In a cone, in a dish or in a tall glass blended with chocolate and malt – ice cream and the parlors it was served in created one of the sweetest American icons. And in Crystal City, after school, on Friday nights or on hot summer days, the place to find that American dream was Vaughn Dairy.
The store front that once held the innocent days of childhood is now a part of Crystal City Tavern or so it’s been said.
“It (the dairy) was one or two stores south of the police station on Mississippi Avenue,” said Anna Vaughn of Festus. She said her husband and the owner, Jimmy Vaughn, were distant relatives. He delivered milk to their home many years ago.
“We had six kids, so of course we had milk delivered,” Anna said. “Every now and then he would leave a half gallon of chocolate milk for the kids.”
And sometimes for their birthdays they would get something more.
“Oh, say it was Peggy’s birthday, and my husband saw Jimmy at bowling, he would give him a note that said, ‘Give this girl a half gallon of ice cream,’” she said.
Peggy Kennedy of Bloomsdale, Anna’s daughter, said that milk delivery happened sometime in the late 50s or early 60s. She has a picture of a Vaughn Dairy milk truck and an old milk bottle she keeps for history’s sake.
Some, however, just keep the memories.
Sharon DeRitis said teenagers loved to go to Vaughn Dairy after school during the 50s and 60s.
“All through high school it was a big hang out,” she said. “The kids in Festus went to Quinn’s. The kids in Crystal City went to Vaughn’s.”
DeRitis used to walk to the dairy with her mother, who worked at city hall, for lunch. She remembers one waitress in particular who served things up right.
“Her name was Hazel Waymire, and she treated us kids like a million bucks, even though we probably only spent a quarter,” DeRitis said. “She worked there for years.”
Leader staffer Laura Marlow moved to Crystal City in the summer of 1970. She was 12, and her sister, Cathy Hankins, was 10, and Vaughn Dairy quickly became part of their regular routine.
“We lived on Crystal Heights Road, and we’d ride our bikes to the library, get our books, and go next door to the dairy for a shake,” said Hankins, 54, who still lives in Crystal City. “I remember the booths were wooden, with high backs like a church pew. After riding our bikes all that way in the hot sun, we’d be so sweaty, and it seemed so nice and cool in there. The seats were chilly when you sat on them; then the shake would be so cold! They brought it to your table in a big metal container, and you’d pour it out into your glass.”
The sisters could usually only scrape up enough cash for a single treat, so they had to take turns choosing the flavor.
“I always wanted chocolate, and Laura liked strawberry,” Hankins said.
The two enjoyed sipping their shakes while they sampled their new reading material.
“They would let us check out, I think, six books,” Hankins said. “We could hardly wait to get those open and start reading! We’d sit there for a long time, where it was cool, sipping our shakes and reading our books. It is a wonderful memory of our childhood.”
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