And now a word from our sponsor.
I'm not much into cars but I was quite taken with this little number. It reminds me of one of my all-time favourite automobiles, the Nash Rambler. "Beep beep! Beep beep! It's horn went beep beep beep!" Anyone other than me remember that golden oldie? My family used to go for burgers at the then drive-in A&W, as opposed to the now drive-thru. It seemed so exotic to have a waitress roller skate out to the car bearing small trays laden with fat-loaded foods. The little trays were hooked to the edge of the side windows, outside the car. The windows had to be rolled to just the right height.
At another burger place, the White Spot, long metallic trays were inserted across the whole interior width of the car, from driver's window to passenger's, and hooked into the sill. It was a bit like eating from a trough, though.
After this fine dining experience, we would often "go for a spin" in the car, usually with me standing up in the back, leaning over the front seat for a better view, while my dad twiddled the radio dial and my mum smoked a Black Cat cigarette.
Those were the days!
Wow, the things that changed in just a few years... I pretty much missed out on these places, by the time I got to be old enough to be going out for burgers in a car, McDo was already starting to take off, and the drive-in joints were getting few and far between, same as drive in movies, I only went to one like once...
ReplyDeleteYou missed out on some fun,Owen, but I'm pretty sure you made up for it in other ways. I remember the change-over to Mickey D's...weren't burgers something like 25 cents when they started out?
ReplyDeleteMy mother tells me they used to stash me on the shelf in front of the back window of the car when I was but an infink and they went to a drive-in movie. There was still a drive-in around when I was at university. I remember going to see a double or triple bill and being unexpectedly exposed to The Night of the Living Dead! (and those were just the people in the parking lot!)
WV: horulift As in, "From screaming so much at 'The Night of the Living Dead' her face was stuck in a permament horulift."
:O
While riding in my Cadillac
ReplyDeleteWhat to my surprise
A little Nash Rambler was following me
About one third my size
The guy musta wanted to pass me up
As he kept on tooting his horn
I'll show him that a Cadillac is not a car to scorn
Beep beep beep beep
His horn went beep beep beep
Some things we don't forget! And what a cute layout with the perfect convertible Nash Rambler, bottle of A&W Root Beer and mugs!
Remember being a teenager with your friends driving around the drive-in strip for hours?
Thanks for the stroll!
Beep beep, Margaret! Yay, you remember it! There were so many corny, jokey, "themed" songs back then, with surprise endings.
ReplyDeleteMy 4 teenage friends and I mostly gathered in my bedroom to listen to the latest Dylan, Baez, Beatles and Stones albums or went wandering in that park near my parents' house. My best friend got a car in Grade 12 (she lived quite a distance from us) which certainly opened up new horizons. None of us ever did go to a drive-in together, though. I went with my parents when I was little, and then that one time with my bf when we saw the horror flick that came on prior to what we were really there to see. I remeber lots of people strolling around the parking lot and having to walk far to get popcorn. And the car-speakers were terrible! Good times.
Ahhh! the little Nash Rambler!
ReplyDeleteI remember it so well. And the A&W waitresses that roller skated back and forth with those trays.
Back then,I thought going out for dinner was going to A&W and eating in the car.
Well, we went to the A&W for dinner the other night, but we didn't eat in the car! Sometimes you just gotta have a burger fix, especially if the next fun item on the agenda is grocery shopping! Good times in Moncton.
ReplyDeleteI was always so impressed with those roller skating waitresses. Didn't they wear really short pleated skirts called "skorts"? I had one in Grade 3, I think. Never did learn to roller skate so couldn't pursue a career with the A&W. I wonder when those girls hung up their skates. Tell me, Jacqueline, did they switch to ice-skates here in the winter?
We couldn't afford to go to A&W in the winter. We had a gas budget back then and "going out for dinner" meant that we had to leave the engine running all through dinner.When the gas was gone we couldn't afford to get more so we had to leave the car at home and walk for the rest of the week.
ReplyDeleteSo I wouldn't know how those waitresses got around or how they dressed in the winter time.
But come spring, it was back to A&W for dinner!
I am going to remonstrate with my other this evening, clearly I have a much more deprived childhood than I had hitherto realised! No roller skaters, no drive ins or thrus or arounds for this poor li'l kid. I'm the middle child so I bet my older and younger brothers got all the above, just not me.
ReplyDeleteIt all sounds wonderful, like Happy Days!
I'm off to the cellar, I'll bring back a couple of bottles (ok 3...that way The Hero can join us)...
Memories? Check this out: http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.briancroft.com/show-image/212765/Brian-Croft/White-Spot-No1,-Granville-Street---1958.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.briancroft.com/large-single-view//59305-5-/Painting/Acrylic/Landscape.html&usg=__jr6fRFBDMhOwz7kcwTVs2s9lVjY=&h=310&w=500&sz=47&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=936Si59S6XYS0M:&tbnh=81&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwhite%2Bspot%2Bvancouver%2B1958%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
ReplyDeleteWV "fluiriz" flowery snowflakes
Jacqueline,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess diners in these parts could have frozen to death in their cars if they tried going to the A&W in the winter. Plus the mug of root beer would have turned to a solid block of root beer ice. Just another draw-back...er...challenge of life in the Maritimes.
Saj,
ReplyDeleteLook at it this way--you were probably too YOUNG (like my adopted baby brother, Owen) to have been included in the timeframe of such hamburger heavens! Or do you have dim memories of having been left home alone while all the rest of your family mysteriously disappeared, only to reappear an hour later smelling strangely of fried hamburger and relish?
Best fetch an extra bottle for yourself while you're in the cellar.
FCW:
ReplyDeleteThanks for that link. Fascinating pictures. I sent the link along to my mother. The ones of Woodwards seem very familiar to me! I think I can just barely remember when streetcars were running in Vancouver. Like, riding on one with my grandmother, with my feet sticking straight out in front of me on the seat as I was still that little.
Yes, Woodwards holds memories for me too. About 35 years ago I worked for that store, driving one of their furniture trucks.
ReplyDeleteMy best memory of the White Spot Drive In was the challenge of sucking up those wonderful Milk Shakes. They were so thick that I usually used a spoon to finish 'em
ReplyDeleteoff.
FCW: I, too, was employed by Woodwards! Worked in the ladies & children's shoe department while I was an art student. Do you remember those x-ray machines that kids would stick their feet under before getting their shoess? Those were gone by the time I worked there, but I remember sticking my feet under and seeing my bones when I was a kid. Maybe that's why my toes glow in the dark now.
ReplyDeleteShirl! Glad to hear from you here.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I don't remember milk shakes at the WS. Maybe I couldn't handle a milk shake and a burger.
I really liked the strawberry shortcake they served in the summer.
But say, did they serve those shakes in tall metal containers?Did you drink directly from that, or were you supposed to pour it into a glass? Did you order vanilla or strawberry? I know you're a vanilla ice-cream fan, but I think your preferred shake is strawberry. Am I right?
Yes, a strawberry milkshake is still my favourite. FCW mentioned Woodwards and I fondly remember the $1.49 Sales where I never missed the chance to buy those corduroy, flannel lined pants for your little brother.
ReplyDeleteThe Italian glass ashtrays were always tempting and they now sell at
Collectible Shows for $10 and up.
$1.49 Day--Tuesday!!
ReplyDelete