Let’s view some vintage postcards and check out what was available for lunch and dinner across the US in the ’50s and ’60s. Mind you, this is not a comprehensive gallery, not at all. Take it just as a sampler, and appetizer of sorts about the offer back then.
I’ve already talked about my fondness for diners, and done a postcard gallery about the subject too. And I can see a few places in this post that if I had a time machine, I would go and try. Maybe even starting with Chal’s Drive In (above), in Cambridge, OH.
Hackney’s Seafood Restaurant, Atlantic City, NJ.
Bart’s Charcoal Broiler, Longview, WA.
Sundowner Restaurant, Rock Springs, WY.
Chinese Dragon Restaurant, Alamogordo, NM.
Bun Boy Restaurant, Warsaw, KY.
Cobbs Country Restaurant, Apache Junction, AZ.
Keefer’s Restaurant, King City, CA.
My grandparents’ establishment. Miller Lunch, on US 40, Cumberland IN – 1938-1965. The building predates 1938, may have been a tavern before then.
In 1965, tired of the extremely long hours & hard work & low return, worried about the coming I-70 a mile to the north, and fast food establishments (a White Castle had opened two miles west)… they sold to a guy who ran a TV & electronics repair shop out of it. That was its last use afaik. I’m amazed it still exists unchanged as of Aug 2023.
They had a lot of local traffic as well as travelers. I think I recall them saying that business was good, maybe even better after I-70 opened. They were very busy, maybe didn’t charge enough. My dad told they were worried over raising the price of a hamburger from 25 cents to 35, but sold more after raising it; maybe folks thought it was a better burger for paying more for it.
Grandfather had a big & outgoing personality. Liked to strike up conversations with strangers & poke fun. Got upset if people dithered when ordering, I guess in keeping with how busy the place was. Grandmother was the cook. She’d been a nurse before they bought the place & went back to that after 1965 (I never asked her which was harder). Grandfather held a number of jobs, finally ending his working career as an on-the-road driver examiner for elderly drivers (Indiana requirement & he had some stories).
Google-fu’d the place -built 1890. Long ago an electric line from Indy ended there, & the Pennsylvania RR was a block to the south & the line was still active with through & local traffic in my memory (the trains terrified me as a little kid after they had put me to bed — sounded like they were going to come right through that upper bedroom wall). And of course there’s the main road US 40 is aka ‘National Road’.
Current owner 91 years old. Would’ve been 33 years old in 1965 & may well be the electronic repair guy. Indy was a scene in the early electronics industry — the 1st pocket transistor radio, in the 70s there was a CB radio brand (don’t recall which) manufactured in ‘Cumberland, Indiana’, wonder if this guy was associated. The home is attached; they must still live there… on street view, there’s a white van behind the home. I bet the home is unchanged too… I wonder if the giant six-burner stove & other commercial kitchen equipment is still there… that may be gone at least. Almost everything around it is newer. For example, a mega-modern gas station replaced the Shell that’s immediately to the west & a Meijer’s is just to the west of that. The Meijer’s was a farm field & ‘hothouse’ where the best tomatoes I’ve ever had came from.
I wonder if the current owner is the guy my grandparents called when their giant 1965 Magnavox super color TV console went on the fritz. Would’ve needed at least two strong men and a van like that to carry it.
Enjoyed telling this story (or what little I can recount) & thank you for this forum.
Hi Richard,
Very good posts. I am president of the Indiana National Road Association.
Do you know who any of the ladies are in the photo and what part of the restaurant this was?
You may like my Friday posts on the Indiana National Road, titles: “Friday from the Road”
https://www.facebook.com/IndianaNationalRoad
I never visited a one of these, but it’s fun to see the images—and be reminded how well the autos in the parking lot help us date the picture.
I’ve been through Rock Springs (WY) many times: population barely 20K today, and only about half that when today’s photo was taken. Alas, not much in its parking lot for a Ford fan!
This early-1950s map is from just before I-80 got overlaid on this stretch of US 30….and Rock Springs really is the biggest town in the area:
That building in Rock Springs is still there – though not quite as welcoming-looking as it was before:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/xtrhYoz3FTqyzW9b7
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the last photo of Keefer’s from my own humble home town of King City, CA. I am fairly sure that photo is from approximately 1970 when to 101 freeway bypass was just completed. Before that, US 101 ran down the main street of town, Broadway and then turned south and continued as First St. Keefer’s was on the 300 block of Broadway and moved to the pictured new location to serve freeway travelers. Just south of King City, US 101 continued to be a two lane undivided highway for a few more years before that section between King City and San Ardo was upgraded to freeway standards.
Bart’s in Longview, WA -“Come As You Are.” Not too far from Kurt Cobain’s hometown of Aberdeen.
Thanks to eBay, a 1950s Hackney’s menu—yummy!
They do to lobster what Pasteur did to milk?
Boil it until it was sterilized?
Or did Pasteur turn milk into a rich delicious seafood?
YUMMY!
Interesting! Hackney’s Restaurant was huge – it used up that whole block, and evidently the seating capacity was over 3,000.
