1937-1941
Upon retirement, Hans Eriksen Sr. sold the milk business to his son and wife.
The business continued to grow and in 1937, Mr. Erikson built a new building for
Erikson’s dairy and Ice Cream stand beside it on the present site next to his
home. The new dairy originally was suppose to be located right behind the new
Maynard house like the old dairy location behind Hans Sr.’s house but later the
decision was made to locate it in the field on the side. The field had a mound
of earth in the middle of it which had been the site for many 4th of July
firework displays for the Erikson family, neighbors and friends. It now gives
way to a parking lot. The ice cream stand contained four ice cream cabinets and
a refrigerator. Within this time period there were many drive in, road side
ice cream stands appearing such as Howard Johnson, Dutchland Farm, Buttericks
etc... because of the advent of the family car.
Hans Erikson was determined to make and sell the best possible quality ice cream in the area. All naturally flavored products and fruits were purchased from H.A. Johnson Co. of Brighton Mass. the leader in the field. Today , 70 years later, they are still our prime vendor continuing to manufacture top of the line products. High quality cream and ice cream mix was supplied by Buttericks of Arlington. This was a quality product containing 18% to 20% butter fat . The finished product resulted in a quality natural ice cream which many say today can not be surpassed. A "Best of Boston" was awarded in 2000. The basic recipes remain unchanged.
Often the 40 quart jugs of cream and buttermilk came out from Buttericks to Maynard on the Lowell Bus from Arlington. The bus drivers would switch the jugs from the Arlington bus to the Leominster bus at the bus station on Walnut Street. The Leominster bus used to drop the jugs off as they passed the dairy.