When Mr. Weber opened his custard shop in Rocky River in 1931, he set about creating other varieties of custard beyond vanilla. One of his original six flavors was Frosted Malt.

The president of a major department store located in downtown Cleveland lived in Rocky River and was a good customer and big fan of Mr. Weber's Frosted Malt. For two years he persisted in trying to buy the Frosted Malt recipe. Mr. Weber refused to sell. Legend has it that the exasperated gentleman went to an employee of Mr. Weber's and said,

"This place will soon close for the season. If you'd like a job downtown, find out what goes into that stuff."

The young man took careful note of the flavoring ingredients and amounts Mr. Weber used.

Having acquired this information, the major department store president bought a self-contained custard style machine. A sign, "Malt On A Cone 10 cents" was created for the treat's debut on the first Saturday in November (just after Weber's closed for the season). That Saturday morning the President personally supervised the making of the first batch. The taste was great, but they couldn't get it to firm up enough to sit up on a cone. The young man missed the final ingredient that is put in just one minute before you put it through the machine.

Not being "ice cream people," they didn't know how to correct the problem. Perturbed, the President yelled, "Get those old fountain glasses from upstairs. We'll only charge a nickel until we can get someone in here to tell us how to do this right."

The basement area (where Frosted Malt was sold) was reserved for sale items. Unlike today, it was rare that an item would go on sale in the department it was normally housed in. Businessmen, known as "factors" would purchase the merchandise that couldn't even be sold at "bargain basement prices" from a department store at 2 to 6 cents on the dollar. November and December were such bad months in the basement sales area (there were no returns on merchandise purchased in the basement) because people were primarily buying Holiday presents for their family members.

The flavor was such a hit, nothing was ever changed.

Today, you can get the original Weber's Frosted Malt in a cone, a cup or a dish and relish the very same flavor you did at that downtown department store. Get it in a cup and let it melt a little first!

ENJOY!

Is Melted Better?
Hang around Weber's long enough, and you'll hear somebody declare that you have to let Frosted Malt melt to truly appreciate the flavor. And in response to that you'll hear someone declare that it needs to be appreciated fresh and cold and firm.  Find out where you stand when it comes to Frosted Malt.  There are plenty of believers on both sides of the line.