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S. Prestley Blake, a founder of Friendly's ice cream chain, dies at 106
I can remember the obituary in the Washington Post for his younger brother.
S. Prestley Blake, a founder of Friendly’s ice cream chain, dies at 106
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Obituaries
S. Prestley Blake, a founder of Friendly’s ice cream chain, dies at 106
S. Prestley Blake, right, and his brother Curtis Blake at their Friendly ice cream shop in Springfield, Mass., in 1985. (Springfield Republican/AP)
By Emily Langer
Feb. 12, 2021 at 6:40 p.m. EST
S. Prestley Blake, the elder of two brothers who co-founded the Friendly’s ice cream chain in 1935, parlaying the profits from five-cent double-dip cones into a sprawling empire of eateries, died Feb. 11 at a hospital in Stuart, Fla. He was 106. ... The cause was a gastric blockage, said his wife, Helen Blake.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was still a first-term president when Mr. Blake, then 20, and his brother Curtis, 18 at the time, hung out their proverbial shingle in Springfield, Mass., in the summer of 1935. ... They opened their ice cream parlor with a $547 loan from their parents — who wagered that with some industriousness and ingenuity the two young men could see themselves through the Great Depression — and the conviction that cheap sweets and cheerful service would keep the customers coming.
Taking stock of their competition, which sold a double-dip cone for a dime, the Blake brothers decided to offer the same treat for a nickel. The gambit worked: Their first evening in business, according to the Springfield Republican, the line out the door kept them open until midnight, racking up sales of 552 cones for $27, plus change, in profits.
{snip}
“We worked very closely for 43 years,” Mr. Blake told the Springfield Republican in 2019, when Curtis Blake died at 102. “I counted on him to make important decisions.”
[Curtis Blake, co-founder of the Friendly’s ice cream chain, dies at 102]
{snip}
Emily Langer
Emily Langer is a reporter on The Washington Post’s obituaries desk. She writes about extraordinary lives in national and international affairs, science and the arts, sports, culture, and beyond. She previously worked for the Outlook and Local Living sections. Follow https://twitter.com/emilylangerWP
S. Prestley Blake, a founder of Friendly’s ice cream chain, dies at 106
S. Prestley Blake, right, and his brother Curtis Blake at their Friendly ice cream shop in Springfield, Mass., in 1985. (Springfield Republican/AP)
By Emily Langer
Feb. 12, 2021 at 6:40 p.m. EST
S. Prestley Blake, the elder of two brothers who co-founded the Friendly’s ice cream chain in 1935, parlaying the profits from five-cent double-dip cones into a sprawling empire of eateries, died Feb. 11 at a hospital in Stuart, Fla. He was 106. ... The cause was a gastric blockage, said his wife, Helen Blake.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was still a first-term president when Mr. Blake, then 20, and his brother Curtis, 18 at the time, hung out their proverbial shingle in Springfield, Mass., in the summer of 1935. ... They opened their ice cream parlor with a $547 loan from their parents — who wagered that with some industriousness and ingenuity the two young men could see themselves through the Great Depression — and the conviction that cheap sweets and cheerful service would keep the customers coming.
Taking stock of their competition, which sold a double-dip cone for a dime, the Blake brothers decided to offer the same treat for a nickel. The gambit worked: Their first evening in business, according to the Springfield Republican, the line out the door kept them open until midnight, racking up sales of 552 cones for $27, plus change, in profits.
{snip}
“We worked very closely for 43 years,” Mr. Blake told the Springfield Republican in 2019, when Curtis Blake died at 102. “I counted on him to make important decisions.”
[Curtis Blake, co-founder of the Friendly’s ice cream chain, dies at 102]
{snip}
Emily Langer
Emily Langer is a reporter on The Washington Post’s obituaries desk. She writes about extraordinary lives in national and international affairs, science and the arts, sports, culture, and beyond. She previously worked for the Outlook and Local Living sections. Follow https://twitter.com/emilylangerWP
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