Confusion... intrigue... mystery. No, I'm not writing a story for "Murder, She Wrote". I'm writing an article on my favorite brand of ice cream. No, the mystery is not about the ingredients; it's about discovering the story of the late great High's Ice Cream franchise.Some of my fondest memories from my childhood revolve around ice cream. Actually so do a couple of bad memories, such as my brother's car accident in the family car while going to pick up some ice cream from the local market for my sister's birthday. But let's stick with the fond ones, shall we?
When I was a kid there was only one ice cream store that I knew and that was High's. We lived in Richmond, Virginia and High's was based there. My brother Larry and I shared an affinity for their Lime Sherbet, especially in the hot summer months. There was no more refreshing way to cool-off! I remember fondly that my oldest brother Ron even treated me to a High's cone after I learned to tie my shoes by myself. High's was an "after the pediatrician visit" promise as well to keep me in line.
The specific stores that we used to visit were in Highland Park, the Brook Hill Azalea Shopping Center, Eastgate Mall, and the Willow Lawn Shopping Center. As I grew into my teen years, several of these stores become known as Mayberry Ice Cream Parlors, but were still franchised as High's-Mayberry and still served High's Ice Cream. In my early adult life, I was prone to visit the store in the Westland Shopping Center (now a Thai diner); it was close to work. Besides ice cream, High's and Mayberry served soups, sandwiches, and grill items like a small diner.
Since my friends began 2Dips.com, I have been somewhat obsessed with discovering the history and the mystery that is High's Ice Cream. There was little information to be found on the web, so I expanded my search and unlocked at least some of that mystery. For those of you who still know High's in Maryland (especially the Baltimore area), and the High's Express in Richmond and the High's Ice Cream Store in Portsmouth, Virginia, the ice cream you are eating now may very well not be the same High's Ice Cream that Kris (in her bio) and I have both expounded upon here. Read on.
Let's begin with the historical facts...
High's Ice Cream was founded in 1932 in Richmond, Virginia by L.W. High. It was later purchased by James R. Gregory, Jr., along with two other partners, in 1948. At that time there were 16 stores, and their manufacturing plant in Richmond produced the ice creams and sherbets they became famous for. By 1941 the chain had grown to almost 50 stores, when it was purchased by Convenient Systems, Inc. of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mr. Gregory became chairman of that company and remains so until his retirement in 1976. Mr. Gregory died in 1994 at the age of 79.
By the late 1980s there were some 350 High's Dairy Stores and Restaurants located in Virginia and Maryland, with 6 of those still located in Richmond. By this time, these stores were owned by the Capital Milk Producers Cooperative. In early1987, they sold the stores to the Southland Corporation – owners of 7-11 stores. I suspect from my research that this was where High's pretty much dissolved as a franchise and as an independent ice cream manufacturing entity.
By 1989, the High's brand name was owned by Kay's Ice Cream of Knoxville, Tennessee. High's Ice Cream was being manufactured there at this time. Kay's was purchased by C.F. Sauer Corporation of Richmond in early 1990. At one point, you could even purchase High's Ice Cream in the grocery stores in Richmond. In fact, the C.F. Sauer owned Kay's was still producing High's Ice Cream in their plant in Knoxville in 1994, when there was a voluntary recall of High's Ice Cream from all Farm Fresh stores (The Grocery Store, Farm Fresh, Nick's Market) due to a bacteria being found in it's products. [Kay's had formerly been a chain of ice cream restaurants in Tennessee, but the corporation seems to have fallen on hard times around 1981 and the chains became independent locations, still using the Kay's name (sounds a lot like what happened to High's). Kay's now serves Mayfield's and Hershey's ice cream in its remaining locations. It seems that C.F. Sauer halted manufacturing of both Kay's and High's Ice Cream in the mid-nineties. They did not respond to my email inquiry about their ownership and its ultimate fate.]
At present, there is still a chain of High's in Maryland that, from all research I have done, is serving ice cream produced from a plant in Laurel that was purchased around 1994 by Nestle. From my research, it is most likely that this chain was a separately franchised entity and was not involved in the purchase by Southland in 1987. It would be safe to say that until the late 1980s the ice creams served in Virginia and Maryland were coming from the same plant(s). There is now no connection between High's of Maryland and the remaining two High's locations in Virginia.
Several Virginia locations ended up being converted into 7-11 stores after the Southland deal. The existing Portsmouth location actually serves Hershey's Ice Cream (no relation to the chocolate company) most likely produced in their Pennsylvania plant. [There was an article published in June, 2004 by "The Virginian-Pilot" newspaper about a 64 year old woman named Queen, who has worked as a dipper for one High's location or another for about 25 years and now works at this last remaining location in the Tidewater area. Even thought High's sold off all of it's franchise over a decade ago and the location is independently owned, the High's name and nostalgic green logo signage still remain.]In the area where I grew up only one High's location remains. The Richmond "High's Express" restaurant serves both Breyer's and Garber Ice Cream - which just happens to be another Virginia family-owned company, making ice cream since 1912. Their Fredrick County plant, built in the 1930s employs approximately 40 people.
Nothing can really take the place of childhood memories, right? No other ice cream could ever taste quite the same to me as High's, maybe not because of the ingredients, but because of the memories connected to it. (Now if I could only find a web site to expound on the wonders of Crass Grape Soda and Space Food Sticks.) The remaining irony is that my sister exported some lime sherbet from the Portsmouth High's for me this summer. This was before I learned that they weren't still serving the same ice cream from my youth. The sherbet was a delicious treat and I learned that Hershey's lime sherbet was a pretty close match to High's after all. Hmmm... now I wonder if Hot Wheels were really just as fun as Matchbox cars.