Tray Chic

Scotland PA, a strange movie, has an alternative explanation for the drive thru...   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLyxLTJlbc4     ; In case you didn't know, they acquired the place from a guy named Duncan.  He was in the doughnut business, but something went wrong.  Christopher Walken shows up as Inspector MacDuff.

This is a funny topic for me. Years ago, I applied for a job at a drive-in restaurant in Salinas, California called Mels. I wanted something on the way from Monterey to Santa Cruz, where I was surfing that summer at Steamer's lane. I was living in my VW bus and figured if I could work 2 or 3 days a week there, the rest of the week I would be surfing, (was getting in shape for contest in Hawaii), and have enough money for gas, food and the boardwalk. I was also hoping to save a little money for my next year of school in Boston.
I applied and to my surprise I was given not only a job, but got the three days I wanted. The first day revealed the flaw. I didn't know how to skate. I had never skated and could barely lace up the white pair I was given.
As I tried to make my way to the order station, I went off the sidewalk and right into a car. I never even got to take an order. I was fired right there on the spot.
I ended up working in Santa Cruz varnishing masts of the wooden sail boats that harbored there at the time. I was a good varnisher but I was miserable that summer as I hate heights and going up 30-60 feet in a bosun's chair, with a bucket of varnish, (God bless you if you tipped the bucket over onto the nice teak deck), was a nightmare. Somehow I did it and got through the summer. From that year on, until I got my graduate degree, I sang to make money. A hell of a lot easier than painting masts, skating with a tray of food or worse yet, cleaning fishing boats. One thing that I do remember about the drive-in was that all burgers were shaped and were absolutely delicious. I still have the menu from that job, (I have managed to keep a souvenir of almost every job I ever had), and find it amusing that the BIG MEL BURGER which was a 1/2 lb. patty, two slices of real cheddar cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion, pickles, mayonaise and mustard was .85 and fries were a quarter. I made about 70 bucks a day doing masts and lived like a rich man. Boy, things have changed.
By the way, hope you all had a fantastic 4th. I made all the food on time and guests were very entertaining and as usual, I find that I am always in bed before the fireworks get underway. It's Monday, 10:31 here in Idaho and life is good!

I just have to start this topic off with a flash back to Al's Diner in Milwaukee Wi  -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCt_NVPER2w&feature=related There used to be an real A&W in our town (not that fast crap they serve now)  It had the the over hang parking & the lighted signs and the window trays to serve food on. The only thing they didn't have was the skating carhops.   Now we have Sonics which just isn't even close to the same thing :-( 
  

This is so funny. My first job, other than baby sitting, was working as a carhop ...on roller skates...at a drive-in. We had moved to Coconut Grove, Fl. from Memphis, Tn.  My first high school experience there was little bit of culture shock and merciless teasing about my accent. At 15, I painted my room black and dropped out of school. They couldn't make me go, and even though I wasn't old enough to quit, they (Dade County) let me. After a month of wearing a bikini at all times and hanging out on the beach as though I lived there, I was given the ultimatum (by my mom) of returning to school or getting a job. I opted for a job at the drive-in. Since I was extremely shy, this was not a good choice, though I toughed it out for a couple of months...My mom shopped around and found an alternative school, so I quit my job and went back to school.  I'll always remember that job though. ...and I loved those drive-ins and can remember going to them on dates or with friends.
 

idahoproducer,  I live in Santa Cruz...have for the last 35 years......nice story.

The photo at the top brings pleasant memories rushing back.

Frosted root beers in real mugs.

Charcoaled cheeseburgers.

Hot French Fries.

Soft, perfumed girlfriends.

Dates. The girls in the front seat alongside me. Sitting close. A stop there with them, after a Saturday night movie at a theater downtown. Or after a Friday night football game.

Flirting with the cute carhops on midweek nights when we boys -- always hungry --would be out running around and would stop for a late night bite to eat.

The waves of the hand, the honking of the car horn to those we knew in the other cars nearby and across the way.

I can taste the food , smell the food even now.

