A special place with great ambitions: The Tale of Alaskaland Ice Cream Challe

Part of a continuous weekly series On the history of Alaska by local historian David Reamer. Do you have a question about the anchorage or the history of Alaska or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story.

Alaskans love their restaurant and store chain. Although some try to deny, the lines and the circulation of each large opening are fervent witnesses for the pleasure of shared experiences, safety and comfort of knowing exactly what to expect. There is a compromise with channels, a lesser individuality and perhaps the quality in exchange for greater deposit and perhaps prices. From Safeway to Walmart to Sonic, outside companies arrive in Anchorage and take our money, put the fist. However, on rare occasions, the flow flows in the other direction. Sometimes Alaskians try to establish a chain here that will spread outside. This is the story of a hopeful company, The Alaskaland Ice Creamter.

Alaskaand began like ice bread, which opened on February 9, 1969 in Anchorage around the corner of the Northern Lights Boulevard and C Street. More specifically, it was located in the southwest corner of the same shopping center which currently houses Charlie’s Bakery and B & JS Sporting Goods. The founding owners included Ken and Bobbie Haynes, who also created several other successful restaurants, including The Bun Drive-in, The Little Bun, Charcoburgers and a restaurant inside JC Penney. In the 1960s, The Bun Drive-In On Northern Lights was the teen culture anchorage epicenter, a place to eat, socialize, show cars and listen to Rock’n’Roll records spun by Ron Moore, the coachman Royal.

Despite their winter opening, the Bun ice cream fair survived and prospered for a hot summer of 1969. The Haynesses quickly announced their intention to franchise their ice cream operation. Ken told the Daily Times anchorage: “We wanted to take something designed in Alaska and make it prosper” outside “instead of the opposite.” The plans for a second anchor location were quickly abandoned, but on November 6, a new property was announced. Carl Benetti, Clyde Fall and the Johnson bought the Anchorage Show and the rights for additional franchise locations in Alaska. The ice cream channel was renamed Alaskand, and the original owners remained focused on franchise opportunities in the lower 48.

The new name of the ice cream store was not linked to the old Centennial Centennial Park in Alaska A-67 in Fairbanks which was renamed Alaskand in 1968, and is Pioneer Park since 2001. Instead, the change had to facilitate the transition of a local company in the first location in a national chain. And at the time, it was considered the first attempt at a national franchise to come from Alaska.

(Anchorage residents go crazy when the national channels arrive in town. This has happened from the sliced ​​bread.))

The new owner Lex Johnson said: “We mainly want to serve fanciful ice creams in the great old way.” This evokes Alaskand’s style, which is why he is so affectionately known by those who participated in his frozen delights. The theme was the pseudo-1890s living room, very filtered and cleaned. Instead of Dancehall Lasses, there were singing servers carrying straw boaters and western bow knots. The men wore black vests and pants, women with frills and skirts. There was a piano of players, mirrors and more popular candies over the past years. The menus were oversized, illustrated, an illustrated newspaper dotted with illustrations, cute nicknames for the Vittles and a history of ice cream attributing its creation to the Alaska. The historical precision was nonexistent, but the intention was more ambient than the museum.

Then there was food. Nothing could be simple. A hamburger was an Alaskaburger. A hot dog was a hot Husky. Their cabbage salad was famous – no, that was not the case. A great soda was a gigantic Soda Sooper. Most of the names were heavy random associations on word playing. For example, the tuna salad sandwich would be from Tununak just because of similar words. However, some more significant references have been included. The Supreme Sandwich of Evil Alice referred to the real “Evil Alice” Powell, a former public health nurse in Anchorage and the owner of the Motel Talkeetna. She would have won the nickname, which she loved, of the closure of venereal brothel houses to the disease.

And, of course, there was ice. The Aleutian volcano was four flavors of ice cream with three fillings and a little fire at the top. “And you can stifle the flame,” cried the menu. There were 18 different sundaes, from the jubilant juneau who was “Capitol by Jove!” to the polar bear of the glaciers, which forced consumers to “make your mukluks”. There were malts and shakes and floats. The huge concocion MT. McKinley cost $ 3.95, around $ 30 in 2025, and presented several flavors of ice cream covered with hot fudge cascades, marshmallow, strawberry, bananas and whipped cream. The menu recommended more than one climber “on the slopes”.

