The rock star/hippie look that is being promoted for young people this year, sits in stark contrast to the fashions for young people that appeared in this Sears catalog from 1957. Take for example, the “sharp” sweaters, shirts and ties being suggested for young men in that year. Unless they’re off to an exclusive prep school, the boys you know today are probably not going to be sporting a tie or one of these snazzy sweaters. As Kevin in the movie, “Home Alone” stated, “You can get beat up for wearing something like that”.

All kidding aside, and as a mother myself, I like the way kids used to dress for school, and am sometimes horrified by what I see some kids wearing (or almost NOT wearing). I attended elementary school in the 1960s, and I remember going to public school in a dress everyday. We were not allowed to wear slacks, except for gym day. And even then, they were slacks—no jeans were allowed in school. Sneakers were only worn during gym class. Proper clothing was about conformity then, rather than used as a means to express oneself. By the time I was a teen in the 70s and school dress codes were relaxed, I was in a uniform myself. So my time for self-expression was limited to afterschool hours.

In addition to what is considered to be fashionable, prices are another thing that has changed drastically over the years. In 1957 the price for a boys long-sleeved polo shirt was $1.85 and a girls pullover sweater and mitten set was just $2.83. Of course, the average salary was proportionally lower in the late 50s, too.

Note the haircuts for the girls and boys in these photos as well. The boys’ cuts are reflective of the cuts popular among men in the late 1950s—very short on the sides and back and a little longer on top. The girls’ styles are sweet medium-length cuts. They’re all neat, clean-cut styles that contrast sharply with today’s “emo” and “punk” styles.

As always, it’s interesting to look back and see where we’ve been. We hope you enjoy these pictures and welcome any comments you may have.

Moxie started out as a medicine called “Moxie Nerve Food”, rather than as a soft drink, but eventually became the first nationally marketed soft drink in the US. Its creator was Dr. Augustin Thompson, a Civil War veteran from Union, Maine that was creating patent medicines to complement his earnings from his medical practice in Lowell, Massachusetts. He patented a nostrum, called Moxie Nerve Food, in 1876. A nostrum was a medicine that was like a tonic, only stronger, and was taken by the spoonful (and very often did not actually have any benefit to the patient at all).

Dr. Thompson took note of the recent popularity of soft drinks sold at local soda fountains, and decided to reformulate his medicine. In 1884 Moxie was first sold as a carbonated drink called “Beverage Moxie Nerve Food” and came with slogans like “Delicious, feeds the nerves”. It was very successful despite its strong, medicinal taste and made claims of being able to cure things like imbecility, loss of manhood, and fatigue. These claims had to be modified in 1906 with the passing of the Pure Food and Drug Act. The name was eventually changed simply to “Moxie” and was so well marketed that it became a household word, even making it into the dictionary to mean “spunk”, which is what people felt Moxie gave them when they drank it. Moxie became one of the first mass-produced soft drinks manufactured in the U.S., alongside other drinks like Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper.

Sales were aided by the testimonials of people who believed they got a “lift” from drinking Moxie. In addition, very clever and aggressive advertising boosted Moxie sales. The public began to associate Moxie with places like amusement parks, dance halls, fairs and resorts due to a constant bombardment of advertising. First there were horse-drawn Moxie Bottle Wagons at these locations to make Moxie available to the people attending these events. It made Moxie part of the popular culture of the time and helped people to associate the drink with the fun they were having. In 1916, Dr. Thompson’s partner, Frank Morton Archer came up with the idea of Moxie Horsemobiles. They were cars with a papier mache horse statue built within it on which the driver sat. Later the horse was made of aluminum. Like the wagons, the Horsemobile was intended to keep Moxie soda in the forefront of people’s minds. A few of these cars have survived and still appear in parades.

Frank M. Archer promoted the soft drink by all methods of advertising that were available to him at the time. The name ‘Moxie’ appeared on toys, sheet music, fans and teacups in addition to national print advertising. Film stars and athletes were used to promote Moxie. During the Depression, the company reduced its advertising, even in New England. This caused a reduction in sales that the company never recovered from. In an attempt to revive the company, in 1959 Moxie introduced a new product, called Ted’s Root Beer. It was named after the new company spokesperson, Red Sox star, Ted Williams. Unfortunately, this did not have the resulting sales that they hoped for. In 1967 Moxie was sold to the NuGrape Company of Atlanta and moved to Georgia in 1968. They reformulated Moxie, resulting in the loss of half of their New England customers. So, they went back to the old formula. Moxie was declared Maine’s official state soft drink in 2005. They have a festival every summer in Lisbon, Maine to celebrate Moxie. Today the Moxie trademark and rights are owned by a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of New England (CCNNE), Cornucopia Beverages of Bedford, NH. Moxie is made primarily for New England but there are bottlers all over the country and many of them will ship the beverage. CCNNE lists many chain stores that carry Moxie, such as 7-11, Cumberland Farms, and Shaws. So if you crave a Moxie, it may not be that difficult to find one!