In the mind's eye, I can see to this day those that I knew.

Ah, the drive-ins.

Ah, the days of my youth.

How many hours of them were spent at the drive-in restaurants of my town?

Maybe too many.

Or maybe not enough.

Just one more stop there.

Just one more.

The weather in the UK is not the right sort for drive-ins. I've seen them on the movies and they looked like fun. Like Idaho, I've done all sorts to keep body and soul together, including flipping burgers. I make great burgers, made from Welsh lamb with lots of salad and mint sauce.

Sonic  has  old-fashioned  drive-in  restaurants,   along  with  trays  &  carhops.   Wish the chain had more locations.   Love  Michigan's Western shore,  opposite Chicago across the lake,  the  root beer  stands  (A & W,  Hires)  are  fantastic.....

Our side of town:
http://www.leonsfrozencustard.com/index.htm

T'other side:
http://www.ardyandeds.com/

And, embarrassing as it is to admit, I would have to master the partly opened power window to eat at either although I have picked up through a completely open one.
None of our girls worked there but we've been waited on by mothers of friends (years ago), daughters of friends and even their kids.
A Sonic opened on a busy frontage road in what would have been a good location had not one highway exit, then, the next and the frontage road itself gone under construction.
It closed without ever experiencing the late-summer EAA crowd. We had eaten there once.
Leon's and the nearby, long gone Sno-cap were known as custard stands but the A&W was a root beer stand.
It was simpler to deal with when car headlights were a bit more straightforward. Now, it is important to set them back to auto or run the risk of killing a battery with the parking lights on. I did it in April.
I tip well and try not to look when patrons share a cone with a pet.

I wish I had known: an old fishing friend who had moved away died. He had, owing to a drinking problem, become an arm's length kind of guy who had been, loaded, edgy about getting back there or hung over and cranky.
People who stuck with him claim that he became a successful social drinker: one or two with a meal or on occasion but never drunk and no longer a threat to clerks, waitresses or other drivers.
That would have been nice to see.
His wife read to me a comment from his journal: "OK guy, nice family, will drive, buy breakfast, bring bait... very slow to rigged up."
We stopped, he and I, at the home of his in-laws in time to drag his wife's dad out of the smoke-filled place where the old guy had put a meat loaf in the broiler instead of the oven and then, gone to sleep.

Stoney,  maybe he WASN'T a murderer. We have them down here. But he was doing life in prison for something.  So maybe just a bad burglar or armed robber.                             I was interested by your links. Somehow, I doubt that Ardy and Ed were doing Chipotle Bacon Cheeseburgers in 1948, but I could be wrong about that, too.                            IProducer,  I am glad things went well last night.  Forgive my asking, but how often did you wind up with varnish on your legs?  You know what they say about varnish- There Is No Final Coat.  Could you maybe direct us to a video of you singing?

 
 
 
 
Doumar's is still there.
Ivan, I'm sure you remember....
http://www.doumars.com/
 
 
 
 
 

I don't often get to say this, but I am a little too young to have participated in the Drive-In craze, American Graffitti style. Also, as a mostly city girl this of course adds to the dearth of carhops and clip-on trays but nonetheless Drive-Ins, like jazz and Miickey Mouse remain classic American creations and I have always felt as if I had been there. Does seeing "A Hard Day's Night" at a drive-in movie count?

 
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckynqhvV7VA
 
 
 
 
a better link....

Drive-in restaurants were probably the start of the fast-food, only to be replaced by the drive-thru restaurants, as we decided to multitask while driving.

Drive-in movies are gone too. Today, no one would tolerate the leisurely pace of a movie, dinner, and etc in your car with a friend or friends.

It does say something about the US culture and our addiction to our cars.

We still have Sonic restaurants. 

I think I've mentioned this before but in the late 1950s there  was a drive-in hamburger joint near the back gate of Quantico Marine Base (Stafford VA). The notable thing I recall about it was when Russia launched Sputnik and the world was in panic the owner launched the SPUTNIKBURGER.
 
