Here's an interesting story form the Naperville (Ill.) Sun about the Dairy Queen restaurant chain in 1940 in Joliet.
What many people don't know is that the first DQ was a mom-and-pop restaurant born on Route 66, on North Chicago Street. The story has a photo of that first one.
It now has more than 5,000 stores in the U.S. and several foreign countries.
Makes me think of the first Steak N’ Shake in Normal, IL. I grew up in Bloomington. It made me sad when it was turned into a Monical’s Pizza. Boo!