Milkshake Trivia

1. The first electric blender was developed in 1922. Stephen J. Poplawski had this vision that they would be become a necessity for the soda fountains that were springing up all over the country. And the most popular flavor of the day was … Malted Milk which consisted of milk, chocolate, and malt along with two scoops of ice cream. Wish they were still around today!

2. The first milkshake came about probably in the days of my great grandparents. The first reference appeared in a newspaper around about 1885. But these ones were a little different than the ones we enjoy today. Some of them contained whisky! My great-grandparents might be a lot more interesting than I ever imagined.

3. Now here is a milkshake that was developed in 1887 and can still be found today. It’s called Horlicks and apparently British children are fed the stuff. When my wife emigrated to this country, it was one of the first food items she went in search of and actually, it tastes pretty good.

4. All of this talk about milkshakes started me wondering about all of the flavors there must be out there … so I went looking. Now this one sounds pretty odd to me, but someone in California actually raved about a Pumpkin Pie flavored milkshake. So, if this sounds good to you, head for your closest Jack in the Box restaurant. Apparently, that’s where you can get one! Actually, the guy raved so much about them, I just might go looking for the restaurant myself. I really like pumpkin pie, so the milkshake might surprise me!

5. Do you recognize the name Ray Kroc? He was the man who sold milkshake machines to the McDonalds’ brothers. Yes, they are the guys who introduced us to all of those hamburgers! He then joined the team and came up with the idea of making McDonalds’ a franchise operation. And it all started with milkshake machines.

6. I don’t know if I should be sharing this little piece of information or not, but did you know that a banana milkshake flavored with a little honey is a well known way to cure a hangover? Not that I would know anything about it, but I hear it works really well!

7. Get ready for this… the largest known milkshake measures in at 6,000 gallons. It was formulated in New York in the year 2000. Now what I want to know is what flavor it was and what they did with it all!

8. If you were asked what they called a milkshake in Rhode Island, would you know? That question was asked in a contest a few years ago and the answer is “cabinet”. Not sure where they got that name for it, but it certainly is interesting. Can I have a chocolate cabinet please? Must try that the next time I am in Rhode Island.

9. So, what are you doing on September the 12th? You do know that it is National Milkshake Day … right?? Well, you do now!