(first posted 10/9/2017) Carpenter’s Sandwiches (6265 Sunset Boulevard, between Vine Street and Argyle Avenue, Hollywood). For 30 cents, you could enjoy a hamburger and wash it down with a beer while sitting behind the wheel of your car. Premium beer cost 5 cents extra. (1932)
In the years between WWI and WWII, Americans became fond of eating in their autos. So was born the drive-in, where drivers would park, order, eat, and pay; all without the need to dismount. Later years would see ascendancy of the coffee shop (like Denny’s or Sambo’s), where diners inside could keep an eye on their parked cars through large windows. (Today’s favorite for eaters-on-the-go is the drive-thru, where money is collected and food passed out to motorists who queue outside the restaurant.) This LA-area photo compilation looks at the classic, carhop-served drive-in… from its inception, through the height of its popularity in the 1940s, to its demise in the 1960s as other formats began to occupy the valuable, high-traffic locations that drive-ins formerly dominated.
Nighttime view of Carpenter’s Sandwiches. (1930s)
Four people enjoy a tray-served meal inside their car at the (still-there) Tam O’ Shanter. From a 1933 advertisement for the newly remodeled Tam o’ Shanter and its drive-in service: “We are happy to welcome you to our remodeled Tam o’ Shanter Inn. Important among the changes made, is the re-establishment of Car Service de luxe – a feature which we originated eight years ago. Ingenious tables installed in your car, enable you to sit and eat in the comfort and privacy of your own automobile…” (1930s)
A carhop picks up a finished tray from a patron. (1936)
View showing cars parked in front of McDonnell’s Drive-in. “Rusty” McDonnell operated a chain of drive-ins in the Los Angeles area during the 30s and 40s (well before fast-food behemoth McDonald’s came on the scene). McDonnell raised his own chickens on a 200-acre ranch near Daggett, California. His later restaurants, designed by the revered architect Wayne McAllister, were fabulously kitsch and garish – customers could spot their huge neon signs from miles away. McDonnell’s survived until the 1950s. (1935)
View showing McDonnell’s Drive-in at the northwest corner of Sunset and La Brea. Tiny Naylor’s Drive-In would be built on this corner in the 1940s. (1930s)
Night view of Tiny Naylor’s Restaurant; Sunset Boulevard at La Brea Avenue. (1980)
View of Herbert’s Drive-in; Southeast corner of Beverly and Fairfax. (1945)
The Track Drive-in used a horizontal dumbwaiter to serve patrons. Patented by Kenneth Purdy in 1948, the Motormat system eliminated carhops by having all service performed via conveyor belt. The Track, originally located at 8201 Beverly Boulevard, had 20 stalls arranged around the central building like the spokes on a wheel. [Large sign above window reads: NO TIPPING] (1949)
A woman sitting in a convertible at the Track Drive-in waits for her meal to be delivered via conveyor belt. Customers would fill out an order, push a button, and then send the bin scooting back to the kitchen. While cooks prepared the order, the bin came back bearing the check. After diners returned the bin with payment, the food and change would be sent back down the rails. [Writing on bin reads: BUSHER] (1951)
Stan’s Drive-in Coffee Shop sat on the Southeast corner of Sunset and Highland (6760 Sunset Blvd), across from Hollywood High School and Currie’s ice cream. Stan’s was a chain of drive-ins operating in at least a dozen LA locations by the late 1950’s and 60’s. Previously occupying this site was a Simon’s Drive-in…one of two Simon’s on Sunset since 1938. Stan’s stood on the Southeast corner as seen above until its demolition in 1971. Today, a Chick-fil-A stands on the lot. (1958)
Nighttime view of Simon’s drive-in with customers sitting at counter and others in their cars. (1939)
A couple of jitter-bugs pull in to Simon’s, no doubt stunning the carhop with their zebra-stripe upholstery. (1948)
View looking northwest across the intersection of Sunset and Vine from the front of Carpenter’s Drive-in Restaurant. NBC Radio City is across the street to the right, while Wallich’s Music City appears at left. (1940s)
Pre-war cars surround Robert’s Drive-in at Olive Avenue and Victory Boulevard in Burbank. Wayne McAllister was the architect of this circular, Streamline Moderne drive-in. It sported a neon-trimmed roofline and advertising pylon, along with neon rings around the underside/overhang of the roof. A whimsical ball and neon detail top the pylon. (1940)
Guinn’s Coffee Shop and Drive-in, designed by Harold Bissner and Harold Zook, 2915 E. Colorado Blvd. [US 66] in Pasadena. Demolished in 1992. (ca.1947)
Scrivner’s Drive-in at the corner of Sunset and Cahuenga in Hollywood. Scrivner’s was early DJ Art Laboe’s most popular remote location, and one that he would occupy from 1951 to 1959. (1950s)
Art Laboe surrounded by teenage fans in the parking lot of Scrivner’s Drive-in. The huge popularity of his broadcasts created traffic jams around the restaurant. (1950s)
Prop tray. No date. (Vehicle, CCers?)