Lovely architecture; the Sundowner in WY is my favorite here. There are still a few restaurants of this vintage in my area, though without the old cars parked in front. What grabs me about the cars is how pervasive two-color paint was in the mid to late ’50s, and then it suddenly disappeared in the ’60s.
How many would have allowed a non-white patron to dine?
By this time AAA was required to ensure that all their listings didn’t racially discriminate, and the old-timers told us how hard it was to notify AAA listed establishments that they either needed to adhere to these standards or be dropped from AAA travel guides.
There were thousands of listings that we were forced to drop because owners wouldn’t serve non-white patrons. We lost thousands of listings, forced to take down thousands of AAA signs off of establishments, and lost thousands of approved accommodations connections.
One of the very worse places for accommodation discrimination was the Pacific Northwest, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and of course, the Deep South.
This was my Dad’s restaurant (under a lease) called the Brandon’ Iron Unser a lease from 1966-1971 on US 15/401 which was one of the routes from NY state to FL. Sadly I-95 was routed 20 miles east via Dillon SC and Bennettsville suffered. A very nice 55 room Quality Inn was there also. It was a separate business from the Brandin Iron.
Looks like the building’s been extensively modified or rebuilt, and the restaurant name has changed, but there’s still a Chinese restaurant at the same location in Alamogordo, New Mexico:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cdMgnXkaJCquRh596
A whole bunch of places ripped out, covered up, or painted over their stone walls some time in the late 20th century; many likely wish they could have them back now that they’re considered stylish again.
A red 66 Olds convertible and a Camaro at the pumps,nice!
I think the Bun Boy postcard may have the widest variety of old cars we have seen – an International Travelall, a Studebaker Hawk and a 57 Chevy.
Even though the U.S. is now saturated with Front Wheel Drive crap-wagons, I miss the establishments even more than what Detroit used to produce.
Check out that 58 Edsel wagon at Bart’s in Longview, Washington, same color combo as the 59 Ford Galaxie featured by Joseph Dennis a couple of days ago.
It was a rare sight even back then.
Hackney’s apparently lasted in some fashion until the late 1990s. At one time, it credibly claimed to the one of the largest restaurants in the country (seating over 3500 people at one time). More significant to me (because I have always loved the phrase), it kind of invented the “select one from our live tank” slogan in reference to allowing customers to choose their own lobsters in the restaurant.
“Bart’s” embodies two restaurant trends that have faded from the national scene. 1) The penchant for simply naming restaurants after the first or last name of the owner (or other notable individual somehow associated with the place). One might have expected Bart, or perhaps one of the Hackney family in Atlantic City, to stop by your table…or perhaps to perform a lounge act as you ate your lobster or charcoal broiled steak. I guess since most restaurants nowadays are owned by LLC operating entities, there’s not much attractive about putting something like “The Bart Hospitality Group Operating Properties” on your sign.
Likewise, 2) The identification of a highlighted fuel source for cooking has faded. Somehow, back in the day, customers were supposed to appreciate that Bart’s had a CHARCOAL broiler. Cool. Stating on modern restaurant’s sign that it has INDUCTION cooking seems definitely less sexy.
“Hey Barb, let’s go to Bart’s…I hear they’re cooking with MAGNETS!”
If they have an induction cooktop, they are!
(oops, that was already noted)
Very true about restaurants with first names. That immediately made me think back to when I used to travel for work (~20 years ago), and I remember eating at a place in downtown Huntington, WV called “Jim’s Steak and Spaghetti House.” There was an older man there telling the waitresses what to do, and I recall my coworker saying “I reckon that’s Jim.” Probably was. Amazingly, I looked it up, and that restaurant’s still there.
The other random thing I remember about eating there was that the parking meters downtown cost 10¢ – and like a smartass I submitted a separate expense sheet for that, and was actually reimbursed for it.
Oh, and last year we at a place called Iva’s Chicken Dinners in the small town of Sterling, Michigan. Great food – it was started by Iva in the 1930s, and it’s still owned by her family.
Cobbs Country Restaurant in Apache Junction actually survived until just a few years ago – the building’s since been demolished. Here’s a 2019 StreetView comparison:
For once I actually like the later modified version better. The restaurant in the early shot looks like it’s trying to imitate (now completely defunct) Howard Johnson’s.
I agree – the restaurant combined with a gas station (and no separation of those uses) makes the original setup a bit odd too.
In the mid-80s I went to a place called the Golden Steer in Sheridan, Wyoming. They had a vertical marquee with a big neon steer. Great steaks, friendly folks, and cold cold beer.
Looks like Bun Boy grew up, moved to New York and became a real Ass Man. Photo courtesy of Cosmo Kramer’s Impala from the TV show Seinfeld.
Welcome to Bun Boy. Would you like to try our special sauce?
Uhhmmm, no. Actually I don’t think that I’m at all hungry.
The Postcard was the social media of the past. It’s like Facebook today showing everyone where you went and ate. But it took a week for anyone to see.
Love this one, the Parasol in Califorina, late ’50s! Googie design!
Back in the early 80’s there was a place in Havre de Grace, MD called “Tim’s used to be Tom’s.”