Orange Julius is a chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s. The eponymous beverage is a mixture of orange juice, milk, sugar, ice and vanilla flavoring.

History

An Orange Julius stall outside Liat Towers, Orchard Road, Singapore, housed together with a Dairy Queen
The drink grew out of an orange juice stand opened in Los Angeles in 1926 by Julius Freed. Sales were initially modest, about $20 a day (about $259 in 2012 dollars, adjusting for inflation). In 1929, Bill Hamlin, Freed's real estate broker, developed a mixture that made the acidic orange juice less bothersome to his stomach. Freed's stand began serving the drink, which had a frothier, creamier texture. The sales at the stand increased substantially after the introduction of the new drink, going up to $100 a day. People began lining up at the store and shouting, "Give me an Orange, Julius!" Eventually, the new drink would simply be called "the Orange Julius".

During the 1950s and 1960s, Orange Julius was sold at a variety of outlets, including state and county fairs and freestanding Orange Julius stands. The original stand also provided medicinal tonics and Bible tracts.

The Orange Julius was named the official drink of the 1964 New York World's Fair.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Orange Julius beverage stands used the image of a devil with a pitchfork, similar to that of the Arizona State University mascot, Sparky, around an orange, with the slogan, "A Devilish Good Drink". The company later dropped the logo and slogan after threats of a lawsuit from the ASU alumni association.

For a short period in the early 1970s, Orange Julius expanded into the UK market, with a fairly large restaurant in Golders Green, selling Julius Burgers as well as the classic orange drink. However, this had gone by the mid-70s.

In 1987, the Orange Julius chain was bought by International Dairy Queen. IDQ, and by inclusion since 1999, Berkshire Hathaway, owns the rights to all Orange Julius stores, and have expanded the chain so its drinks are included in many of their Dairy Queen mall stores, called Treat Centers.

In 2004, Orange Julius launched a line of Premium Fruit Smoothies to compete with smoothie competitors such as Jamba Juice and Smoothie King.

In 2012, Dairy Queen introduced the Orange Julius line in their restaurants.