This view of the Los Feliz Brown Derby shows the circular drive-in portion of the restaurant with its bold neon lighting. This was the only drive-in among the four Brown Derby restaurants. The building is still there, and still a restaurant. This was the last of the four Brown Derby Restaurants to open around Los Angeles; the first sat on Wilshire across from the Ambassador Hotel; the second opened in 1929 in Hollywood, the third in Beverly Hills on Wilshire Boulevard in 1931. (ca. 1947)
Night view showing a very crowded Bob’s Big Boy Drive-in, (4211 W. Riverside Drive, Burbank). Local residents Scott MacDonald and Ward Albert built this Bob’s in 1949. It remains the oldest Bob’s Big Boy in the US. Designed by renowned architect Wayne McAllister, this Bob’s incorporated a 1940’s transitional style of streamline modern architecture, while anticipating the more free-form 1950’s “Googie”-style coffee shop. The towering Bob’s sign is an integral part of the building and its most prominent feature. (ca. 1949)
Adam West and Yvonne Craig pose as Batman and Batgirl in this publicity shot at Bob’s; “I’ll have the Bat-Sundae™!” (ca. 1967)
Bridging the drive-in/drive-thru gap (like the Burbank Bob’s) was Harvey’s Broiler at 7447 Firestone Boulevard, Downey. Later operated by Johnie’s, the restaurant/coffee shop/drive-in building was almost completely demolished in 2007. Bob’s Big Boy stepped in to fully restore and reopen the location in 2009.
Bob’s Broiler, Downey (ca. 2013)
Before the last drive-in was gone. (ca.1964)
Most photos and caption information courtesy of Water and Power Associates.
Car with prop tray: Chevrolet Bel Air 1957.
You beat me to it. ’57 Chevy Bel Air. I suspected it from the chrome (a ’56 would’ve had 2 parallel lines of chrome in that shot, rather than one). I looked it up in Google Images (or should I say Googie Images ;o) of “57 Bel Air Interior” to confirm.
The one year only instrument panel is the best indicator, definitely a ’57!
Of course it had to be a 57 Bel Air when we are talking about classic drive-ins. 🙂
It could have been a ’57 210 two door hardtop… (very few sold). Then again, you can read “Bel” on the dashboard. BTW, I don’t think it was all that common to see A/C in those years, am I right?
That’s a Vintage Air unit, making this pic relatively recent.
Good catch. Which explains it all. I think Federal law requires a 57 Chevy in every modern picture that involves a drive-in restaurant. 🙂
What a paradise, eat in your car under the neon light of a cool looking restaurant. “Progress” screws us again. Pulling up to a drive thru, shouting NUMBER 7 at a quiet yet distorted speaker, fumbling your loose change all over the car when you drive between the pay window to the food window, and then a mile away when you recklessly go to eat and drive you realize you got he wrong order… arrg.
In Titusville, Florida, there’s a place called the Moonlight Drive-In (facing US 1). The drive-in restaurant has been there since 1964 and the food is delicious. It’s still a place where you pull up in your car, someone walks out to take your order, and then brings out a tray with your food to hang from your window. Definitely worth a stop if you happen to be passing through town.
Here’s the place at night.
I miss Sambo’s – those $1.00 breakfasts really filled us up around 5 am after all-night parties in the barracks! We’d pile in my ’64 Chevy and head to Yuba City.
Man, I love these classic photos! I wish I could go to all these places and get a burger, fries & Coke.
Keep these coming, please!
I love these classic drive-ins. In my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana the drive-ins that were still around by the mid 60s were all much smaller than these from SoCal. There are still a couple of them around in Indianapolis but none of the really big ones.
I am suddenly craving a double decker burger, onion rings and a root beer!
