Before anyone licked a cone at Kopp's, slurped a malt at Culver's or dug into a sundae at Leon's, Paul Gilles was selling frozen custard at the corner of 75th and Bluemound. He bought the land when Blue Mound was a gravel road and erected in 1938 what is now the oldest operating custard stand in Milwaukee.

Through the years, Gilles' has served a gazillion gallons of creamy frozen custard, been a high school hangout for several generations, and served as the unlikely site of informal and unofficial Major League Baseball meetings. Paul Gilles died in 1984, but the business has continued as a West Side landmark, evolving into a year 'round restaurant with limited indoor seating.

Vanilla custard, strawberry and hot fudge sundaes, hot dogs and root beer were the only items on the original Gilles' menu. Pecans could be added to the sundaes.

Now you can order a bowl of roasted vegetable soup, an Italian beef sandwich, home made chili and a fish fry. And you can do that on a sub-zero day in February. For many years, Gilles' closed around Thanksgiving and reopened with the arrival of the first spring robins.

Nine years after opening his business, Paul Gilles made an important personnel decision. He hired a young Robert Linscott to work at the stand, and by the early '60s, Linscott was a key manager.

His duties included keeping the peace when hundreds of teenagers descended on Gilles' after high school football games and dances. The spot was especially popular with students from nearby Pius XI, Juneau, Marquette University High School, Wisconsin Lutheran and the two Wauwatosa high schools.

School rivalries sometimes overheated into fisticuffs but police were rarely called. Linscott maintained order while the custard machines churned. He bought the restaurant from Gilles in 1978 and sold it to two of his seven children, sons Tom and Pat, in 1992.

Pat Linscott died in 2001, leaving Tom as the sole owner and operator, and another sibling, Mike, joined the business as restaurant manager five and a half years ago. While the second generation of Linscotts has transformed Gilles' into more of a full service eatery, such signature items as the Gillieburger (a Sloppy Joe) and the fudge mellow mint sundae (vanilla custard, mint marshmallow sauce, hot fudge and chocolate jimmies), remain central on the menu. Tom Linscott reports that the turtle is the top selling sundae, but fudge mellow mint is particularly popular with women.

Gilles' sold only basic custard flavors until the mid-'80s, when it joined its competition in offering rotating flavors of the day. Monkey Madness, Orange Dreamsicle and Bailey's Irish Creme are some of the exotic tastes now served.

All seven Linscott siblings worked at Gilles', with Tom starting at age 15 cleaning the parking lot, emptying the garbage and washing dishes. He thought he was on his way to a career in the trades, perhaps as a welder, but had second thoughts when those jobs began leaving Milwaukee.

"I asked my dad, 'what made you stay in this business,' and he told me, 'there is always work, you never go hungry, and you don't have to worry about being rich.'"

With Gilles' popularity among teens, Tom was particularly happy when Wisconsin's drinking age was raised from 18 to 21. "Before the law changed, one of the kids in a car on our lot would be 18 and have beer. But there would be 17 and 16-year-olds in the car, and some would sell beer to 15-year-olds in the next car," he recalled.

Linscott opened car doors and took the beer when he saw it being consumed. "They would tell me, 'you're stealing,' and I would say, 'call your parents or call the police and tell them about it.' Then I would walk to the back of the car and start writing down the license number."

The underage drinkers made quick exits from the parking lot.

Gilles' customer base has changed over the years, according to the owner. Students are now often accompanied by a parent-driver after school functions, and you don't see a sea of teenagers after the big games.

But Gilles' is still the custard maker to the stars. Former Marquette University -- and current Saint Louis University -- basketball coach Rick Majerus has been frequently spotted there over the years. Brewers players coming or going from Miller Park are known to stop for some frozen goodness, and visiting baseball teams have sent stadium gofers to 75th and Blue Mound to fetch food.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has been a longtime customer. Linscott says Selig sometimes takes team owners to Gilles' for custard and baseball talk. "I'm grateful and humbled," he adds.

While some Wisconsin frozen custard restaurants have grown into local and national chains, Gilles' hasn't gone down that path. In the 1980s, Tom's dad expanded the business, opening Gilles' stands in Oconomowoc and St. Charles, Ill., but they closed within a few years.

Thirty-nine years ago Paul Gilles sold the right to use the Gilles Frozen Custard brand name on items sold in supermarkets. The restaurant and grocery companies are completely separate, and their products are not the same, Linscott says.