There was a time in New England when it seemed there was always a local ski hill right around the corner. When I was a kid we skied a couple of times at Spicket Hill in Salem, NH. I don’t remember much about it except it was very small and it had a rope tow. Boy, that thing would do a number on your gloves. There was also pretty much a shack that doubled as the lodge at the bottom of the hill.

We also had Methuen Hill over by the Methuen, MA-Pelham, NH line. It was a much shorter but steeper hill with a t-bar tow and a little bunny hill off to the side with a rope tow. I believe it was lighted so you could ski at night.

Another I remember, but never skied at, was Landry’s in Windham. Coincidently, I happened to move to Windham many years later and came upon the rope tow building at the top of the old hill while mountain biking.

My guess is that these, along with all of the others, eventually shut down because of the cost of insurance, inconsistent snow from year to year and the value of the real estate. Still, they were an interesting part of New England History. Blog-in and let us know your memories of these and the many other small hills that dotted New England all those years ago. Also we would love to get your photos to add.

After I wrote this blog I looked around the Internet and came across this site: http://www.nelsap.org/. There’s a very interesting extensive list of lost New England ski areas.

We have a pretty large collection of restaurant-ware coffee cups at the Retroplanet.com offices. When looking it over one day I could not help but think about how much Dunkin’ Donuts has changed from the old days. Dunkin’s opened its first store in Quincy, MA in 1950. Probably 35 years ago or so, my friends and I would go to the Dunkin’s on Rt. 28 in Methuen, MA late at night after playing hockey.

Back then Dunkin’s was an actual coffee shop with a full menu, waitresses and real coffee cups like this one. The donuts were made right there in the back room and they were always coming out fresh. They also had a much larger variety. The service was good and the donuts were excellent.

These days there seems to be Dunkin’s everywhere, at least in New England. There are literally seven Dunkin’s within a mile and a half radius of the Retroplanet.com offices. At the end of 2007, there were 7,988 Dunkin’ Donuts stores worldwide with sales of $5.3 billion. That’s a lot of coffee and donuts. They certainly have come a long way from a single store 59 years ago. Some might argue that more and bigger is not necessarily better but still, Dunkin’ Donuts is a true testament to what can be accomplished in this great country of ours.

Blog-in with your Dunkin’ memories and let us know which were your favorite donuts that are now extinct. (Mine was the pistachio.)

Anyone remember their first real road trip? Mine occurred in 1977 when my friends Dan, John “Frenchy”, Ray and I decided to go to Florida for the week and somehow it was agreed upon that my 1973 Monte Carlo would be the transportation. I guess I didn’t mind too much. It was a decent car and we all agreed to share the expenses. Technically, the Monte Carlo wasn’t my first car but was the first car I would trust to go further than 10 miles.

So after a little planning, we packed up the car and off we went. Someone suggested we stop at Niagara Falls on the way, and being a bunch of geographically challenged teenagers, it sounded like a good idea. I guess we didn’t realize it was about 450 miles out of the way. But at least I got this great picture of Dan & Frenchy when they climbed over the safety barrier and stood by the Falls.

So after a brief visit to The Falls, we headed south to Florida. Some things are kind of a blur, but I think we just drove straight through taking turns at the wheel. Before you knew it, and after one speeding ticket, we were at Disney World. We made a stop in Daytona Beach and then we were off to Virginia Beach. In Virginia Beach we met up with Al & Tommy who had driven down from NH. We also hooked up with Kyle who was in the Navy and stationed in Norfolk. We had a great time just hanging out. While in VA Beach we saw the group The Cars in some small club for 99 cents that I think was named Rogues. Being from the Boston area we knew about the band but apparently no one in VA did, because there were only a handful of people and us. It was a great trip but not without controversy. In Dan’s eyes splitting the expenses did not include the speeding ticket. I still give him grief about that move.