Last time I went to restaurant where they served you at your car was while visiting the small town of Detroit Lakes, MN back in 1977. Dad let us take the ’77 Dodge Aspen rental car (with the venerable 225 Slant 6) to this town 10 miles away from where our relatives lived in the even smaller town Frazee, MN. My sister and I, and my cousins (all teenagers at the time) had a blast. It was an A&W Root Beer Stand with roller skating waitresses and the whole nine. This was everyday life to my cousins, however to my sister and I, it seemed like something from Happy Days, or stories my parents told us of life in our hometown of Baltimore, MD in the ’50s.
Since then, there are almost no places like this anymore, although there is a chain of restaurants in our area called “SONIC” that seem to harken back to this model (if their ads are any indication – I’ve never been to one).
We DO have a little Mom & Pop place called “Stewart’s Root Beer Stand” in Rosedale Maryland where I grew up that is like one of these ’50’s places, but they don’t skate out to your car. You either go in, or hit the small drive thru window and then go park your car. They’re only open between March and September, and have several cruise-ins for classic cars on Sundays (and some Saturdays). The picture below was screen-grabbed from this 2014 Baltimore Sun article…
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-stewarts-root-beer-on-pulaski-highway-pictures-photogallery.html
(Pulaski Highway for those not familiar with the area is US-40.)
We enjoy Sonic every so often, but despite the carhops, it’s very franchise-feeling…
Thanks Ed. I may need to try this place. Looks like there’s one near me about a mile and a half northeast of the Stewart’s on the other side of US-40.
I’ve been looking for somewhere that serves a “Chicago Dog” ever since Zack’s Hot Dogs closed in out area. I checked out SONIC’s menu and it looks like they have one! – Although Joseph Dennis may chime in and say it’s no good (since he’s in Chicago and can get a REAL one*).
*We Marylanders are that way about our famous Crab Cakes. You learn very early on NOT to order one outside of Maryland. Even neighboring states (I’m looking at you Delaware) can’t make a decent Crab Cake. “Fillers? We don’t need any stinking fillers.” (Paraphrased with apologies to the Humphery Bogart movie “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” or the movie where I actually first saw that line, Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles”). ?
LOL! I’ve been to Sonic only a handful of times (and liked it), but I didn’t get the Chicago-style hot dog. 🙂
Today, Sonic is as close as most are going to get to the drive-in experience. Even then, I think Sonics, in general, are having a tough time of it, probably due to finding carhops willing to take the job.
The problem is wages. This is just a guess, but I’d be willing to bet that the hourly wage for a Sonic carhop is very low, with the theory that they’re going to make it up on tips. But I’d be just as willing to bet that doesn’t happen very much, so Sonic carhops are hard to find, particularly in economically depressed areas where it’s a whole lot cheaper to use a drive-thru with no tipping.
Interesting observation regarding Sonic; about 10 years ago they made a big push in the Twin Cities marketplace opening new locations. They were wildly popular at first, long lines to park, etc. It took all of maybe 5 years for that to evaporate, and most of the locations around me shuttered. Truth be told, I never saw the wisdom of operating a car-hop system in a state that has 4 months of sub-zero weather and snow…
The only carhop drive-in in our little Illinois town, a Dog’n’Suds, simply became walk-up in really cold weather. In ice-storm or blizzard conditions they just closed.
One thing about running such operations in small towns is that in some cases the owner is employing his own children or other relatives, not unlike the little family-run groceries or coffee shops that used to be on neighborhood corners around town. Zoning? What’s that?
Not a drive-in, but Quizno’s brought a similar fate upon itself by setting the commissary and customer prices in such a way that it wasn’t really possible for franchisees to make any money off it. Almost all of them shut down as soon as the first lease expired, and within about a year we went from five Quizno’s to one colocated in a gas station.
Same thing in Green Bay/Appleton area (Wisconsin). All closed now after being widely busy the first few months of operation. Still like their commercials though.
In Illinois and Indiana there was a chain called Dog N Suds, might still be some of those out there. The one we went to closed long ago. Good root beer, from a kid’s perspective anyway.
Thanks for putting all those photos out there.
Dog N Suds is still around in a few locations. They tried a big expansion about 20 years ago but then followed that by a big retrenchment. There are two in the Lafayette, Indiana area, one in Lafayette on US 52 and the other (which is pretty new) in West Lafayette. I think there may be locations in Kokomo and Fort Wayne, too. And yes, I’m a fan. The root beer tastes good if you are an adult, too. 🙂
Dog N Suds, I’d forgotten about them. They were common in BC up to about the early ’70s before the big franchises really got going here.
