Did Rhode Islanders Invent Weird Pretzel and Lemonade Combo?

My family was at our neighborhood's annual Memorial Day barbeque over this past weekend.  It's always great to catch up with the neighbors, play some horseshoes and eat some burgers and hot dogs.

In addition to beer and wine, there were a variety of soft drinks to choose from, including lemonade.

My wife and I were talking to one of the women on our street when one of her kids ran up to her looking for some pretzels.  She went through her beach bag and pulled out two snack-sized bags of pretzels and handed them to the boy.

Her son promptly opened one of the bags of the pretzels and dumped them into his glass of lemonade.  This is a move I've never seen before.

I asked the mom about it and she said that her family has been doing that since they were little kids.  She said she thinks the practice of putting pretzels in lemonade began in Rhode Island, but has migrated east over the years.

Gazelle told me that he's pretty sure it started with Del's Lemonade.  Customers could get a pretzel stick that they'd use to push the frozen lemonade to the top of the Del's cup.  The sourness of the lemonade apparently paired well with the saltiness of the pretzels.

In the absence of Del's frozen lemonade, this family uses Country Time and Rold Gold pretzel twists.

For me, the texture on that would be too soggy, but one Michael and Maddie caller brought up the perfect pairing of Oreos and milk.  How could I argue?

We called the Del's Lemonade in North Kingstown and spoke with Kevin Knight, the store's manager.  He says customers regularly buy Del's pretzel rods for their lemonade.  "A lot of people put them in their lemonade, but others don't.  I'm not one, I don't, but it's certainly not unusual, it's a Rhode Island thing," said Knight.  "It's not unusual at all."

On the flip side, Auntie Anne's, a pretzel stand, also sells lemonade to pair with the salty snack.  Auntie Anne's is based out of Pennsylvania.