Patrons visiting the Dairy Queen on Route 981 in Unity will find treats for their eyes as well as their taste buds.

A display case, installed late last year, is filled with colorful items recalling the history of the popular frozen-treat franchise and of iconic Latrobe people and places.

There are examples of DQ memorabilia, both promotional and utilitarian, that owner Dean Miller has collected over the years.

Among items that may bring back memories for Baby Boomers are a pair of vintage cardboard hats with mesh tops that once were worn by Dairy Queen clerks.

“I saw a guy at a convention, and he had those for a charity of some sort,” Miller said. “I went up to him and I asked him if I could have some of them, and he agreed,” Miller said.

Customers who take a closer look at the display while waiting for their orders may notice frosted tumblers and a scale model of a DQ shop sporting multi-colored versions of its familiar red logo.

Recalling a later period are flying discs with characters from the Dennis the Menace comic strip, which once were part of Dairy Queen's advertising campaign.

Miller's display also pays tribute to an earlier Latrobe purveyor of frozen confections — pharmacist David Strickler, who is credited with inventing the banana split in 1904 while working at the former Tassell Pharmacy on Ligonier Street.

When Miller obtained a reproduction of a state historical marker recognizing the banana split's local origin, he knew he wanted a showcase for it and other interesting items he'd collected since purchasing his first Dairy Queen store in 1990 in Jeannette.

“That was sitting in a drawer for four years until we got this display put together,” he said.

Crafted by local woodworker Matt Stein, the display case took the place of an old freezer in a front addition Miller made to the Unity store in 2016 to provide a sheltered waiting area for customers. He purchased the 1970s store from the Mains family in 2006.

Like a display at the nearby office of the Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, Miller's recognizes Latrobe native and children's television pioneer Fred Rogers. Other items in the DQ case include a brick salvaged when Tassell's Pharmacy was razed, a tray signed by local golfing legend Arnold Palmer and a bear skull from the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve, just across the highway from Dairy Queen.

“There are some cool things here,” Miller said. “Sure, it's about Dairy Queen, but it's also about the surrounding area.”

Adding a personal touch is a painting of a banana split Miller made at the Latrobe Art Center.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.

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