One of my favourite treats when I was a kid was their root beer and a foot long hotdog. I wonder if it was the same outfit?
As of a few years ago there was still one in Williams Lake, of all places.
The last time I saw the Dog N Suds on US 52 it was selling Christmas Trees, didn’t look then like it was open, hadn’t heard of the other one until now
Both of the Lafayette Dog N Suds locations close for the winter, so it would not be surprising that it would be a good place to sell Christmas trees. Which reminds me, I get there fairly frequently and need to stop by one of them before they shut down for the year!
There’s one fairly close to me in Elyria, OH. Been there for 57 years! Also one a bit south of me in Medina, OH.
You can still enjoy the carhop experience at the original Varsity drive-in in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. “Whadda-ya have?,”
https://thevarsity.com/
My home town in North Carolina has this place (No relation to the Texas based burger chain, as far as I know). It’s still set up as a drive-in, but the last time I was there, which admittedly was over a decade ago now, they weren’t offering car service any more. You had to go inside and order at the counter. It makes me a bit sad that they replaced most of their neon signs with more modern ones (except for the “Pit Bar-b-q” one), but happy that they still appear to be in business as of the last time the Google car passed by.
Actually according to some Yelp reviewers they do have car service. Maybe they just happened to not have it the day I was there, or they brought it back.
Excellent —
Meanwhile, Spanky & Darla; Stan & Ollie; Dr. Howard / Dr. Fine / Dr. Howard; and Leo Gorcey & Huntz hall were living their own American dreams in a different way.
More early drive-thru restaurants @ http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_LA_Drive_In_Restaurants.html
where most of the above images came from!
The Pittsburgh chain “Eat -N- Park” began in 1949 as a drive in. The odd order of the words was chosen as there was no way to copyright “Park and Eat” as that expression was used by many other roadside eateries. Some “Eat -N-Park”s had “carhop” service into the 1970s (The Monroeville,PA location certainly did, I went there almost weekly, LOL!) today they are traditional sit-down family restaurants (and still a good place to have coffee wirh your buddies.)
+1
Not too far from me is the site of the first Eat ‘n Park (seen below) on Saw Mill Run Blvd. The (modified) building still exists, and is still a popular restaurant (Frank and Shirley’s).
Eat ‘n Park’s East Liberty location also had carhop service into the 1970’s, I remember going there in our family’s late 60’s and early 70’s Chryslers.
This is a great article, really enjoy the vintage pics
6 Greater Seattle locations, Since 1952 (pix borrowed from the Web)
Superdawg, on the far northwest side of Chicago, still has car service.
I bet they’d have my coveted Chicago Dawg….
They alllmost do – they use pickled tomato instead of red tomato. But it’s still a great dog.
Personally I like a Depression Dog, which is a little simpler. Beef frank, mustard, onions, relish, and sport peppers only. Gene’s and Jude’s makes a great one if you ever find yourself somewhat around the O’Hare airport area.
Hold the sport peppers, and you have a hot dog that is my personal default… Mustard (deli of course), Relish, and Onions.
Isn’t that a New York style hot dog? Yum.
Mrs. O sez No food in the car! An edict which I deliberately violated upon encountering my first In-N-Out out on Venice Blvd on my 60th birthday, 1/30/2000. Of course it was a Double Double (I was well into Chowhound by then) and I did manage not to get any mayo on the upholstery. But the sorry truth is that eating in a car is a thing best relished by the young and agile, especially if that person has the steering wheel in the way. Yes, I had my share and more of DQ, Dog’n’Suds, A&W and Sonic, but as my addiction to air conditioning and free iced-tea or coffee refills blossomed I became more than ready to leave the car, go inside, and sit down. Then if my burger drools its condiments onto the table, a nice tip covers cleanup …
You remind me of a time in college, a buddy and I were sitting in a drive-in at dinnertime. It was a little chilly out. The car across from us was one of those mid 70s Olds 88s with the drastically curved side windows. The carhop had put the tray on the Oldsmobile’s driver’s window. The elderly couple in the car got their food but left a drink on the tray. The driver started to raise the window because it was cold. As that window went up I watched the angle of the tray tilt more and more towards the car. The large Coke in the paper cup began sliding downhill on the tray towards the driver. Until the bottom of the cup hit the lip of the tray. The cup tipped towards the open window, which was still open just enough for the entire cup of ice-cold Coke to dump into the driver’s lap. I still remember his face. Your wife would have been really upset. 🙂
I know better than to have any drink other than bottled water in the car, and In-N-Out doesn’t do door trays anyway – you just get the stuff all wrapped up and take your chances while driving. Since a Double Double is a damned unwieldy thing that was really tricky. If I get one now I go look for someplace to park before even starting to unwrap anything.
