R.I.P. Ted Drewes Jr.
/I was reading the news yesterday and came across a headline that let me know that Ted Drewes Jr had passed away. This is a very niche Saint Louis thing. You may see that name and have little to no idea who Ted Drewes Jr was. Let me explain.
For those of us born and raised in STL, Ted Drewes Jr was a household name. Saint Louis is known for a few food things. We have toasted ravioli, cracker thin pizza crust and gooey butter cake. Another big food thing is Ted Drewes. This is where you get, in my opinion, the best frozen custard in the US. People will line up around the block for this sweet, cold treat. They have created different concretes over the years that are only specific to Ted Drewes. They were the first to hold their frozen custard upside down in the cup to prove how frozen the custard is. They sold shirts. I have seen people wearing Ted Drewes shirts in states like Wisconsin and Michigan. When my kids were old enough we took them there to get their first cold treat in the summer. During COVID they had an excellent plan to stay open and it worked. People were still able to get their custard even when we had to be extra careful. And all along the way, there was Ted Drewes Jr.
Some of my earliest memories watching tv include Drewes Jr. He would show up on screen, talk about how great the custard is, and would flip the cup upside down to show off how cold it was. When he would show up at the actual location it was always a treat. It felt like a celebrity sighting. The lines would be longer, but people, myself included, would wait just to say hi and see him smile back at us. It was truly amazing. He was always smiling. I'm sure he had his moments where he wasn't smiling, we are all human, but when he was out in the public eye, or doing a tv spot, the man would have a big grin on his face. He loved what he did, and it showed.
And the custard was something special. It was a perfect cold treat on a hot day. When you'd get one of their famous sundaes or concretes, nothing else compared. The way the custard was mixed was done better than anyone else in the custard/ice cream business. And I know you may be reading this and asking why I keep saying custard and not ice cream. Ted Drewes made custard, not ice cream. The treats that were purchased and enjoyed were very much not ice cream. They were custard and that is the way it has always been at Ted Drewes.
I don't know how Ted Drewes Jr passed, but it is a bummer either way. He had a good long life, but he is gone and that stinks. It's going to feel weird next time I go there. I'm sure it is going to be flooded with patrons just to pay their respect, and that makes me happy. I will wait as long as it is necessary when I return. This custard is too delicious to not wait for. But it is going to be odd because he won't be there, but I'm sure there will be pictures everywhere. That is going to be tough at first. I'm sure they have a contingency plan in place, but without Ted Drewes Jr being there or on tv, it is going to take awhile to get used to.
Rest In Peace Ted Drewes Jr. I hope you're handing out sweet, cold treats wherever you may be now.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.
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