UTICA — In 1903, Joseph Dager decided to leave his hometown of Marooge, Lebanon, near Beirut, and voyage to America, in hopes of making a good living in the United States. It was a tough decision to make.
He was 20 years old, and would have to leave his sister behind, not knowing if he’d ever see her again. But he decided he had to give it a try. He came through the immigrant processing center at Ellis Island, then made his way into the interior of the country.
This eventually brought him to Utica, on the Knox/Licking County border, where he met and married Susan Ritchey, herself the daughter of a Syrian immigrant.
Before modern refrigeration technology, ice cream had been a relatively rarely encountered treat. In the 1800s, ice vendors would cut as many blocks of ice as they could from ponds and lakes and store it in large warehouses.
This would preserve the ice well into the summer, and consumers could buy it and shave it down for use in the preparation of ice cream. Refrigeration made it possible to make ice year-round as needed. Dager went into business making ice in Utica in 1910.
But Dager also had a vision of using the ice technology to create another product: ice cream. He experimented until he had created three ice creams in the most popular flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. His recipe gave the flavors a velvety texture, inspiring his choice of the name “Velvet Ice Cream” when he began that part of the business in 1914.
Initially the company operated from the basement of a building in Utica, but grew as the product became a major hit with customers all over the area. As the fan base grew, so did the company, and as the company grew, so did Joseph’s family. As his sons aged, they all joined into the family business, including opening a branch in Bucyrus, in Crawford County.
A small bit of local drama happened in April of 1938, when Joseph was in Mount Vernon. He had parked his car on the east side of Main Street while he was in one of the downtown stores.
Another car, while parking, bumped into Dager’s car, knocking it out of gear. It began rolling across the street, picking up a little speed as it went. Dager heard the commotion as people began shouting “watch out,” and ran out onto the sidewalk to see his car rolling over the curb and crashing into the large plate-glass window of Kresge’s store on the west side of the street.
Miraculously, the driverless car had not hit a single other vehicle, nor where any pedestrians hit, though it was reported that one person got out of the way just in time. The damage to Dager’s car was so slight, he was able to drive it away after the incident.
By 1945, the ice cream was the business’ main attraction and ice production was abandoned, in favor of concentrating on ice cream. After Joseph retired, his sons Edward and Charles ran the company in turn, with his grandsons, one named Michael and the other also named Joseph, becoming increasingly more involved as they grew up.
Joseph’s son Charles Dager made a huge contribution to the expansion of Velvet Ice Cream’s business by working extensively with regional lawmakers to revise rules and regulations, making it possible for the company’s product to be distributed all over the central and north central Ohio areas.
Almost a half century after immigrating to the U.S., Joseph Dager finally had a chance to take a trip back to Marooge, Lebanon, and visit his sister, with whom he had kept in touch over the years, though he had not seen her in person the entire time. It was a sweet reward for his success in the ice cream business.
With the increasing expansion of Velvet in the 1950s, a new home was envisioned.
For that, we have to dip even deeper into local history, going back to the frontier period of the region, in the early 1800s, when only a handful of people populated the area. One of the key things for European-style civilization to move into the old Northwest Territory was the establishment of mills to grind corn, wheat, oats, barley, and rye.
In 1817, James King decided to build a sawmill on the North Fork of the Licking River, just south of the settlement of Utica, which had only been platted out on a map two years previously.
King’s sawmill made it possible to mill the wood to build a larger grist mill nearby. The stones for the new mill’s foundation were hand cut from a nearby quarry. This original structure was destroyed by fire in 1827, and rebuilt. The second mill was brought down by a blaze in 1865.
Rebuilt as the McNaughten Mill, the third mill was a three-story tall structure, and it stood for more than a century, going through different phases as a popular attraction, long after milling had ceased in 1907.
The place acquired its well-known moniker “Ye Olde Mill” in 1930, when it was purchased by Jake and Minnie Spillman. Jake installed the Tom Thumb Miniature Golf Course and the Park Plan Dance Club, where couples paid a dime to dance. Kenny Stewart and his orchestra were the resident musicians.
In 1934, the second floor of the mill was converted to a skating rink, while concession remained on the first floor, creating the entertaining spectacle of teenagers trying to make it up and down the stairs while still wearing their roller skates.
The skating became such a draw, a new rink was built into 1940, 60 feet by 120 feet. It boasted top-grade Michigan maple, laid out so that participants skated with the groove of the wood. The was a stage with an electric organ and a light-up board.
Skate organists over the years included Bill Simpson, Ralph Riley, and Homer Smith, while Dean Cooperider was the floor man for many years. Skaters paid 50 cents to skate. The facility was also often used for company picnics by such firms as Kaiser Aluminum, Rockwell, Heisy, Pharis Tire and Rubber, E.T. Rugg, and many others who would rent the place and hold day-long festivals including food, sports, games, dancing, contests, children’s games, and service awards.
After the mill was sold to Velvet Ice Cream, it became a popular showcase and summer attraction, with an annual ice cream festival. Many area residents of a certain age will remember Velvet Ice Cream’s pasteboard containers, with a picture of and map to Ye Olde Mill printed on one of the flaps of every container.
I remember that as I child I dreamed of going to see the place, and can hardly describe the excitement I felt when my parents finally took me there, and I got to see the place in person. The McNaughten Mill was a dramatic, dark structure, with an impressive slate roof that showed the mill’s 1817 construction date.
This third mill building was destroyed by fire in 1986, but Velvet built a new facility on the same chiseled foundation stones, the attractive building that is visible today. The new building included space for a museum that shows the history of both the building and of Velvet Ice Cream.
The third generation of Dagers to run the operation were Mike and Joseph R., grandsons of the founder, who had been running the business since the mid-1970s.
The fourth generation, Joe’s daughters Laconda and Joanne Dager, took over in 2007 and have been ranked in the top 10 of female-run businesses in central Ohio.
I wanted to do this column right now, because Ye Olde Mill is gearing up for their seasonal opening, starting in May. The Utica Sertoma Ice Cream Festival will return Memorial Day Weekend, May 27 through May 29, continuing a tradition that dates back to 1974.
The ice cream bar boasts over 65 flavors with a special sundae of the month, in addition to all the games, live music, and more that the facility offers.
See their website at www.velveticecream.com for further information as seasonal hours will soon be announced.
Cordial thanks to Velvet Ice Cream Company Brand Specialist Ben Mitchell for providing historical information and images.
