The Wells truck broke through an Association roadblock in what the family later called its historic “midnight ride. In one episode in 1932 Association members threw rocks at a Wells Dairy vehicle carrying cans of milk. Wells Dairy continued to buy milk as prices declined to less than 25 cents a gallon, while the Association tried to get everyone to dump their milk to protest such low prices. The growing firm not only challenged Fairmont but also upset members of the Farm Holiday Association. The firm also expanded to smaller communities in northwest Iowa, including Remsen, Cherokee, Akron, Craig, Rock Valley, Brunsville, and Maurice. In 1934 Wells Dairy resumed its Sioux City sales after the Fairmont agreement ended. In 1929 Fairmont Creamery bought the Wells Dairy plant in Sioux City, and the Le Mars firm agreed not to sell its products in the Sioux City region for the next five years. Harry Cole Wells, the brother of Fred Wells, Jr., moved from Doland, South Dakota, to manage the Sioux City business. Paige, two employees who each invested $5,000 in the new facility. In the late 1920s the family established a plant in Sioux City, Iowa, with the help of Robert Harris and A.
During this time, the family also began making its own ice cream that was pasteurized before being frozen. The business continued to grow in the booming 1920s. In 1918 they were able to construct a small building for business use, next to their home. Miriam Wells, for example, bottled the milk, and her sons helped their father deliver it to Le Mars residents. Bowers also agreed to sell Wells the milk he produced and not deliver milk himself in the same territory for five years.Īll Wells family members helped in the dairy.
On October 24, 1913, he signed a contract with Ray Bowers, who sold Wells a horse, a milk wagon, and a few milk cans and bottles.
Wells had gained some dairy experience back in Chicago, and he next decided to start a business delivering milk. When cholera killed the hogs, Wells turned to another option. Fred Wells, Jr., began raising hogs, an operation facilitated by a railroad line from Le Mars to the packing yards in Chicago. However, they ran out of adequate funds in Le Mars, Iowa, and decided to stay in that small northwestern Iowa town. In 1911 a terrible drought prompted the family to move again.įred Hooker Wells, Jr., one of the sons who had left Chicago with his parents, and his wife Miriam, decided to head back to Chicago. In 1905 the family moved to South Dakota, where they were instrumental in founding the community of Wellsburg. The Wells family left Chicago at the turn of the 20th century to take advantage of federal homesteading laws allowing a person to own 160 acres of federal land after living on it, or “proving it up, ” for five years. Though not incorporated until 1977, Wells ’ Dairy traces its origins back much further. The company makes not only its brand-name products but also produces ice cream and other items for Con-Agra, Pillsbury ’s Haagen-Dazs line, General Mills, Weight Watchers, and Walt Disney Company. Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream and related items are sold in all 50 states and 30 foreign countries. The company ’s milk and other dairy products are sold in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. Purchased at supermarkets, convenience stores, and vending machines, products with the Wells Blue Bunny logo include milk, ice cream, sherbert, frozen and fresh yogurt, sour cream, juice, cottage cheese, drumsticks, ice cream sandwiches, and treats such as Mickey Mouse bars, Mississippi Mud, Health Smart, The Champ, Bomb Pops, Pink Panther, and Cyberbyte. is the nation ’s largest family-owned dairy and ice cream company. NAIC: 311520 Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert Manufacturing
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