- After working as a galley boy on a German ship and a 20-year apprenticeship with The National Ice Cream Company and Peerless Ice Cream, William Dreyer started an ice creamery in Visalia, Calif.
- In 1928, Dreyer and Joseph Edy founded an ice cream factory in Oakland, Calif.
- Grand Avenue in Oakland, Calif., was the home base for Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream in 1928.
- Dreyer's brands now include Grand, Slow Churned, Dibs, Häagen-Dazs, Nestlé Drumstick, Nestlé Crunch, Nestlé Butterfinger, Nestlé Toll House, Nestlé Carnation, Nestlé Push-Up, Frosty Paws, Eskimo Pie, Chipwich, Fruit Bars, Starbucks and The Skinny Cow.
- Rocky Road, one of the best-selling flavors of all time, was invented during the Great Depression. The miniature marshmallows were added to the creation after Dreyer used his wife's sewing shears to cut marshmallows into bite-sized pieces.
- Dreyer and Edy ended their partnership in 1947, and Dreyer's was sold in 1963. Under new leadership, by 1977 Dreyer's was the foremost distributor and manufacturer of packaged ice cream in the western United States. In 2006, Dreyer's became a subsidiary of Nestlé.
