H is for High Wheeler

H is for High Wheeler Ice Cream Parlor

This was an old fashioned ice cream parlor that used to be open in Kalamazoo, MI during the 1980s. My early childhood memories of the place are hazy but wonderful. 

The high wheeler bicycle or penny-farthing was introduced in the late 1800s, and the The High Wheeler ice cream parlor was decorated with memorabilia from that time period and penny-farthing bicycle replicas. The employees wore uniforms that reflected an earlier time including red and white stripped vests, bow ties and barber shop hats for the waiters. Eating there felt like going back in time.

The seats were round, red swiveling stools spaced evenly around a white marble counter. There were also red cushioned booths where families could sit together. I liked the counter best though because the seats were raised up, and as a vertically challenged little kid, a counter seat gave me a better view when a group of servers carried out an enormous ice cream cone twenty scoops high and sang "Happy Birthday" to some lucky kid.

I also have a vague recollection that they served a drink called the "Volcano." It came out of the kitchen with a frothy white fog bubbling over the top of the glass, and to a kid, it looked like a potion from a fairy tale. Turns out you can make a similar drink at home today. All it takes is flavored soda water mixed with dry ice. Caution: don't touch or eat the dry ice!

What about you? Did go to a favorite local ice cream shop when you were growing up? Is it still there? If you're from Michigan, do you remember the The High Wheeler? Has nostalgia made me embellish the place? I tend to think it was even better than I remember.