I never thought about that particular hazard with those steeply curved windows, but I wish I’d been there to see it!
Wonder if there was any confusion with McDonnell’s when McDonald’s started up?
Great photos. I was working in LA in 1983 and would enjoy eating at the remaining two Tiny Naylors. Growing up in Oakland we had the Kwik Way chain. Three locations, Telegraph Ave, Lake Shore Blvd and E.14th. St. I lived right behind the E.14th. location in the early 60’s, not the best area which got worse in the 70’s. I could only find a photo of the Lake Shore location. These restaurants were famous for their burgers and fries,Fried chicken and “home baked” pies. In and Out is very reminiscent of these eateries. They were missed when they closed down.
What a fantastic write-up with such a wonderful array of pictures! Loved this.
I especially like the shot of Tiny Naylor’s with the Ford Capri in the shot. Too bad that place was torn down for a transit stop.
These are great shots. Visited Tommys in LA and Bob’s in Burbank in the mid’s ’70’s a few times, car hops and door trays were still happening.
What I miss most about SoCal is In-N-Out. I have a real craving right now for a double double with grilled onions, fries, and a chocolate shake.
Used to frequent A&W drive ins back in the day. I’m sure I still have a root beer glass as a ‘souvenir’ somewhere.
Mt Airy, NC. Dairy Center. They still come out to your car and take your order, or you can go in, but the are only seats for about 20 ppl inside. They don’t do beer, but have excellent Shakes and burgers. And a local delicacy called ground steak. Think of browned beef like sloppy joes except instead of tomato based, it is flour, creamy base. Just trust me and try it if you’re there. Google it. And while you’re at it, Google sonker too. Two local things.
“…instead of tomato, it is flour, creamy base.”
That sounds like a white sauce. White sauce on anything makes a gourmet meal. So good.
What we’re talking here is gravy. Yes, it’s white. When I’m making it I brown the flour, which some regard as apostasy, but there ya go. If it has no brown it’s just white sauce to me, and anyone who’s learned how to make both ought to know the difference. We are basically talking about the kind of gravy you do with country-fried steak.
Great read. I worked at a Portland landmark, Yaws Top Notch from 1969 to 1973. I was head night cook in the drive in. It looked like something out of American Graffiti. It was unusual in the fact that it had separate drive in, sit down restaurant and take out sections. It was actually a fun place to work as most of the people that worked nights were 16-25 and the people that worked days were 50-70. Almost no people that were 25-50.They actually ground their own hamburger out of whole front quarters of beef. They had one guy who worked 40 hrs a week just grinding and making the 3 sizes of hamburger patty’s. They had their own laundry, bakery and kitchen that made all the soups, sauces, salads, relishes, gravies and cheese sauce. On Fridays alone they made from 80 to 100 gallons of clam chowder. 55 gallon barrels of Mrs. Neusihin’s dill pickles sliced and whole in the basement along with the side by side15’x15′ walk in freezer and refrigerator, two 15’x30′ employee locker rooms with showers, laundry, 30′ continuous rack dishwasher and lots of storage area. We were union and even had employer paid health insurance. And all the food you could eat. I spent maybe $15-20.00 a month on food when I worked there, of course my share of rent and utilities was $45-50.00 a month in those days. Car insurance the next big expenditure. About the only way you got a job there was know someone or family of someone who worked there. The entire operation including parking took up a double city block of 200’x400′ or 80,000 square feet.
Here is a link about it http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/yaw_s_top_notch.html
In my formative years, my parents drove Studebakers, which were perfectly adapted for drive ins as the glove compartment was in the center of the dash, clear of occupant’s knees, the lid opened to a horizontal position and the inside of the lid had round indentations stamped in it to hold your drinks in place, while the bench seat provided a space to put the food.
As others have noted, Michigan is not an ideal place for drive-ins as the weather really stinks about 5 months of the year. There were several around in the 60s. Daly’s, whose specialty was foot long hot dogs, had several locations around Dearborn and Livonia. There was a Big Boy, later Blazo’s Country Fair, on Michigan Ave in West Dearborn. All gone now.
