Schaffner’s Drive-In as it appeared in 2007. Schaffner’s has been serving customers in Baltimore since 1959. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

By Ken Drenten

It’s not often that you find a business that just by being open and serving customers makes a town a special kind of community. Schaffner’s Drive-In in Baltimore, which has been serving ice cream treats since 1959, is one of those places.

I lived in Baltimore for more than 20 years, raising a family, attending baseball and soccer games, school programs and church events — and stopping plenty of times with the kiddos just around dusk on summer evenings for an ice cream treat at Schaffner’s.

Places like Schaffner’s add to the richness of ordinary life. You don’t have to go somewhere exotic to indulge a bit — enjoyment is just a block or so away with a “flurry” or a tin roof sundae.

I’m featuring Schaffner’s because I knew it well; there are many other ice cream shops, usually located in small towns and small cities, or in well-established neighborhoods in larger cities. These are not chain stores, though I have nothing against chain stores. But there’s something about the small shops that binds them to their communities.

Ice cream shops and stands are very similar and usually serve many of the same menu items. I think they’re an ice cream shop if there’s inside seating, while a drive-in or stand indicates very little or no indoor seating. 

The best ones are family-run, with several generations that have been expertly running the ice cream machines, fryers and grills. They will have a bulletin board that allows people to post local news and items like yard sales, pictures of lost puppies, upcoming church suppers and used pickup trucks for sale. They will also have a shelf to display trophies won by the youth sports teams they have sponsored or ribbons from prize-winning 4-H sheep or cows they have purchased at auction at the county fair.

The menu will be posted above the kitchen area inside with either movable letters or hand lettering; or outside on a hand-painted sign board, and in paper handout sheets.

Customers who wait on their orders in Schaffner’s and other ice cream shops and stands don’t find their time is wasted while they wait. They spend that time talking with other customers, because they know them, or they know a friend or relative. They trade light news, gossip and jokes.

In many, there’s little or no space for seating indoors (though Schaffner’s has expanded its dining area), so picnic tables are provided outside for customers. Many people just go back to their cars and trucks and eat their ice cream there before it melts.

Drive-in ice cream is served in many forms — most popularly in sugar or waffle cones. Another popular variation mixes soft-serve ice cream in a tall cup with flavorings, syrups, candy chunks, cookies, and all other sorts of add-ins. These are variously called Blizzards, Blitzers, Flurries, Wizards, Mixups, Arctic Swirls, Arctic Freezes, Snowstorms, Tornadoes, Twisters and many other titles. Whatever they’re called, they are delicious.

In late September or maybe into October, many ice cream drive-ins close for the season, with plans to reopen in the spring, usually by April but sometimes as early as March.

People then count the days until the reopening, and remember every delicious, frosty milkshake, root beer float and toffee flurry with anticipation for the next season.

Established in 1959, Schaffner’s serves soft-serve ice cream, shakes, frozen treats and full menu of sandwiches, chicken, seafood, burgers, paninis, sides and salads. The building was expanded in 2021 to allow more indoor seating. They’re located at 601 W. Market St., Baltimore (740) 862-6832.

Find more ice cream shops and stands across Ohio in Dusty Tires.

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Ken Drenten is creator and editor of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

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