Imagine a large, fully dressed hamburger with toothpicks sticking out in all directions over the burger with dill pickle slices impaled on the ends of  the toothpicks.  Talk about making good out of a bad event and time...I have admired his imagination and entreprenurial (sp?) spirit.

paolos ~
Re: July 04, 2011 10:14 PM (our dog's seventh birthday)
"Would they dare to speak? Would we know to listen?"
Just my opinion, yes and no.

Miss Blue ~
Re: Doumars, what are "wet nuts?" If you know.
That limeade with a couple ounces of gin...

uliggam ~
I worked with a girl who said her parents had told her that she had been "de-ceived" in a car at a drive-in movie.

willytrask,
Ha ha, I forgot about all the varnish that ended up on me. I used the flakes and mixed to make my own varnish. I did two tall ships when they pulled into the Monterey, Ca. harbour. Now that was some height. One of the ships was a tall one from Portugal. When I got to the crows nest, I tried to take a break so as not to scare myself. I just needed to calm down. A seagull came by and caught me off guard and I almost dumped my bucket of varnish on the Portugese navy waiting to depart the boat. That ship swayed so much I got seasick.
Here is a music video we did of a song I wrote that I am singing. It is different that what I earned a living singing in that, it is not jazz, which is what I had to sing to earn money. I wanted to be a pop or folk singer but I got into jazz , which is another story that involves Ella Fitzgerald, and that paid the bills so that is what I did. We just won a Telly award for the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPZmuXrWaos

 
 
Wet nuts are those packed in  syrup . I make them at home by bringing maple syrup to a boil and adding as many shelled walnuts as the syrup will hold. I then refrigerate until ready to use( bringing to room temp first)......
 

Miss Blue, don't you wish somebody had taught him to say NORFOLK?  IP, I just wandered around your YouTube stuff.  I liked the music video and I assume you did the voice over for the van- your voice was the best part. Thanks for sharing.                   willie

W.T.

Absolutely; it seems only a rare few, who are not native, know the correct pronunciation.

Our old high school cheer , used to initiate all those Navy kids who transferred in ,on the correct pronunciation:

"We don't drink and we don't smoke, nor  f**k, nor  f**k...."( sung to the camp town ladies tune)

Dated a fella who's friend had an old ambulance, big, white thing totally empty in the back.  We'd load it up with 4 or 5 couples and go to the drive in movie then the drive in hamberger place.  Best way to spend a Saturday night. 

Miss Blue, I Knew the words, but not the tune.

Miss Blue, your teacher's mnemonic device reminded me of my nephew....

When he was about 2, he was obsessed with vehicles but still couldn't talk very well. His favorite truck was the "dum-f%^k." Dump truck....

I remember  a drive in resturant in  Brooklyn when I was a kid.  It near the Verrazano Bridge.  My father used to take me there in a '71 Triumph spitfire.   I remember that the waitress always worried about balancing the tray on the window of a car that was so low to the ground.   They had the best french fries around.    

We need more drive- in resturants.  Maybe it will bring back the drive- in movie. 

MISS  BLUE:   You Betchum, I do !!!  Besides the Great Food, they made a monster sized Purple Cow too, in case a Root Beer Float wasn't your thing !!!   Sooo many Moons ago ...

 
Not Guilty!
Except for lying to the police.
Can't say I saw that coming and still glad not to be her.

Like Jane my first job other than baby sitting was as a car hop.  I hated every single second of it!  We didn't wear skates--I would have liked that as I was a great skater--but it was everything else: watching for those headlights, hanging trays on windows, etc.  Tips were good, but I still hated the job.  My parents made me do it.

My mom was a rollerskate car hop for a Spudnut restaurant that is long since gone, she loved it, but she was a social butterfly.  Now we have a Sonic, the food isn't great but it is cheap and fast.  The only people who choose carhop service over the drive through there are the vintage car clubs when they have their monthly get together.  Kind of sad.

Spunuts (potato flour raised doughnuts) were terrific and the guy who made them fresh all day opened at 4:00 AM.
The coffee was excellent and they were the first retail outlet I knew of that had kids out and about taking orders for fund raising.
I've always wondered what a stale one might have tasted like.

