The History of Del's Lemonade

This year fellow Rhode Island icon Del's Lemonade is celebrating their 70th Anniversary, and our Del's Shandy is celebrating another summer on shelves at your local packy. You may have (should have) had the Shandy, and perhaps you've even had a classic Del's Lemonade, but we're going to let you in on a little known story: the history of Del's.

It all started with Great Grandfather DeLucia who made the earliest Del’s Frozen Lemonade in 1840 in Naples, Italy. During the winter he carried snow into nearby caves and insulated it with straw. When summer arrived and the local lemons were ripe and flavorful, he mixed their juice with just the right amount of sugar and snow. Thus making a refreshing drink, which he sold at the local market. Fruit ices are popular everywhere, but nothing really beats an ice made from fresh lemon juice. They're tart, refreshing and thirst quenching. The perfect Summertime refresher.

Eventually Grandfather Franco DeLucia brought his father’s frozen lemonade recipe to America at the turn of the century. Angelo DeLucia, his son, began work on a machine to produce the frozen lemonade, and on a method of making it a consistently excellent product. In 1948, Del’s Frozen Lemonade acquired it’s name and became the sole product sold at a little stand in Cranston, Rhode Island. Soon, Angelo had designed the first mobile carts and trucks to serve everywhere in the state.

When Angelo’s son, Bruce, entered the family business there were 5 franchises in Rhode Island. Since then, Bruce has made the franchise business flourish and grow. Now, while Rhode Island is still their home, there are many Del’s franchises worldwide providing the refreshing, all natural treat to everyone, anywhere, anytime.

In our nearly 200 combined years, both ’Gansett and Del’s Lemonade have refreshed countless customers on and around the Rhode Island beaches and beyond. Now the two flavors are combined to create a most refreshing summertime adult beverage.