Vintage roadside

[Fading Fast]

Me: We're pulling over for ice-cream right there - look at it!

Supergirlfriend: We just ate lunch

Me: Are you looking at the same place I am?

SGF: Adults don't eat just because a place is in the shape of a giant ice-cream cone

Me: It's like I don't know who you are

SGF: Why don't we stop, look around, take a picture and move on?

Me: Sure, right after we have our ice-cream cones

[Our car is now pulling into the place]

SGF: I'm not going to change your mind?

Me: What flavor do you want?

SGF: I'm an adult

Me: What flavor do you want?

SGF (dejected): I'll have a small vanilla cone

Me: With rainbow sprinkles?

SGF: Sure, when we get home, I have to take stock of the decisions I've made in my life

Me: (distracted) Sounds good, should I pick up a quart for later

SGF: (sighing), sure, whatever...(spirits picking up) do you think they have strawberry?

Me: That's my girl, I'll check

 

[Fading Fast]

Looks like it's in the South, but here's the funny thing, away from the fancy tourist areas, it could also be Maine as you see this type of place on many two-lane roads in the regular-people parts of Maine:

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Carroll's Hamburger drive-in, somewhere in Illinois...the grill has long-since gone cold.

Rob

 

[Fading Fast]

Carroll's Hamburger drive-in, somewhere in Illinois...the grill has long-since gone cold.

Rob

That is really good cracked concrete.

 

[3fingers]

Carroll's Hamburger drive-in, somewhere in Illinois...the grill has long-since gone cold.

Rob

Gary, Indiana. Built by US steel. When the steel business died, so did Gary. About 2/3 of their population has fled the scene, so the majority of the city looks about like this.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Carroll's was one of the many McDonald's knockoffs that erupted in the late fifties like worms on the sidewalk after a summer rainstorm. Those boomerang/arrowhead/whateverthehellthey'resupposedtobe dealies had nothing whatever to do with the Golden Arches. Carroll's was later absorbed into Burger King, and became quite a bit less flamboyant in the process.

 

[dh66]

Junkasaurus Rex. Not terribly vintage, but definitely an old school style roadside attraction. There ought to be at least a couple of folks here that can appreciate it.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[KY Gentleman]

Can anyone resist a swappin’ meet or The Worlds Most Awesome Flea Market?
Sometimes the roadside has some bargains you just can’t pass up.

 

[Woodtroll]

Not exactly vintage (the chain is old, but this store is not), but I thought this fit the theme. A vintage diner-style restaurant in NC that we visited while on vacation:



My hat buddy (my youngest grandson) outside the restaurant. He picked out this hat himself!



Take care,
Regan

 

[Fading Fast]

Not exactly vintage (the chain is old, but this store is not), but I thought this fit the theme. A vintage diner-style restaurant in NC that we visited while on vacation:



My hat buddy (my youngest grandson) outside the restaurant. He picked out this hat himself!



Take care,
Regan

I applaud the idea, but think the company failed in its execution. I, personally, just don't feel the "joy" and verisimilitude of a giant soda cup that they were going for - the architecture is awkward and looks forced.

Cool picture of you and your grandson - you two look great together.

 

[Woodtroll]

I, personally, just don't feel the "joy" and verisimilitude of a giant soda cup that they were going for - the architecture is awkward and looks forced.

I agree about the architecture, although because this is more of an ice cream shop / diner I took this to be a milkshake cup, which somehow makes it seem better to me. I’m not sure how I can explain the logic behind that...

Thanks for your compliment; the grandkids are a lot of fun and we enjoy our time with them!

Take care,
Regan

 

[BobHufford]

Nice hat! Amarillo...

 

[Ghostsoldier]

That prairie dog ain't natural.

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Steaks and gas.

Rob

 

[BobHufford]

That prairie dog ain't natural.

We would have stopped there! My daughters (now 30+) were pretty disappointed that Jackalope in Santa Fe had removed their Prarie Dog Village and replaced it with a greenhouse.

 

[Fading Fast]

While not quite what we probably mean by vintage roadside, it's close enough to our general theme that I thought it fit in here. Plus, well, it's so cool. There is no chance on earth that I wouldn't be buying something to eat from this place.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Sad Sack's dogs.

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

While not quite what we probably mean by vintage roadside, it's close enough to our general theme that I thought it fit in here. Plus, well, it's so cool. There is no chance on earth that I wouldn't be buying something to eat from this place.
View attachment 125499

Note the theatre next door. Most theatres built before WWII didn't have concession stands -- at most there'd be a few candy-vending machines in the lobby -- but some would lease out space in the building to an independent operator who would sell snacks and soda to theatre patrons. This was called "granting a concession," and is why we talk about "concessions" today, even though modern stands are operated by the theatres themselves and not an outside operator.

 

[Fading Fast]

Note the theatre next door. Most theatres built before WWII didn't have concession stands -- at most there'd be a few candy-vending machines in the lobby -- but some would lease out space in the building to an independent operator who would sell snacks and soda to theatre patrons. This was called "granting a concession," and is why we talk about "concessions" today, even though modern stands are operated by the theatres themselves and not an outside operator.

Back then, did theaters allow customers to bring in their "own" food and drinks (away from any "concession" stands)?

 

[LizzieMaine]

It was frowned upon. During the silent era, people would bring in bagged peanuts and you'd hear shells cracking all thru the picture, and find shells all over the floor after the show, which led the better operators to ban food altogether, while the neighborhood houses turned to concessionaires to try and control what sort of food got in.

Beginning around 1939, our place had "The Strand Store" in one of the ground-level storefronts, where snacks, soda, and even beer were sold -- one of the pictures we have has a "Pickwick Ale" sign visible in the window. The beer was strictly for takeout though -- they wouldn't let it in the theatre! In the early 1950s, they knocked thru the wall between the store and the theatre lobby, and the space became the in-house concession stand.

Candy bars and fruit drops like "Assorted Charms" were the most popular concession items in the thirties, although some houses allowed hot dogs in. Popcorn was considered declasse, the mark of a hick theatre, until sugar rationing cut into the availablity of candy during the war. The in-theatre popper didn't become common until after the war.