Finally, to top it all, there was the circus in Alaskaand. For $ 7.95, around $ 65 in 2025, an entire crowd of Mad Ick Crème customers could spoil on a huge mound of frozen dairy products dotted with plastic animals in a stainless steel bowl. Two servers executed it on a dog style tray while a siren went up. It was a madness of ice cream.

Perry Haupt and Don Beaver Sr. de Pennsylvania visited anchorage in 1969 and, by chance, fell on the Bun ice cream. They were instantly in love with the operation. Haupt recalled: “You had to see it to believe it. We had never seen anything like this before. It was just a real revelation. ” They returned home and opened two Alaskalands in 1970, first in Harrisburg and then to Altoona. Said Haupt: “It was good healthy family entertainment. It was brilliant with a white and red setting. Antiquities bordered the walls … There was song, laughter and excitement. It was a wonderful atmosphere.”

Here is the clumsy aspect of the history of Alaskaand. There was already a chain of American ice cream which presented a red and white decor, oversized desserts, pianos of players, staff in old suit and almost all the other determining characteristics of Alaskand. Even the signs were practically identical. The first Farrell ice cream fair opened its doors in 1963 Portland. The last location, after a brief renewal, closed its doors in 2019. At its peak, there were about 120 locations but none in Alaska. Due to the extreme similarities, some anchorage residents naturally think that it was a Farrell location in Northern Lights and C.

There is no evidence that Farrell continued legal action against Alaskaand or was even aware of the ice cream fair. It didn’t matter because the younger channel was not long for this world. Locations planned in Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas and Virginia-Western have never been materialized. After the lines of customers when it was opened, the Harrisburg Alaskaland closed in 1973. The place of Altoona closed in 1977.

The Alaskaland ice cream fair in Anchorage closed its doors at the end of 1974 or perhaps 1975. Companies tend to arrive strong with large flashy openings and lines of people forming new memories. At this point, everything about them is electric tinted with hope and ambitions. An opening is like a dream, unlimited and infinite in possibilities.

Companies tend to close much more quietly, often with little or no notice. People passed Alaskaland for years. Perched on an animated intersection, it has become part of the landscape. Familiar. Expected. Then suddenly, he had disappeared. The doors were locked. The ice cream was not found. The disappearance was like a magic tour. The inhabitants wondered: “Wait, when did it disappear?” Was it open last week, or did I imagine it? ” And, of course, “I always wanted to stop there. Too late now. ” The location of Alaskaand has become a fried chicken from Kentucky.

Alaskaland was not the first anchorage ice cream store, especially preceded by Dairy Queen and Tastee Freeze. After the initial success, there was a wave of competitors, some more closely imitating the Alaskaland style because they were heavy with Farrell. In the 1970s, anchorage alone, there was the M & M Ice Creamal Wisher on Muldoon, Donut Tree Coffee Shop and Ice Cream Wison on Muldoon, Soapy’s Smith’s Ice Cream Saloon in Benson and Spenard, Swenson’s Ice Cream in Bragaw.

None of the new ice cream alternatives lasted themselves. To be fair, the lifespan of the new average restaurant is better measured in months or even in weeks rather than years. Perhaps not by coincidence, the idea that the Alaskians, per person, eat more ice that any other state has taken ground for the first time in the 1970s. But it is a pure myth supported by no data at all. A subject for a future article.

However, there is an opportunity with something like Alaskaland. The ice cream fair itself can have been over, but memories remain very well. Altoona, Pennsylvania, is in the county of Blair. And the Blair County Chamber of Commerce operates a more structured Hall of Fame, a more structured way of remembering these companies that have improved our lives along the way. Alaskaland was inducted in 2015. Something like it would be incredibly simple to reproduce in Anchorage. We could officially remember the lost light fixtures like Nikko Garden, bringing them together and celebrating them. What original companies would you like to see inducted in a temple of renown of anchorage affairs?

(A history of anchorage restaurant channels, franchises and national retailers, part 1 And Part 2))