A trip like this can make memories to last a lifetime. I still hang out with most of those guys. In fact I’m with Frenchy in Florida as I write this and we all occasionally reminisce about our first road trip and the many others after that one. My sons are getting to the age when they will probably come to me and say they are heading somewhere with a bunch of friends. I will be reluctant and nervous about letting them go, but I also know it is part of growing up and I hope they will have as good a trip as we did.

Blog-in and let us know about your first car/first road trip.

From B Movie to Respected Movie Genre

The Spaghetti Western is a film genre that originated around 1960. The genre encompasses movies with a Western theme that were made primarily by Italians, but has also come to encompass any Western made in continental Europe. The American Western had always been a favorite movie genre for Europeans. A few European Westerns were made as early as 1901, but these were not notable films and had little impact on movie-making trends.

If my personal experience is any evidence, Westerns had a huge impact on Europeans’ perception of Americans. In the early 1970s my family had guests stay with us from England. They expressed their shock at discovering we weren’t all cowboys in the US and that we didn’t carry revolvers. It seems that, beside “Starsky and Hutch”, the majority of American television that was broadcast to England consisted of American Western films.

It was a reduction in the number of American Westerns being made that induced filmmakers abroad to make their own attempts at producing them. Beginning in 1960, production of Westerns in the US had tapered off considerably due to market and distribution concerns. This made Westerns very difficult to obtain in Europe and convinced European moviemakers to try their own hand at Western movie production. The first attempts were poor imitations of American-made B movies, of low quality and badly dubbed. One movie that was successful was the Spanish-British collaboration “Savage Guns” (1961). It was filmed in the Almeria province of Spain and starred two Hollywood actors, Richard Basehart and Alex Nichol and also featured two Spanish actors, Paquita Rico and Maria Granada. It was directed by Michael Carreras, a British director and producer of B horror movies like “The Curse of Frankenstein” (1957). The storyline wasn’t very original, but it was a decent foreign-made Western.

Most typically, a Spaghetti Western had both an Italian producer and director who collaborated with a Spanish co-producer. This was because the films were usually shot in Spain. The Andalusia region of Spain looks the most like the American Southwest. The Tabernas Desert in Almeria was often used because of the region’s close resemblance to the Mexican border. Filming was also done in the studios back in Italy. Usually the cast was made up of both Italian and Spanish actors, but very often attracted multiple nationalities. Extras were generally Spanish locals. The name “Spaghetti Western” originated with critics who intended for it to be a derogatory label.

In 1962, the German producer Horst Wenlandt and director Harald Reinl produced “The Treasure of Silver Lake”. The movie was filmed in Yugoslavia and starred the American actor Lex Barker and French actor Pierre Brice. Barker played a frontiersman and Brice portrayed his Indian companion as they acted out the frontier adventure stories written by author Karl May. It was extremely popular with audiences and won Germany’s Golden Screen Award in 1964. It also paved the way for a slew of other German, Italian and Spanish Westerns to be made by 1964. Critically, they were not very well-made movies, but they were very popular and more producers continued to get in on the action.

In 1964 a Western was released in Europe that has become a classic among the Spaghetti Western genre — “A Fistful of Dollars” (“Per un Pugno di Dollari”). It was an Italian, German and Spanish collaboration, made by a little known director named Sergio Leone. He had been given a paltry $200,000 to make a Western using a pile of leftover film. He chose a script based on a samurai epic and the American television actor, Clint Eastwood, to make what was intended to be a throwaway film. He hired the music composer, Ennio Morricone, to write musical scores that have become synonymous with the Spaghetti Western genre. “A Fistful of Dollars” introduced the character of the lone gunman as a man who would do anything for money. This new anti-hero, combined with Leone’s filming style, naked violence and eerie music came together to make a Western unlike any made before it. His depiction of the Wild West was anything but romantic; it was brutal and very real. The film was a big hit among audiences in Europe, but it was not released in the US until 1967.

