The Romance & Sex Life of the Date

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The current showroom on Highway 111 was built in 1950, the famous knight in 1953.

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In 1936 Mr. Shields developed - and patented - a completely new invention called date crystals, the key ingredient in Shields famous date shakes.

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Spanish conquistadors were the first to introduce dates to the Western Hemisphere, but these early date gardens failed to produce much fruit because most Spanish settlements at that time were near the coast where humidity is far too high for successful date growth.

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In 1921 the Indio date festival was inaugurated to celebrate the date industry, its cultural history, and Middle Eastern origin, a February tradition that continues to this day.

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In 1905 the Colorado River broke a dike in Imperial County, and for two years flowed nonstop into the salt-covered desert, flooding the towns of Salton and Woodspur, and creating the Salton Sea.