Leopold's Ice Cream is an ice-cream parlor located in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, United States. It was founded in 1919 by two Greek-immigrant brothers,"Road Trip USA: In Savannah, heritage comes in many flavors"
- ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', April 2, 2016 George and Peter Leopold,Our History
- Leopold's Ice Cream official website who had moved to Savannah from

Brazil, Indiana Brazil is a city in Clay County, Indiana, United States. The population was 8,176 at the 2022 census. The city is the county seat of Clay County. It is part of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area. There is a fountain from the country o ...

,"100 Years of Delicious Memories"
- ''South Mag'', October 9, 2020 to be near their sister, Demetra, who had married Savannah local George Paul Carellas. The business was closed by current co-owner Stratton Leopold in 1969. During the ensuing years, Leopold’s ice-cream tradition was carried on by Peter and George's younger brother, Basil, who had also emigrated from Greece. The location was at Medical Arts Shopping Center in Savannah.

History

Leopold's original location, Leopold's Purest Ice Cream, was at the northeastern corner of East Gwinnett Street and

Habersham Street Habersham Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Lincoln Street (Savannah, Georgia), Lincoln Street to the west and Price Street (Savannah, Georgia), Price Street to the east, it runs for about from ...

, a former fruit stand in the Historic District - South, a few blocks east of

Forsyth Park Forsyth Park (formerly known as the Military Parade Ground)''Charles Seton Henry Hardee's Recollections of old Savannah'', Martha Gallaudet Waring, ''The Georgia Historical Quarterly'', JSTOR (1929), p. 34 is a large city park that occupies in ...

."Leopold’s Ice Cream: A family affair"
- ''

Savannah Morning News The ''Savannah Morning News'' is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Gannett. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry". The paper serves Savannah, its Savannah metropolitan area, metropolitan ...

'', March 25, 2010 Peter Leopold, having just returned from serving in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in France, was speaking to the owner of the fruit stand, a fellow Greek, while waiting for a

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

. Leopold inquired about starting a business there, and shortly afterwards he and his older brother, George, bought the store, with Peter and his youngest son, Stratton, living on the second floor. They began selling chocolates, food and ice cream. Basil Leopold joined them in 1925. The brothers utilized the French pot process they had learned from master confectioner James Peter Zarafonetis back in Indiana, making five- and ten-gallon batches of ice cream in-house from their own recipes and using fresh cream, milk and eggs from local dairy farms."Leopold’s Ice Cream: A Century of Tasty Memories"
- ''Deep South Magazine'', September 2, 2020 The brothers remodeled the shop in 1935, modernizing it and launching an improved delivery service. Stratton Leopold took over the business with his mother, Marika, after his father's death in 1963 (George had died two years previous). Stratton closed the shop in 1969, and left Savannah for

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, via

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, where he is now a film producer, director and actor. Ice cream and sweet treats continued to be served across town at Basil Leopold's Restaurant, which opened in 1962 at Medical Arts Shopping Center.Pina Leopold obituary
- ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'', September 18, 2011 After her husband's death in 1981, Pina Leopold continued to run the store for a year, before selling the store and retiring. In August 2004, Leopold's moved to its present home on East Broughton Street, in Savannah's downtown, where it is known for regularly having a line of customers waiting outside."Best Soda Fountains in the U.S."
- ''

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'' Stratton Leopold hired Hollywood production designer Dan Lomino to recreate his father's

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The machine combines flavored syrup or syrup concentrat ...

from the original store. The ice cream is made, using the same recipes developed by his father and uncle, at a former wholesale florist building at 37th and Price Streets and brought over to the store as necessary. The company also has a kiosk and a full-service shop at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. Leopold's signature flavor is tutti frutti, a favorite of Savannah's

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

, who worked in the shop as a ten-year old, sweeping floors, while former U.S. President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

's favorite was the butter pecan. Carter wrote the

foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between th ...

to ''Leopold's Ice Cream: A Century of Tasty Memories, 1919–2019'' (Melanie Bowden Simón, 2020)."Southern Routes : New book gives the scoop on the history of Leopold's Ice Cream"
- WJCL, February 6, 2020 The company celebrated its centenary on August 18, 2019, and held a

block party A block party or street party is a party in which many members of a single community congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual solidarity and enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which ofte ...

the previous day."Leopold’s Ice Cream celebrates 100 years"
- ''

'', August 10, 2019

Gallery

File:Leopold's Ice cream parlor Highsmith.jpg, A line outside the store in 2017 File:720 Habersham Street (1).jpeg, Leopold's Ice Cream, original Savannah location at 720 Habersham Street in 2021 File:720 Habersham Street (2).jpg, Gwinnett Street view in 2021

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold's Ice Cream Ice cream brands Ice cream parlors in the United States Restaurants established in 1919 Companies based in Savannah, Georgia Tourist attractions in Savannah, Georgia American companies established in 1919