I drove over to the Gilmore Sunday to check out their new muscle car exhibit, and saw this among the enlarged photos on the wall. This is the only pic I have ever seen of Schwarz’s on S Westnedge in Kalamazoo. There is a sordid story of hormones and teen-age high-jinx that involves this Schwarz’s.
We’re lucky in Kenosha to have 3 local drive-ins, two of which are within about 6 blocks from my house. The Spot (since 1947, car hop service year-round), Andy’s Drive-In (looks like Arnold’s with a big “A” on the roof), and Big Star (seasonal; I think the owner leaves for Florida in the fall/winter).
Of course until last year we still had a drive-in movie theater, too.
I really enjoyed seeing the photos—nice topic and essay!
This is just a parenthetical, but for 1954’s “A Star is Born,” they did a little location shoot with Judy Garland as carhop. (Can easily be found on YouTube.) It’s nice to see the Technicolor—-is it one of today’s locales?
I love seeing old LA Americana! The Simon’s drive-in was at Wilshire and Fairfax across the moderne May Company store. It was torn down around 1950 and replaced by what is now the defunct yet iconic Googie era Johnnie’s Coffee Shop.
The original c. 1936 A&W on 66 in Edwardsville, IL was one of my most favorite places to spend time. It was torn down about a dozen years ago and totally has messed with my perception of directions in the town (it was right on a corner that took you west). Sigh. I have pics of it somewhere with my ’86 GTI – future COAL entry.
I still remember going to the A&W with my parents in the late 1970s. There used to be 2 of them in my hometown, but this was around the time that they both closed. They’re both used car lots now.
Around these parts (n.e. Ohio) we’ve got a some classic drive-ins. Sonics has several locations, there’s some Dog ‘n Suds still around, and then there’s Swenson’s down in the Akron area. Mmmmmmm… Swenson’s. GREAT burgers!
This discussion of drive-ins reminded me there is one in the area. This is in Ypsilanti, a couple blocks from the Hudson museum we visited during the meet-up. Used to drive past it several times a year and it looked abandoned. Google took this pic in October 2016 and the lot looks freshly sealed and striped. with what is probably the employee’s car parked in a back corner of the lot, so maybe someone is giving it another go.
Thanks for the classic pics
The car hop and drive ins became a victim of changing tastes. I sadly am one of those folks that have no interest in going to them. I ether go through the drive through and order my meal and take it home or park the car and going inside and stay and eat it. As much as I like my cars and like driving, I spend a lot of the day in one and really have no interest in eating in my car.
In Maryland we have Checkers and Sonics which do give somewhat of a vintage car hop vibe.
We also have several diners that give off that early 20th century vibe too. My favorite is the Tastee Diner in Laurel MD. It is one of the last diners made by Comac Diner Company to survive.
Nothing as extravagant as those wonderful Wayne McAllister-designed Streamline Moderne drive-ins here in small-town western New York then. Richardson Root-Beer stands were the typical drive-in: low square box with broad overhangs tilted up in front, lined with fluorescent tube lights in yellow sleeves to fool the insects. Some places had a band or two of neon in pink and aqua, or maybe red and yellow. Windows around three sides except in the back kitchen, an order (left) and pick-up (right) windows. Painted typically red with yellow and white accents, picnic tables off to the side. Preferred locations were at a corner or better where the roads came together at an acute angle point. Very few of those places left, do miss them…
What a great trip down Memory Lane! I recall some of these were still around I my youth back in the ’60’s and ’70’s. And, recall eating at a Sonic in Texas a few times in the early ’80’s. I certainly greatly enjoy the write-up and pictures on this one. And, great to see the earlier years of drive-ins before my time.
Nice photos, thank you .
-Nate
Wayne’s Drive In, Lawton Oklahoma. Same location since 1950, and the high-school kids still cruise to Wayne’s just as they did in 1978 when I was there in high school. Same menu, but a wee bit more in cost.
A&W, McDonald’s, Harvey’s, and Mr. Submarine were all fast food joints I frequented for eating in the car experiences in the 70s. Probably my favourite was Apache burger on Bloor st and Kipling Av. at Six Points plaza. Still there today.
What great photos-I love those neon signs at night they really are spectacular-they are really a rarity now at least where I live. The only drive ins we have now similar to these are a couple of Sonic drive ins.
