As a child, a visit to Lafayette's Columbian Park Zoo or the playground wasn’t complete until we went across the street and ate some creamy, frozen custard from The Original Frozen Custard. In high school and while at Purdue University, it was an inexpensive and fun date. Delta Upsilon Fraternity brother John Stewart and I once crammed about 6-7 women in his yellow Mustang convertible for a trip across the Wabash and frozen custard.

Since then, I have been there several times and enjoyed it each time. While I have eaten frozen custard from other establishments, and they may have been good, it's hard to compete with custard and memories. I never worried about the history of the “Frozen Custard” because I had my own history, like many others who commented on my “Where in Indiana?” Facebook post.

Whether you’ve been there or not, I recommend a visit in your future. Here’s the official history from its website.

In 1932, Florence and Charles Kirkhoff opened The Original Frozen Custard. Little is known about what inspired them to open up their very own frozen custard stand. While there still may be a mystery behind the beginning of the Original Frozen Custard, were sure glad that they decided to devote 1932 selling rich and creamy vanilla frozen custard and starting a Lafayette, Indiana family tradition!

In the following year, Chocolate and Strawberry Frozen Custard were added using our original recipe and offered to our customers. Luckily for customers today, Florence Kirkhoff didn’t have the taste for soda pop, leading Charles to create the famous Fruit Drink. After some persistent persuading, Mrs. Kirkoff allowed Charles to team up with Coca Cola, making the Original Frozen Custard one of Coca Cola’s oldest accounts. Since 1934 the Original Frozen Custard and Coca Cola have been partners in thirst prevention.

In 1949, the iconic art deco building across from Columbian Park was built and still stands today (with a few updates). The fourth generation of the Kirkhoff-Lodde family still provides the Lafayette community with tradition, quality and service. The menu still offers vanilla frozen custard from our original recipe and much, much more! Today, you might even see the fifth generation of our family being trained to carry on what their great-great-grandparents started here at the Original Frozen Custard.