Clint Eastwood was not the first choice when casting was done for “A Fistful of Dollars”. There were actually several actors considered for the lead role. Sergio Leone’s first choice of actor to play “The Man with No Name” was actually Henry Fonda, but there were insufficient funds in their budget to hire a major Hollywood star. Leone’s next choice was Charles Bronson, who turned down the role because he didn’t like the script. The role was then offered to Ty Hardin, James Coburn and Richard Harrison, all of who turned the opportunity down. Harrison was an American actor who, after unsuccessful attempts at launching his acting career in Hollywood, had moved to Italy where he starred in a long succession of gladiator films, something that was very popular in the 1960s. Harrison was responsible for recommending Clint Eastwood for the part, and as he said, “Maybe my greatest contribution to cinema was not doing ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, and recommending Clint for the part.” “A Fistful of Dollars” became the standard by which other Spaghetti Westerns were judged and on which they were modeled. It was also the first Western movie to have a major international release.

The financial success of “A Fistful of Dollars” kept movie producers focused on the Spaghetti Western and they not only continued to put money into the genre, but also were spending larger amounts on it. Leone followed his successful movie up with the sequel in 1965 called “For A Few Dollars more”. Lee Van Cleef was a retired Hollywood character actor that was paired up with Clint Eastwood. Together they played bounty hunters competing to capture a killer. The sequel’s success made Eastwood and Van Cleef international movie stars, Leone a famous Western movie director, and Morricone a highly successful composer of movie scores. Leone released a third movie, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966), which was the third release in what has become known as Leone’s Dollars Trilogy. It has also become the most famous of all the Spaghetti Westerns.

Ennio Morricone’s musical scores broke new ground in the Leone films and his compositions established the style of music for Spaghetti Westerns. His music was truly innovative, using human voices, whistles and rhythms sounding like the hoof beats of running horses. Many have tried to imitate him or were influenced by him when creating their own individual styles. Francesco DeMasi was a very successful Italian conductor and composer, but is best known for writing musical scores for 35 Spaghetti Westerns, like “Ringo the Lone Rider” (1967) and “Payment in Blood” (1968). Another successful Spaghetti Western composer was Bruno Nicolai, creating sound scores for “Run, Man, Run” (1968) and “Adios Sabata” (1970).  Soundtracks of many of these Westerns have become very collectible on their own, leading to previously unavailable recordings now being offered on iTunes.

Eventually the success of the European Westerns lead to renewed interest among American filmmakers to produce American Westerns. (Ironically, some of them were filmed in Spain.) For the most part, these American Western movies failed to capture the style of the Spaghetti Westerns. They had their successes, but as a separate genre. Clint Eastwood’s “High Plains Drifter” (1973) was an American-made Spaghetti Western that was a great success, but was a remake of a 1969 Italian Western called “Django the Bastard” by Sergio Garrone. The heyday of the Spaghetti Western continued into the mid-1970s before movie studio interest tapered off. Now as reruns, videos and DVDs they exist to be rediscovered over and over again by each new generation.

Originally the term “Spaghetti Western” was used to denote poorly made, low-budget films with repetitive storylines. But by the 1980s, many of these movies had become fan favorites and began to enjoy both a new respect and regard, as does the classification of Spaghetti Western. Both the movies and the soundtracks have proven themselves to be timeless and will certainly continue to influence many age groups and cultures into the future.

Coca-Cola was first bottled by the Biedenharn Candy Company in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1894. The proprietor, Joseph A. Biedenharn, was a customer of The Coca-Cola Company, buying Coca-Cola syrup and serving the soft drink to customers at his soda fountain. He came up with the idea of making Coke available to people that lived in the country where they did not have a local soda fountain. Bottling Coca-Cola was the answer. Cases of Coke could then be sent to into the countryside so more people could enjoy it, and obviously, more sales could be made. Biedenharn’s first customers were plantations and lumber camps along the Mississippi River. He sent a case of bottled Coca-Cola to the owner of The Coca-Cola Company, Asa G. Candler, but at the time, Candler wasn’t interested in getting involved in bottling, but rather, wanted to focus on soda fountain sales.

It wasn’t until 1899 that Candler agreed to sell bottling rights to two young attorneys, Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead. They negotiated exclusive rights to Coca-Cola bottling for most of the U.S., with the specific exception of Vicksburg, for one dollar. A third lawyer joined them, and together, they divided the U.S. into territories where they sold bottling rights to other entrepreneurs. By 1909, there were almost 400 bottling plants, most of them family-owned.

