was a purist who chose not to introduce food and our family continues that tradition. We are very proud of the DQ heritage and appreciate the opportunity to serve all of our customers.
Early History Written by Sherb Noble in 1973