It was a busy day of scooping when Hall Ice Cream Co. sold more than 500 gallons of ice cream in a single afternoon, about one third of the ice cream sold in downtown Glens Falls that day.
“Glens Falls was in the grip of a heatwave yesterday and local dealers in ice cream are congratulating the weather man on his exceedingly good judgement in choosing Sunday as the day for intense warmth,” The Post-Star reported on June 23, 1913.
Hall Ice Cream Co., Maple Street, 1925 (Courtesy of Chapman Museum)
Hall’s, established in the early 1900s, sold its ice cream around Glens Falls from horse-drawn wagons as well as at its plant, and was a wholesale supplier to restaurants and grocery stores.
It is among several former ice cream manufacturers in Glens Falls.
Others include The Sugar Bowl and Dobert’s.
By 1922 Hall’s was a major wholesale supplier of premium ice cream around northern New York and Vermont.
“It’s a broad statement but nevertheless a true one that go where you may you will find no more completely equipped ice cream plant than that operated by Hall Ice Cream Company on Maple Street,” The Post-Star reported.
Local customers could call “Ate-Ate-Ate,” a tongue-in-cheek homonym for the actual three-digit telephone number, to place an order.
The company advertised its product as a healthy dessert option.
“One quart of ice cream is equal in energy food value to 1 2/3 lbs. of beefsteak; 3 ¾ lbs. of chicken; 4 1/3 lbs. of beans; 10 ¾ lbs. of tomatoes; 1 1/6 dozen of eggs,” claimed a 1921 advertisement in The Post-Star.
Byron E. Hall established Hall Ice Cream in the early 1900s at the Crandall Block, at the corner of South and Glen Streets.
He later incorporated the company with himself as president, Charles Smith, the plant superintendent, as vice president, and Powell J. Smith, brother of Charles, as secretary/ treasurer.
Powell J. Smith also was associated with Empire Automobile Co.
The company moved in 1910 to 2 Maple Street, and then in 1914 to a newly constructed brick plant at 4 Maple St., the building that now is the offices of the Newell & Klingbiel law firm.
By 1915 the company was making 15 flavors of ice cream.
In 1916, the company had $25,000 in capital – the equivalent of $604,702 in 2020 dollars.
In January 1930, the company and plant were sold to Borden’s Ice Cream, which continued to use the Hall name, at least for a time.
Hall moved to Warrensburg, bought a restaurant, and was president of Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce.
Charles Smith stayed on with Borden as manager of the Glens Falls plant, and later managed other Borden plants.
Powell J. Smith increased his role with Empire Automobile Co.
The Sugar Bowl, circa 1960 (Courtesy of Chapman Museum)
The Sugar Bowl, on a smaller scale, operated 43 years before it closed in 1963.
“The Sugar Bowl at 103 Glen Street makes its own homemade ice cream right in the shop,” The Post-Star reported in 1935. “The appetizing quality of flavors and the smooth consistency of this ice cream are the result of new fast freezing process made possible by new, up-to-date equipment.”
The Sugar Bowl, circa 1945 (Courtesy of Warren County Historical Society)
Norman Dobert Sr. started Dobert’s Dairy at 68 Third Street as a milk route in 1931.
He expanded into milk distribution and ice cream manufacturing.
His son and grandsons expanded into a whole sale food service supplier, yet the dairy remained a popular place for Glens Falls residents to stop for a cone.
Around Glens Falls, Dobert’s was known for its cranberry sherbet sold during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
Dobert’s acquired the recipe from Nettie Patterson, for many years the “official hostess” for social gatherings at Christ Church United Methodist in Glens.
Patterson provided the recipe under an agreement that Dobert’s would supply sherbet each year for the annual Christ Church women’s Christmas Tea.
Three generations of the Dobert family operated the business until it closed around 2013.
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Sources: The Post-Star May 23, 1910; June 23, 1913; Aug. 20, 1914; Nov. 30, 1915; April 25, 1916; Jan. 12, Dec. 23, 1921; April 17, 1922; Jan. 21, 1930; Oct. 8, 1935; Oct. 3, 2009; Jan. 22, 2011
MAURY THOMPSON
Maury Thompson was a reporter for The Post-Star for 21 years before he retired in 2017. He now is a freelance writer and documentary film producer specializing in regional history. Thompson is collaborating with Snarky Aardvark Films to produce a documentary about Charles Evans Hughes and the Adirondacks, which is expected to release in September 2020. See the trailer here. Read his full bio here.
