Uncle Gaylord’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream

By Gaylord Willis
Published on May 1, 1979
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The parts of an ice cream freezer.
The parts of an ice cream freezer.
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A dish of ice cream.
A dish of ice cream.
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Making old fashioned ice cream in a hand-cranked ice cream freezer.
Making old fashioned ice cream in a hand-cranked ice cream freezer.
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The ever popular ice cream cone.
The ever popular ice cream cone.
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Cut-away view of an assembled ice cream freezer.
Cut-away view of an assembled ice cream freezer.

Seven years ago, a small ice cream parlor opened in San Francisco. Soon customers were standing in line for a taste of Old Uncle Gaylord’s old fashioned ice cream. “It’s the real thing!” Gaylord told his buyers. “We make it just like it was made 50 yews ago, with cream and eggs, in the paddle freezer”

From an initial investment of $6,000 (and no government or bank loans) Gaylord Willis has since expanded his operation to 20 stores, but the rapid growth hasn’t charged the way his ice cream is made. And even with the high price of real cream and other quality ingredients, the company has been able to compete with the makers of artificial, chemical-laden ice cream.

Having laid the groundwork, Gaylord is now selling franchises … which usually cost $10,000 for each store. However — in order to attract the kind of folks who’ll appreciate the integrity that goes into his product — Willis is making a special offer to MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ readers: a license for setting up your own Old Uncle Gaylord’s Ice Cream Parlor (including training in San Francisco) for $3,500. 

The following excerpt is taken from Old Uncle Gaylord’s Ice Cream Book, copyright © 1978 by Gaylord Willis and Ted Banhari, which contains 38 recipes for exceptionally delicious ice cream, frozen yogurt, and Italian ice.


Ice cream, of course, wasn’t invented by Americans. The original frozen dessert has long since melted into the annals of antiquity, but there is solid evidence that widely separate cultures were cooling their palates with delicious concoctions while the glory of the Roman Empire was at its height.

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