Graeter’s Ice Cream began with Louis Charles Graeter selling ice cream on the street in 1870.  By 1900 he and his wife, Regina, sold it out of a storefront while making it in back.  After 20 years Regina was widowed with a couple young sons and despite the stigma of women running a business she made the business thrive under her direction.  She began to expand in 1922, now competing with mass market options that didn’t use her small-batch French pots system.  Her sons eventually took over the business with one adding a bakery to the store and the other developing a unique way to blend chocolate into a batch.  The business continues to be in the family’s hands and now they have numerous locations here and in surrounding states and grocery stores.   The store we went in had the bakery and then the ice cream as well as lots of packaged products for sale.  By the front door was a freezer with pints of ice cream if you wanted to take some home.  I hope you’ll try it if you have the opportunity. Continue reading →