It's odd, isn't it? When you get right down to it, is just with various bits and bobs stirred in that you eat with a spoon. And yet you never say that you just had some ice cream when you have one, do you? You say "I had a McFlurry" or "I had a Blizzard". Maybe it's because it comes in one of those cups that's taller than it is wide, as opposed to a typical ice cream cup that's wider than it is tall.
Or maybe it's just the power of branding. Either way, it's become a dessert of its own: not ice cream, not a milkshake, but a secret third thing. But which was it that came first? Did McDonald's use its corporate might to forge a new path in the sweet treat industry, or did it come from the (relatively) humble kitchen of a Dairy Queen? The Blizzard came first Dairy Queen was one of the first major franchises in the initial fast food boom.
Founded in 1940 by Sherb Noble of Joliet, Illinois, Dairy Queen became a national chain with over a thousand locations by 1950 — five years before Ray Kroc joined McDonald's. Known for both its hot and its cold food, the chain takes its name from its soft serve products, which are delicious whether or not they can be . (The FDA requires a minimum 10% butterfat in order to officially be called ice cream; and while DQ's doesn't qualify, ).
In 1985, Dairy Queen introduced the Blizzard, so named because of how thick and icy it is. It's so thick, in fact, that if you turn a Blizzard's container upside down nothing will fall out, which employees are.