The original Coca-Cola bottle was one that Biedenharn was already using to put soda water into with equipment he had bought from Sarasota Springs. His company was already bottling many other beverages prior to bottling Coke. These bottles were Hutchinson blob-top bottles that were embossed with “Biedenharn Candy Company, Vicksburg, Miss.”. The straight-sided bottles have become known as Biedenharn bottles. The bottles were sealed with a rubber disk that changed the taste of the soda after a few days. In the early 1900’s Biedenharn switched to a straight-sided crown bottle, with a traditional cork-lined bottle cap, that did not affect the taste of the soft drink. But due to the changeability of the glass color from clear to blue, green or even amber, they lacked a standard look to the product. At the time, everyone was using a straight-sided bottle for their soft drinks, regardless of the brand so there was nothing to set one brand apart from the others. A search of “old Coke bottles” will show a wide variety of shapes, sizes and logo embossing that were used by different bottlers in the early years of Coca-Cola bottling.

The people at The Coca-Cola Company realized there was a need for a new design for their bottles to create a more distinctive look and also to discourage imitators. Ben Thomas, one of the original bottlers of Coke, was quoted as saying, “We need a bottle which a person can recognize as a Coca-Cola bottle when he feels it in the dark.” A competition to design the best bottle was initiated, and eleven designs were shown to a Coca-Cola committee in Atlanta. A design from the Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana was approved in 1915. Stories say the design was supposed to be based on the shape of one of the two ingredients of Coke, the coca leaf or the cola nut. These stories claim that the designers were unable to find reference for either, so they used the gourd-shaped cocoa pod as a model instead. (The cocoa pod is the source for chocolate, and has nothing to do with the ingredients in Coca-Cola.) Earl R. Dean of the Root Glass Company had originally created a prototype with a middle that was wider than the base of the bottle. This bottle never went into production, because the shape would have made the bottle unstable, causing it to tip over on a conveyor belt. The design was revised and in 1916 the bottle was being used. This was the 6.5-ounce contour bottle, or hobble skirt bottle that Coca-Cola became associated with. It is one of the few packages to be granted a trademark by the U.S. Patent Office (in 1977). These early bottles came in clear, aqua, blue and green. Starting in 1924, the hobble-skirt bottles only came in green. This is excepting those produced from 1942-1945 since copper was used to produce the green color, and it was in short supply due to the war.

In 1955 additional glass bottle sizes were introduced; the 10-, 12- and 26-ounce sizes. The design of the contour bottle has had small modifications over years, but has remained essentially the same. Although Coca-Cola is now widely distributed in plastic, customers still request Coca-Cola in glass contour bottles.

Retroplanet.com has several replicas of Coca-Cola bottles through the years. Be sure to check them out!

I was a very proud owner of a Schwinn Classic Sting-Ray around 1970. It was a metallic royal blue with matching “banana” seat. As a girl, I had the requisite white basket with flower appliqués. Naturally, my brothers wouldn’t be caught dead on my bike. But I spent most of my good-weather days on that bike riding around with my brothers and the neighborhood kids.

The Schwinn Sting-Ray was developed by Al Fritz. He was an engineer at Schwinn that in 1962 had observed an interesting new trend. On the west coast, kids were outfitting their bikes with customized parts to personalize them. In particular he noted the banana seats and the “ape hanger” handlebars that were inspired by the popularity of “muscle” cars and motorcycles in the early 1960’s. Fritz decided to create a new bicycle model that incorporated the modifications he had seen in California. According to Schwinn bicycle history, Al Fritz consulted a dictionary to come up with an appropriate name for the new bike. He chose Sting-Ray, “after the winged creature of the sea.”

In 1963 the Sting-Ray was released onto the market and was met with a varied response. Adults thought the design was “ugly” or “weird”, where kids loved it. Despite the price tag of $49,95, the Sting-Ray rapidly became the best-selling bike in the US. Schwinn sold over 40,000 Sting-Rays just in the first year, and probably could have sold more, except that they had run out of 20-inch tires to put on the bikes!

Schwinn continued to lead in bicycle sales for 10 years, releasing new colors and styles each year. In 1964 Schwinn released the first Sting-Ray specifically for girls, called the Fair Lady model. This bike was painted in pastel colors and was equipped with a basket. This model was a tremendous seller. In 1968, 70% of all bikes sold were Sting-Rays or clones of the popular bike. Schwinn had become an American icon.

