In 1984, an unlikely duo started an ice cream shop in downtown Lincoln near the university. The founders were an architect, Ted Weber, and an English teacher Dean (Wally) Kirschenman. The idea was inspired by Wally’s brother who lived in Boston where premium ice cream was popular. While it seems the duo may have named the ice cream shop after themselves, it was actually named after Theodore and Wally Cleaver from the TV program Leave it Beaver.

Ted & Wally’s opened its doors in Lincoln at 312 N 12th St. The partners constructed and designed the ice cream shop themselves. Inside it had lots of natural light, plants, neon signs, and antiques and contemporary art. They also acquired an authentic soda fountain from a drug store. Unfortuntely, its opening was delayed after they ran out of money and had to wait to receive a loan from the Small Business Administration.

In order to make the ice cream, they used an antique White Mountain Freezer with rock, salt and ice. The base was made from scratch using a family recipe with all natural ingredients sourced from local farmers, chefs and artisans. Its creaminess came from the use of real butterfat and eggs. At that time they offered premium ice cream with 13-16% butterfat and 16 rotating flavors including cinnamon, peach, Irish coffee, orange coconut, German chocolate, etc.

They relocated to a larger space in 1986. The new location was next to the popular Zoo Bar. For reasons that are unclear to me, they closed in 1989 after their lease expired. They reopened under new ownership in the Haymarket District in 1992. The fixtures and furniture from the old location were purchased and stored before being installed at this location.

Amy Green worked at Ted & Wally’s in Omaha before relocating to Lincoln in 1992 to help set up the reopened store. In 1997 she bought the Lincoln store and renamed it Ivanna Cone. After starting with Ted & Wally’s method and recipes, she would go on to create her own flavors. Her store continues to operate in the same space.

Siblings David Kirschenman and Julie Gilbert opened the Ted and Wally’s Ultra-Premium Homemade Ice Cream in the Old Market in 1986. Located next to Godfather’s Pizza at 1115 Howard St, it proved to be just as popular as its Lincoln counterpart. After having worked at Ted & Wally’s for a number of years, another pair of siblings and its current owners bought the shop in 2000. They would move the shop to its current location at 1120 Jackson St in an old service station.

In 2004, they bought Blake’s Soda Fountain at 213 Main St, in Louisville. While it served the same Ted & Wally’s ice cream that was made in the Old Market, it operated under its original name. Next up was a Dundee location at 5001 Underwood Ave in the old Carl S. Baum building. This location was short-lived as it would become eCreamery in 2007 after the Chicago-based company was purchased by its current owners who lived in Omaha. After closing its Dundee location, they opened a new Ted & Wally’s Ultra-Premium Homemade Ice Cream n Benson at 6023 Maple St. Like its downtown location, this one was also an old service station.

37 years after first opening their doors in Omaha, Ted & Wally’s still uses the old fashioned White Mountain Freezers to make their ice cream. In 2008 one of its current owners compared their method of making ice cream as slow cooking a meal while its competitors microwaved it. Since they opened they have been voted best ice cream multiple times while creating more than 2,000 flavors. In recent years they’ve upped the butterfat to 20% making it ultra-premium, the likes of which have been enjoyed by both Warren Buffett, Bill Murray and many, many others.