We can rhapsodize about the past, but we cannot go back. Today’s drive through restaurants want you in and out of their places in under 5 minutes. No one wants to spend money in real estate so that you can park your car and eat in it. No one wants loitering, littering, or socializing on their properties for small profits. These wonderful drive in restaurants exist at a time when land was inexpensive, populations were lower, and social standards were observed. Back in 1960, how many customers at the A&W even thought about telling the kitchen how they wanted their hamburger toppings? Chicken? That wasn’t fast food until McNuggets show up in 1981, and dips were required to cover their lack of quality. Today’s menus have been pared down since the Lockdown, but you still see an incredible array of pre-cooked packaged foods that shoot out of a drive through window on any busy street in the US today.
Sonic drive ups attempted to recreate this experience 40 years ago, yet today, we see most of those Sonic stalls empty with a long line of cars circumnavigating the building for drive through window service. The average wait time in the fast food industry is under five minutes. “There ya go!”
I grew up when there were still many drive ins. When I traveled on car trips, these were our to-go stops. My dad would return with 12 hamburgers, six fries for under $10, while my mom gave us Dixie cups of water from the Coleman jug. Everyone got the same two exact burgers, no custom or personal orders. Yet, we were thrilled. Today, my kids order food like they are Gordon Ramsey, expecting their food items to meet their expectations. Thanks BK for “having it your way!” – see what you guys started? I’m lucky to get away from a crappy McDonalds for under $40.
Naturally, drive up nostalgia comes with nostalgic cars. Fifty years ago, the television show “Happy Days” was filmed on set half the time at one – Al’s Drive Up. The opening credits of the show were shown in a drive-up restaurant. Hot rods and ’57 Chevies were stereotypes for Boomers reliving childhood. The show was immensely popular.
A&W Those orange signs with the horizontal arrow, the “Burger family” plastic-blown statues atop of the fixed awning, all those are gone now. Today, my kids wax nostalgic over their first cell phones.
Rides down MEMORY LANE! i have enjoyed reading all of your comments. My experiences as a child were in New York State for the most part. We loved carhop service. These days (ahem) I need to get into the restaurant and make a pit stop, so, we get out of the car. The attached is a picture of ice cream that we enjoyed at a Sonic in Bedford, Virginia on our way north after a road trip to Tennessee. The drive-in has the drive-in service and indoor and outdoor seating. We had bought a rack of cooked ribs from a Kroger’s in the outskirts of Nashville and ate them at Sonic hours later. Fin soft ice cream from Sonic!
Here’s the view of the patio.
Steak & Shake and Chuck A Burger were big tee n scene drive ins in the 50s and into the 70s in the St. Louis area. Also a highend drive in Called Schneithorsts. Burgers there were a dollar, but large, at a time when most Drive In burgers were maybe half the size, Steak and Shake and Chuck A burger had the usual carhops who came to take your order and brought the food out on a tray. Schneithorsts had a phone at each parking spot, you pick up the reciever and placed you roder and it was hten a carhop brought out your meals. Steak and Shake still exists, One Chuck A Burger is still in business, the original and they often host car shows. Schneithorsts no longer stands.
Fayetteville, NC,1967, home of Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base. I was in high school, my hang-out was Steve’s’ Drive-In. This is where the young GI’s drove their cars. Others at my rich kids high school went to other drive-ins and did not hang out with GI’s. I went to Steve’s. Dad, Colonel Air Force Dad, told me not to go to Steve’s Drive-in.
Cars were parked front-end out, and cars would just drive, circle the center restaurant hub. When parked, turn your parking lights on to get curb service. Best pizza I ever had.
Dad told me not to go to Steve’s. One night at Steve’s a young GI pulled out of his parking space, hit the side of my 1963 T-Bird white I was circling. I was age 16 and drinking beer, the young GI had been drinking. Within moments the police converged. Within moments civilian police saw military officers’ tags on my Bird, and the military police arrived.. MP’s called Dad. Dad got out of bed, came to Steve’s Drive-In. Dad pulled rank, no one was charged. My 1963 T-Bird repaired. So many memories at Steve’s Drive-In.
Picture below shows Joanne driving my Bird, summer of 1967. You see her crutches hanging out of the rear window. Photo taken a few weeks after Joann left the hospital. A few months earlier, we were with Paula and her new 1967 Camaro, her 16th birthday present. Drunk driver pulled in front of us. Paula died, passenger in other car died, Took years to put Joanne together.