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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:
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A&W Since 1919.
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Ardy & Ed’s Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
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Arnold’s drive-in in Decatur, Indiana.
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Big Daddy’s Drive-In in South Carolina.
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Big Daddy’s Drive-In in Auburn, Washington.
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Bob’s Big Boy Broiler reopened in Los Angeles.
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Bummies drive-in in Bluffton, Indiana.
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Charlie’s Drive-In Restaurants in Hortonville, Wisconsin.
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Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants in Seattle.
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Didleys Metamora, Illinois.
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Eat’n Park Chain of drive-ins.
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Fender’s Drive-In Restaurant Holland, Mass.
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The Frosted Mug Drive-In Closed/abandoned. Chicago area.
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Hi Lite Drive In Marshall Michigan.
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JB’s Drive In Restaurant and appliance repair.
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Keller’s Drive-in Dallas.
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La Salle Drive-In Quebec, Canada.
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Lendy’s fan page about Lendy’s drive-in.
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Louis Original Drive In Restaurant Knoxville, TN.
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Mel’s Drive-In famous California drive-in.
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Pat’s Drive-In Tuscon, AZ
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Pilot Butte Drive-In Bend, Oregon.
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The Rebel Drive In “Home of the Lottaburger” Cleveland Tennessee.
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Rudy’s Drive-In for over 70 years!
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Sonic, America’s Drive-in™ Popular franchise.
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Tom’s Drive-in in Wisconsin.
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Triple XXX Family Restaurant, Since 1929 West Lafayette, IN
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The Varsity A famous Atlanta drive in still going strong.
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Wayne’s Drive Inn Lawton, Oklahoma.
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White Spot Drive-Ins Since 1928
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Wright’s Dairy Rite in Staunton, Virginia since 1952.
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XXX Root Beer Drive-In in Issaquah, WA.
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Wot-A-Dog Drive-In in New Carlisle, OH.
Articles about drive-in restaurants:
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A&W Restaurants Returns To Roots With New Drive-Ins Article in the Birmingham Business Journal.
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Drive-in Restaurants Are Still Hopping Places Article in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
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Flintstones FAQ Fred & family enjoy a big slab of ribs @ the drive in.
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Popular Mechanics Nov 1951 Car Hop Orders Speeded By Walkie Talkie
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Popular Mechanics Sep 1949 Tray on Trestle Serves at Drive in
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Pig Stand first drive-in.
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The Sonic boom Chain Of Drive-Ins Making Big Comeback
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Why is it called a “hamburger” when there is no ham in it? From the How Stuff Works web site.
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1941 Life Magazine article about Queen of the Carhops.
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The carhops are gone but this Pennsylvania mainstay continues to drive sales with ‘good quality food at reasonable prices’. About Eat’n Park.
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Fast Food From the St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture.
Organizations, Authors, and historical resources:
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American Folk People, folklore and American culture.
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American Memory Project from the U.S. Library of Congress. This links to the drive-in subject list.
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Cantor Drive-In Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s drive-in design (photo of the model).
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Celia Brown’s & The Original Car Hops with neat ’30s photos. [links to web archive.org]
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Feb 26, 1940 Life Magazine car hop cover story.
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A Century Of Cars Neat article from Popular Mechanics.
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Detroit Public Library’s National Automotive History Collection the nation’s premier public automotive archive.
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Drive-in historyShort timeline from the Lubbock, Texas, Avalanche-Journal.
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Drive-In Restaurants Article by the Kentucky Heritage Council.
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From Hula Hoops to Hanoi: L.A. Concerns 1954-1965 The Security Pacific National Bank Historic Photograph Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library.
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The Igloo Lost Landmark of Seattle’s Auto-Tecture
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Jim Heimann, author of Car Hops And Curb Service (you can buy it below)
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lileks.com James Lileks’ hilarious site.
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PCA Popular Culture Association & American Culture Association.
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Porky’s Drive-Ins St. Paul, MN.
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Michael Karl Witzel Car culture journalist Karl Michael Witzel’s site.
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Shooster’s Drive-In Chester, PA.
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Sign Museum With online exhibits.
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Society for Commercial Archeology “the oldest national organization devoted to the commercial-built environment.”
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Thom.org Neat photo of a drive-in in Burns, Oregon.
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Michigan Drive-In Restaurants from Jim Rees.
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More Michigan Drive-Ins big site.
Merchandise:
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Diner-Mite They design and manufacture new, 1950-s style, Stainless Steel Diners.
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Fifties Heaven Tray King Car Hop Trays! (And more)
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Judy Garland’s Carhop Boots Only $900.
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Mary Jo from Precious Moments Nostalgia Series.
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Stan Cline Nostalgia Gallery Fine art featuring drive-ins (PDF FILE)
Roadside treasures:
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Roadside America I could spend all day here.
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Roadside Art Online: Ruins Very very cool.
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Roadside Peek similar site.
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USA Yesterday and TODAY Old Sites along the roads of the USA.
Photos
- Click the image for a bigger version.
Inside Rip’s shortly before it was demolished.
- It was a snowy day when Rip’s was torn down in early 1985.
- Rip’s Menu Front 1956.
- Rip’s Menu Back 1956.
Bibliography
Video
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Interview with Michael Karl Witzel, author, “The American Drive-In Restaurant: History and Folklore of the Drive-In Restaurant in American Car Culture.”
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Commercial – Tops Drive In Restaurant (Home of the Sir Loiner)
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.)