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MADE IN THE QUAD CITIES

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Lagomarcino's Is a turn-of-the-century ice cream parlor in the Quad Cities. It's famous for its hot fudge sundaes, hand-dipped chocolates, sponge candy and filled chocolate eggs. Angelo, an Italian emigrant, opened Lagomarcino's Confectionery in Moline , Illinois , in 1908. The original business still operates today. The metal ceiling is still there from when the building was built and the original cigar and candy cases are still in use. The ice cream parlor also has old-fashioned sodas and a fruity pop invented by Charlie Lagomarcino in the 1920s.

Angelo Lagomarcino obtained the secret recipe for their hot fudge sauce from a traveling salesman in the early 1900s. Angelo paid him $25 for the recipe, against his wife's better judgment. She scolded him for spending so much money, but it turned out he was right. The same recipe is still used today and has earned Lagomarcino's national and international recognition from well-known culinary magazines and food editors.

HC Duke & Son, Inc. manufactures ice cream machines and freezers. The company’s products include shake freezers, and frozen beverage dispensers for the food service industry. The company supplies its products with brand names H.C. Duke and Electro Freeze. The company’s clients include regional foodservice chains including International Dairy Queen, Sonic Corporation, and Braum's Ice Cream.

In 1946, Henry C. Duke and his son, Gene, the owners of a commercial laundry equipment repair company were asked to build an ice cream freezer for a new franchise called Dairy Queen. The two came up with the world’s first pressurized soft-serve freezer. Dairy Queen franchises soon began sprouting up across the country, boosted by strong sales and outstanding profits from a new dessert made possible by the Dukes’ machine.

When John Deere moved to Illinois from Vermont , he learned that the commonly used cast-iron plows of the day performed poorly in the sticky soil of the Midwest . Convinced that a plow with a highly polished surface would clean, or scour itself as it moved through the field, Deere fashioned just such an implement in 1837, using steel from a broken saw blade. In 1848 John Deere moved his operation to Moline , Illinois , to take advantage of the water power and transportation the river offered. From there, Deere & Co. is now one of the oldest companies in the U.S. and the world headquarters are still located in Moline . Factories are still located in the Quad Cities region and they make a only portion of the equipment Deere produces, including combines, tractors, planters, seeders, and hydraulic cylinders. John Deere is known all over the world. *Autobiography of John Deere in Biographies.

William H. VanDervoort organized the Root & VanDervoort Engineering Company in 1899, shortly after he left the Univ. of Illinois . He and fellow classmate Orlando Root began to manufacture portable and stationary engines in East Moline , Illinois . From the beginning, the R&V Co. sold a portion of its product through the Deere organization. During the winter of 1912, Deere & Co. contracted for the sale of the product in all parts of the world. The R&V engines had a green finish, coupled with black and gold striping making these engines some of the most attractive, in their time, in the entire industry.

"Happy Joe" Whitty worked in the bakery business for years before becoming an assistant manager at a Shakey's pizzeria. It was around this time that he decided to combine his baking and pizza management experience into his own business venture. While he worked at the pizzeria, he would often hear families decide to go out for ice cream for dessert so he developed a pizza parlor that offered both pizza and ice cream. Whitty opened the first Happy Joe's Pizza & Ice Cream Parlor in the Village of East Davenport, Iowa, in 1972. His signature item was the Happy Joe's Special, a pizza with Canadian bacon and sauerkraut that Whitty created from leftovers in his mother's kitchen. After a franchise suggested adding tacos to the menu, Whitty invented the restaurant's best-selling product, the Taco Pizza" Taco Joe". Now over 60 restaurants are in the Midwest . FANTASTIC PIZZA!!!

Whitey's Ice Cream

This ice cream was named "Best in the Midwest ". It was tarted by Chester "Whitey" Lindgren in 1933, he ran the store on 16th Street in Moline until 1953 when he sold it to Ron Tunberg. Turning it into a family business, Ron's sons, Jon and Jeff, manage the growing company today-now with over ten locations and selling it wholesale. Over the years, a number of innovations to the industry were born at Whitey's such as: high powered malt machines, extra thick shakes and malts, candy bar shakes, and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, to name a few.

Maid Rite

Started in 1926 Fred Angell, a respected butcher in the Quad Cities area combined a special cut and grind of meat with a selected set of spices, he created the maid-rite sandwich. As the story goes, Mr. Angell asked a delivery man, at his restaurant in Muscatine , Iowa , to taste his newest sandwich creation. After a few bites, the taster exclaimed, "You know, Fred, this sandwich is just made right." This is when it became the maid rite,. Maid-Rite has withstood the test of time for over 76 years. Maid-Rite is one of America 's first quick-service, casual dining restaurants. They are one of the first places to have drive-up, walk-up windows for customer convenience. Maid-Rite restaurants are located mainly in Iowa and the throughout the midwest.

Boetje's Mustard

It is a Quad Cities and national-favorite. Started in 1889, Fred Boetje began making stoneground Dutch mustard in his garage in Rock Island , Illinois . Using the same recipe today of water, mustard seed, sugar, salt and distilled vinegar, In the QCA it outsells the three big mustards

Quad Cities Time

Rock Island Argus .

Illinois Ancestors