Around here the spudnuts have always been made with mashed potatoes instead of potato flour.  Still a local favorite, but now we have to make them ourselves.  Every fall I make apple cider spudnuts...mmmmmmmmmm.
 

Drive-In Restaurants and Drive-In Theaters are reason enough for me to take a one-way trip on Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine.

The summer I got my drivers license, the odds were very, very good that you would find me parked in my favorite stall that was in the domain of my most favorite Car Hop in the magic land of my favorite Dogs-n-Suds.

Loved the dogs, loved the root beer, and had a huge crush on the sweetheart that knew my order without having to ask......which of course I considered magic even though i ordered the same thing seven days a week for months.

I never worked up the courage to ask her out even though she would come over and talk to me when business was slow. I was, and in many ways still am, pretty shy in person....

The Dog-n-Suds is long gone but the memories that came tumbling off of the shelves of my Memory Warehouse are playing in HIgh Definition and i can almost hear The Young Rascals, Simon and Garfunkle, The Stones, The Animals on the radio..... This section of my memory warehouse is illuminated by neon lights and as i stand in their glow, I am totally alive and stll have a silly grin grin wrapped around the hope that i would ask her out the next time she pkaced that gravity defying tray on my window.

Meanwhile and far away, what a grand summer day i am having today. I hope you all are having one too.

 I will clean your garage...

Does anyone ever get out of the car and walk into a restaurant anymore? 
Each year these people (you know who you are) who wait in their car in line, for
no good reason, use up enough gasoline to deplete our country's strategic oil
reserves in one year.  You can't tell me that these are all republicans, tea
party activists, corporate jet owners, hedge fund operators, CEOs or school
teachers.  I am not trying to be divisive here, I am only stating a fact.  
Don't try to fact check me, it has never been accomplished to any degree
of accuracy by the press, Snopes or the Vatican.  On second thought, forget I
mentioned it.  I will continue to get my food twice as fast by walking inside
while y'all wait in line and I will get a fair share of my daily exercise to
work off those extra calories I get when I super size.


I was in New Orleans shortly after a freighter drove into the food
court of the River Walk Mall.  As I remember, luckily no one was killed.  I
don't think anyone skated out to take the crew's order.
 
That's all I got, I hope no animals were injured because of this
post.

Drive-through pick up windows.........abominations!

Is it just me, or is there a shortage of texture in today's world? If there is, that was a high price to pay for....what?

PL ~ It is just you.  Only an architect can appreciate the difference
betwixt and between texture and texting. An architect or a seamstress.  Jane
would know what you are talking about. And Stoney. Just because.
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/contrabass/3345976364/

I tried to perform this once with marbles in my
mouth.
It was a sad day in the history of performance
Art.
From your wayback machine, Mr. Peabody.

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yGarEaWt5M

paolos ~

Good point, good photo.
"Surrounding Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, is a dry-stone wall extending nine miles."
Having paced my forehead against that wall (from the outside), I mentioned that I thought that I heard it hum.
The Beauty thought for a moment, smiled and said: "That was just you, bub."

uliggam- They do Exist http://www.doorcountydrivein.com/ ; Well at least in Door County Wi they do. It's one of my favorite things on my Summer "To Do List"   Stoney & RY - The other Cubs fan at the BOBOB asked me last week if it was too early to say there's always next year.... I told her yes, Well today when i saw her she looked at me and together we yelled there's always next year.. the AM BOBOB customers just about spilled their morning coffee all over...       

rings90 ~
Yeah, when Marmol uncorked that wild one, I didn't even swear. You're right. Now, it is just who can they take down with them?

