Jilly's Drive-in Restaurant Page

Welcome to my drive-in page. Below you'll find links to some drive-in restaurant resources on the Web, find a small bibliography of drive-in restaurant books, and find some links to photos of my dad's drive-in, Rip's. My mom was a carhop.

Web resources

Drive-in restaurant homepages:

Didleys Metamora, Illinois.
A&W Since 1919.
Ardy & Ed's Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Arnold's drive-in in Decatur, Indiana.
Bummies drive-in in Bluffton, Indiana.
Charlie's Drive-In Restaurants in Hortonville, Wisconsin.
Dick's Drive-In Restaurants in Seattle.
Eat'n Park Chain of drive-ins.
Fender's Drive-In Restaurant Holland, Mass.
The Frosted Mug Drive-In Only Chicago-area drive-in with carhops.
JB's Drive In Restaurant and appliance repair.
Keller's Drive-in Dallas.
La Salle Drive-In Quebec, Canada.
Lendy's fan page about Lendy's drive-in.
Louis Original Drive In Restaurant Knoxville, TN.
Mel's Drive-In famous California drive-in.
Pilot Butte Drive-In Bend, Oregon.
The Rebel Drive In "Home of the Lottaburger" Cleveland Tennessee.
Sonic, America's Drive-in™ Popular franchise.
Tom's Drive-in in Wisconsin.
Triple XXX Family Restaurant, Since 1929 West Lafayette, IN
The Varsity A famous Atlanta drive in still going strong.
Wayne’s Drive Inn Lawton, Okhlahoma.
White Spot Drive-Ins Since 1928
Wright's Dairy Rite in Staunton, Virginia since 1952.
XXX Root Beer Drive-In in Issaquah, WA.

Articles abut drive-in restaurants:

At Stewart's, The Carhops Keep The Place Rolling From the Asbury Park Press.
A&W Restaurants Returns To Roots With New Drive-Ins Article in the Birmingham Business Journal.
Drive-in Restaurants Are Still Hopping Places Article in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
Flintstones FAQ Fred & family enjoy a big slab of ribs @ the drive in.
Pig Stand first drive-in.
The Sonic boom Chain Of Drive-Ins Making Big Comeback
Those Carhops & Waitresses! From Janie's Big Boy Webpage
Why is it called a "hamburger" when there is no ham in it? From the How Stuff Works web site.
The carhops are gone but this Pennsylvania mainstay continues to drive sales with 'good quality food at reasonable prices'. About Eat'n Park.
Fast Food From the St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture.

Organizations, Authors, and historical resources:

American Folk People, folklore and American culture.
American Memory Project from the U.S. Library of Congress. This links to the drive-in subject list.
Cantor Drive-In Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's drive-in design (photo of the model).
Celia Brown's & The Original Car Hops with neat '30s photos.
A Century Of Cars Neat article from Popular Mechanics.
Detroit Public Library's National Automotive History Collection the nation's premier public automotive archive.
Drive-in historyShort timeline from the Lubbock, Texas, Avalanche-Journal.
Drive-In Restaurants Article by the Kentucky Heritage Council.
From Hula Hoops to Hanoi: L.A. Concerns 1954-1965 The Security Pacific National Bank Historic Photograph Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library.
The Igloo Lost Landmark of Seattle's Auto-Tecture
Jim Heimann, author of Car Hops And Curb Service (you can buy it below)
lileks.com James Lileks' hilarious site.
PCA Popular Culture Association & American Culture Association.
Porky's Drive-Ins St. Paul, MN.
Michael Karl Witzel Car culture journalist Karl Michael Witzel's site.
Shooster's Drive-In Chester, PA.
Sign Museum With online exhibits.
Society for Commercial Archeology "the oldest national organization devoted to the commercial-built environment."
Thom.org Neat photo of a drive-in in Burns, Oregon.
Michigan Drive-In Restaurants from Jim Rees.
More Michigan Drive-Ins big site.

Merchandise:

Diner-Mite They design and manufacture new, 1950-s style, Stainless Steel Diners.
Fifties Heaven Tray King Car Hop Trays! (And more)
Judy Garland's Carhop Boots Only $900.
Mary Jo from Precious Moments Nostalgia Series.
Stan Cline Nostalgia Gallery Fine art featuring drive-ins (PDF FILE)

Roadside treasures:

Roadside America I could spend all day here.
Roadside Art Online: Ruins Very very cool.
Roadside Peek similar site.
USA Yesterday and TODAY Old Sites along the roads of the USA.

Photos

Inside Rip's Inside Rip's drive in shortly before it was demolished.
Demolition It was a snowy day when Rip's was torn down in early 1985.
Rip's Menu Coming soon a .pdf version of an original Rip's menu from the mid-1950's.

Bibliography

The American Drive-In by Michael Karl Witzel. A must for drive in afficianados.
Car Hops and Curb Service : A History of American Drive-In Restaurants 1920-1960
Drive-In Deluxe (Enthusiast Color Series) by Michael Karl Witzel. Smaller, paperback new edition of American Drive In.
Where Have You Gone, Starlight Cafe? America's Golden Era Roadside Restaurants
Going Going Gone : Vanishing Americana Essays on the spread of the United States of Generica.
Googie : Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture Neat art & architecture book.
The Great Good Place : Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts and How They Get You Through the Day Wonderful, readable sociology book with a huge title.
Diners great art book by John Baeder.

Oral History

Dad Coming eventually my dad's oral history of Rip's Drive In.

I collect drive in restaurant ephemera--email me below if you have some to offer. I've been asked if I have drive-in trays--I just have a few and of course they have sentimental value. I have seen some for auction at Ebay. (Along with Drive In Theater speakers.)