Schrauth’s Sons: Poughkeepsie’s Ice Cream Makers
“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” It is getting to be that time of year where we are eager for that delicious cold snack: ice cream! In these modern times we have many options to choose from when it comes to deciding where and how to get our ice cream. At the grocery store the frozen section has everything from store brands to the trusted favorites like Friendly’s and Ben & Jerry’s. If you are a true local, then you know that Stewarts has some of the best ice cream around. We can even make our own ice cream at home with a little bit of salt, ice, cream, sugar, and flavoring. For almost a century, Poughkeepsie had its own ice cream manufacturer with an amazing shop for all of your confectionary needs.
The company began as a humble bakery owned and operated by Jacob Schrauth, who at the age of 20, came over from Germany and worked his way up as a baker’s apprentice in New York City, before eventually operating a bakery of his own here in 1866. By the late 1890’s, both of Jacob’s sons had entered into the business. Edward and William would bring their father’s modest bakery into the world of fancy soda fountains, ice cream parlors, and luxurious candies. When their store front opened at 149-151 Main Street in 1902, it was considered one of the most beautiful store interiors on the Hudson River. The Poughkeepsie Journal wrote that at the center of the store was the massive soda fountain, and pillars which supported the ceiling were designed to look like giant palm trees studded with lights. Around this was a marble countertop and stools to seat 65 patrons. On the east side of the store was the candy counter with back fixtures of hand-carved mahogany and mirrors to reflect the lights that dripped from the palm trees. On the west side was the bakery with another mahogany counter and more mirrors. At the back of the store was the ice cream parlor: a “little palace in itself” with “enameled tiling and the walls covered with a burlap of rich terra cotta and deep red.”
Behind this beautiful storefront, sitting just off of Bridge Street, was the factory where the ice cream was made. This building was designed by local architect William J. Beardsley, and it received a mention in the 1919 volume of the Ice Cream Trade Journal, praising its ample space and efficiency. It was capable of producing 1500 gallons of ice cream a day! They even had an army of a dozen trucks to deliver the finished product to local grocery stores. In the 1920s, the company also offered Christmas trees for sale on their property with delivery available to any location, and ice cream shaped in the form of Santa Claus. In 1934 the Schrauths celebrated the company’s 68th anniversary by offering tours of the factory.
By 1937, The Borden Milk Company had purchased Schrauths ice cream, but they kept the name and many of the Schrauth family members in their management positions. As time went on and either the family retired or passed away, the famous ice cream became less and less of a concern, and the 1950s seemed to mark the beginning of the end. In 1953 the company sold their factory on Bridge Street and had a smaller operation on North Perry Street. There were no longer any of the convincing or striking advertisements that the company had become well known for back at the turn of the century. Today, we don’t have much of in our collection from the glory days of Schrauth’s Ice Cream except for one lone quart container, which held a tasty Poughkeepsie made treat, long ago.
References:
Poughkeepsie Eagle News – 6 Dec 1902, 2 Mar 1911, 14 Jun 1919, 30 Nov 1923, 7 Apr 1934, 27 Mar 1937, 1 Jul 1953
Images:
Interiorschrauths – A postcard showing the interior of the Schrauth’s Ice Cream parlor on Main Street.
Advert-1910 – An advertisement from the Poughkeepsie Journal, 1910.
Advert-1911 – An advertisement from the Poughkeepsie Journal, 1911.
Advert-1919 – An advertisement from the Poughkeepsie Journal, 1919.
Advert-1932 – An advertisement from the Poughkeepsie Journal, 1932.
Beardsleydesign – The floor plan for Schrauth’s Bridge Street factory, designed by local architect William J. Beardsley.
SchrauthQuart – A Schrauth’s Ice Cream box – LH Collections.
