Almost 60 years ago, 67 year old J. F. McCullough and his son Alex, who had been making frozen homemade ice cream since 1927 in Davenport, Iowa, discovered that there was more flavor in ice cream that was soft when eaten, than in the typical frozen product which numbed the taste buds.

In August of 1938 they set-up an “all you can eat for 10 cents promotion” which was a resounding success. Other taste tests were promptly put into place and the results were all the same, the soft ice cream was a definite winner!

The equipment used to make frozen ice cream was found to be totally unsuitable for producing a “soft-serve ice cream” product that needed to deliver a single service portion at a consistent 18 degree temperature in order to hold its shape.

The first “Soft-Serve machine” was invented by Harry Oltz in 1937. In 1939 Alex McCullough was visiting Chicago and came across Harry selling frozen custard, out of this new type of single-service freezer. He proceeded to convince Harry to sign an agreement, which would allow Alex to use his machine. Although Harry Oltz’s machine worked, it required lots of maintenance, difficult to use, very heavy and bulky. During World War II, progress in improving equipment was nil as most raw materials were required for the war effort, however the ensuing years after the war, in the middle to late 1940’s, some improvements were made.

In 1950 a remarkable inventor named Leo Maranz formed “Tastee Freez Industries, Inc. together with his partner Harry Axene, an entrepreneur, started to market a new soft-serve freezer called the “Freez King”. This automatic continuous mix freezer had technologies that far exceeded any other equipment, it was also half the size of other machines and easier to maintain. In fact, some of these machines are still in use today!

Alvin D. Rose in 1950 was the Sales manger for the Freez King Division of Tastee-Freez. Industries and traveled the country selling the popular Freez King equipment. In 1953 Leo Maranz and an associate, Bernie Spira formed the Chicago Tastee-Freez Corporation. 2815 Armitage in Chicago, Illinois and 818 E. Main Street, St. Charles, Illinois were the first two stores in this new franchise territory. In 1959 Alvin Rose purchased Chicago Tastee-Freez and proceeded to open 46 more franchises by 1970 in Cook, Dupage, Kane and Lake Counties.

Alvin D. Rose died in 1974 and the leadership role was then assumed by his wife, Ann H. Rose.