My Drive In was the Dipsie Doodle where corn dogs were called dip dogs and they made a great chili bun (sans dog) the beanless kind on a steamed bun; and topped off with a cherry coke and a chocolate sundae with wet nuts and hand scooped ice cream that was so hard the servers had to double dip the scoop in the water twice and they had biceps like body builders. There was always someone who could eat the marachino cherry and tie the stem in a knot in their mouth. That alone made a girl a desired date. The juke box speakers blasted outside tunes like the Beach Boys "All Summer Long" and the smell of onion rings permeated the atmosphere. Now that is a good memory of my old Honda and the promise of a double feature at the Twin Aire Drive In theater. Cut off blue jeans were a fashion statement.   

paolos - great choice! I always cranked up the 'reverb' whenever they played We Gotta Get Out of this Place on the radio.

paolos- I always walk into a resturant and I usually lik to take a walk after a big meal.

Peter Lake-Which version of We Gotta Get Outta This Place?  David Johansen or the original?

uliggam- Many women have been "de-cieved" at the drive-in, but only a select few were con-ceived in a '65 Mustang. 
 
These days I worry that the next generation may talk about being concieved in a drive-by.

rings ~ Whatever happened to wait until after the
All Star break?
 
stoney ~ If it were up to me Brewers, Cardinals
and Pirates. 
 
Frisch's was the Drive In of choice in Cincinnati. 
I don't remember any other and I believe that their drive ins were all converted
to drive throughs.  The chain is still in business with the same menu of Big
Boys, Brawny Lads and Buddie Boys.  For some odd reason it was a male dominated
selection.  Cruising the Drive In on a Friday and Saturday night was an Olympic
event.  Long before the golden arches journeyed east, Frisch's reigned
supreme.

Julia.....Eric Burden and the Animals version.....that's the only one I know ...so far

Stoney, about the soon to be once-famous Tot Mom,  I wouldn't want to be her, either, not least because she appears to be a selfish bozo, but also because even a bozo shouldnb;'t have to deal with the loss of a child.     But this case, coupled with the DS-K case reminds us that people who did one horrible thing didn't necessarily do the other horrible thing... Or, as our Fab friends put it, she would  steal but she would not rob...     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yobA-zDpa8

Julia ~ I think walking for pleasure has become a lost art.  Growing up,
our family walked everywhere, to church, to school, to the library, to the
movies.  On weekends we would hike 8 to 10 miles just for a picnic in the
park. On a summer night, after dinner, we would often walk  a mile to the ice
cream shop and another mile back.  It was good for the digestive system and the
sweet tooth. I'm with you, I prefer the walk ins.

MISS BLUE................I adore the wet nuts; just the best!
 
PAOLOS...............Your mention of Frisch's brought back so many memories................they always had the best secret sauce; I remember going there w/ my mother & her best friend. Her friend smoked & I always thought she was glamour personified......................... I also loved their onion rings....................mmmmmmmmmmmm........................................

I thought it might elicit an................mmmmmmmmmmmm........... from you, Miss Bebe.

I do love a joos burger and chocolate malt from Leon's but even more, I love that nobody who pulls in there, ever seems to be in a hurry. It's a time warp or something.
No horns honking, flashing lights or impatient gestures.
The parking is two deep and it is automatic that if you need to get out, the people behind, sometimes two or three cars, will jockey to give you plenty of room in exchange for a smile, a wave or a nod.
Don't get me wrong, it is not the people, it's the place. When they get out of there, all bets are off.

Oh, the Brawny Lad. As constituted at the Bob's Big Boy on Capitol Dr. & 72nd St. in Milwaukee, it was a life saver for me after our mom died.
My little brother was often invited to eat at a friend's. I was too but being a little pickier, sometimes opted out in favor of the lad: a substantial ground round patty with a thick slice of Bermuda onion on a buttered and grilled caraway rye roll.
With ketchup and a Coke, it brought tears to my eyes.

Willie ~
Yes. Not a good day for the legal chattering class.

Paolos - i used to walk to church and school when I was a kid too...but they were both located just a half a block away.....plus three flights of stairs.

PL ~ We walked at least a mile to church and school, uphill, trudging through a foot of snow no matter what season and the return trip was another mile up hill, through freezing rain.  I am pretty sure we lived on a mobius strip.  Or in an M. C. Escher print.