The most popular model of the Sting-Ray was, and continues to be, the Krate. With its 20-inch rear and 16-inch front tires and hot-rod colors, this bike “was by far the most tricked-out Sting-Ray ever created”, according to the Schwinn website. I have to agree. There wasn’t anything else at the time that one child would have envied another for more than one of these bikes. This model was introduced in 1968 priced from $86.95 to $129.95. In two years’ time, Schwinn sold over one million Krates.

Things got tough for Schwinn when they failed to follow the shift in popularity from the Sting-Ray to the BMX bicycle, to mountain bikes. In 1993, Schwinn filed for bankruptcy. The Schwinn family was bought out and the company was moved the following year from Chicago to Boulder Colorado. The name was changed to the Schwinn/GT Corporation and continued to operate successfully under new management, until they ran into trouble in 2001 and had to file for bankruptcy again. Pacific Cycle bought the company in September of 2001, and was in turn bought by Dorel Industries, Inc. in 2004. The Pacific Cycle Division in now based in Wisconsin and still manufactures Schwinn bicycles today.

Also known as “The Mother Road” and the “Will Rogers highway”, Route 66 was a national roadway that extended from the eastern region of the United States to the west coast. Its purpose was to connect both rural and urban streets to a major roadway system. The idea for a road extending from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California was originally proposed by Cyrus Avery of Tulsa, Oklahoma and John Woodruff of Springfield, Missouri, two businessmen that foresaw the increase in sales and business that could occur with better access to more remote regions of the country. There were already cross-country highways in existence at the time, but they were laid out on straighter courses, causing them to bypass small towns along the way. The two businessman lobbied for this new, meandering highway, and in 1926 the government agreed to take existing roads and build connections where needed to link smaller communities with big cities. They designated the new roadway “Route 66”. Conveniently, the new highway passed directly by Cyrus Avery’s filling station and restaurant.

The Great Depression hit soon after construction on the new highway began, but work was halted only for a brief time. Thousands of out-of-work men were hired to pave the road that stretched more than 2,300 miles. It was fully completed in 1938. The newly constructed Route 66 played a major role during WWII, allowing the transport of troops and equipment to California, where many military bases and wartime factories were built. After the war, many men that had been trained in California decided to leave their less temperate home states and settle in California permanently.

With the advent of postwar prosperity, there was an economic boom as diners and motels sprang up along Route 66. There were unique places to eat along the way with names like the The Cozy Dog Drive In, The Steak and Shake and the Pig Hip Restaurant. At first, auto camps and cabin camps were created on the roadsides for weary travelers. The freestanding cabins and cottages later evolved into motels with names like the Will Rogers Motor Court, the Wagon Wheel Motel and the Wigwam Motel. The first McDonald’s restaurant was erected along Route 66 in San Bernardino, California in 1945. Today it houses the McDonald’s Route 66 Museum.

The original Route 66 passed through eight states and three time zones. The eight states were Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Unfortunately, Americans decided they needed a more direct route for faster and more efficient transportation. As a result, most of Route 66 was bypassed by a modern four-lane highway in 1970. Interstate 40 bypassed the last remaining portion in 1984 and all references to Route 66 disappeared from official road maps. Today there are numerous websites, museums and books devoted to maintaining the memory of the road as it was. There are many places along the former Route 66 that are still standing and some are still in business. A few of these are:

• Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma.
• The restored Metro Diner in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• Phillips 66 Gas Station in McLean, Texas that was built in the 1920’s, and was restored in 1993.
• The midpoint sign in Adrian, Texas (Los Angeles and Chicago are both 1139 miles in opposite directions from the sign).
• The Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas (10 Caddys, from 1957 to 1963 models) were buried nose first by an Amarillo tycoon by the name of Stanley Marsh III.
• Zia Motel in Grants, New Mexico (opened in the 1930’s and is still operating today).
• Texaco Station on the corner of Route 66 and First Street, Tucumcari, New Mexico that is the only gas station to have operated continuously from the opening of the highway to the present.
• Powerhouse Route 66 Museum & Visitor Center is a restored powerhouse, Kingman Arizona.
• Beautifully restored Shangri La Hotel in Santa Monica, California, at the end of Route 66.
Route 66 will always be remembered as a symbol of the growth and renewal following two of the most difficult times in the country’s history—the Great Depression and World War II. It brought about enormous economic growth and became a symbol of the free-spiritedness and optimism people were feeling as they moved from times of crisis to those of prosperity.

I remember hearing about the New York City Automats from my mother as I was growing up. Ironically, the first automats were not in NYC, but in Philadelphia. But first, for those of you who are not familiar with them, what was an automat?

In 1888 Joe Horn and Frank Hardart were two hard-working and driven men with a strong desire to run a restaurant. They became partners and opened up a 11 x 17 foot lunchroom without space for tables, only a counter long enough to accommodate 15 stools. Soon, their lunchroom became famous for its New Orleans-style French-drip coffee and the quality of the food that was served. Before long, these two very ambitious and service-oriented gentlemen were running several lunchrooms in Philadelphia. As the number of restaurants grew, they found the need to have a central commissary where all the food was prepared and supplied to the various lunchrooms. In 1900, they were approached by a salesman who heard of their ambition and success, and approached them with drawings of a machine, that up until then, had only existed in Europe. Invented by the Swiss and manufactured in Germany, it was modeled after the “waiter-less restaurant” in Berlin.

This new restaurant was called the Automat. In 1902 the first Horn & Hardart Automat opened on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. The early automat machines were not like the sleek, chrome and glass machines used later in New York. The original prototype was made of brass, and was more decorative than functional. The windows displayed a sample of the food that could be ordered, not the actual dish. For hot dishes, a coin was deposited, and one waited until the food was sent up the basement on a dumbwaiter. A second coin was deposited to retrieve the food from behind the window.

Eventually, automats evolved into the Art Deco-style machines that were installed in New York City. The first Horn & Hardart Automat was opened in Times Square in 1912. Seated at glass booths inside the Automat were ladies that would convert bills and larger coins to nickels to operate the food machines. It’s been said that they were so adept at their jobs that they could grab a dollar’s worth of nickels without looking or counting them. The nickels were placed in the slots beside the various cold foods that were available. The knob was turned, and the food was rotated into the slot. The door could then be lifted, and the food taken out and placed on a tray. Behind the machine, an Automat employee would place another plate of food in the machine. One could continue from window to window until they put together their meal made up of a sandwiches, rolls, pie etc. Hot foods were selected from a buffet-style table. When the customer had everything they wanted, they sat at a table or counter to eat their meal.

The food in the Automats was always prepared fresh each day. Leftovers were not allowed. Because of this, and the sanitary way the food was dispensed, customers were reassured that the food they were buying was fresh and safe. It was also very affordable, which was important to the working class people who ate at the Automats. This was especially true during the Depression. When times got really tough, people were known to make a type of soup from the hot water and ketchup at the Automat. Homeless people were known to nurse a cup of coffee all day to stay out of the cold.

On the brighter side, the Automats were a bustling place, especially in the location on Broadway in Manhattan, where you could have been seated beside an actor or dancer. As was written in the NY Times, “Indeed, for generations of New Yorkers, the Automat vending machine was the source of the archetypal workaday lunch. Throw your nickels in the slot, open the window, pull out the roast beef and the sweet potatoes, watch the coffee pour out of the lion-, dolphin- or duck-head spigot, sit down at a table with three other strangers, eat, bus your own tray and leave.” My mother was one of the thousands of people that worked in midtown Manhattan in the 1950’s as a keypunch operator at Lever Brothers on Park Ave. She was the first person I heard about Automats from. Many people have probably never heard of or seen one of them. The last remaining New York Automat, on East 42nd Street, closed in 1991. Automats are making somewhat of a comeback in New York again. There is a sentimental attachment to them for a lot of people, and a few restaurants have acquired the automat machines and are using them either for decorative purposes, or as displays for their food. They will most likely never be back the way they were before, having been replaced by less wholesome fast foods served from drive-through windows. Like a lot of other things, automats were a reflection of the time in which they existed.

Quotes from some famous Automat customers:

“I have always thought that the Automat in New York has the best scrambled eggs in the world.” — Gregory Peck

“Oh, be still my heart! I used to shine shoes when I was fourteen years old. And when I was a little ahead, I would stop at Horn & Hardart.” — Tony Curtis

“I lived at the Automat. They had the greatest chocolate milk. When I moved to Philadelphia, I apportioned less than two dollars a day to eat on, and the Automat was the only place I could do it.” — Dick Clark

“I went to the Automat all the time. I grew up going to the Automat. The food was delicious. And it was wonderful.” — Woody Allen

“The first time I came to New York, I had a meal at the Automat. I had heard about the Automat, and I had to go see what it was all about.” — Leonard Nimoy