MTFCA Forum

Those pictures look like some in California. I remember the Chili Bowl and the Curry's Mile High ice cream. I think I ate at both of those places They were around Glendale or Hollywood area of Los Angeles.

Steak 'n Shake was always big in the St. Louis area. When I was in high school, I don't think there was anyone in my class who didn't have a Steak 'n Shake salt shaker in his glove compartment.

Curries was a chain. They had one on Anaheim Street in Wilmington.

Another view of the Zeppelin. It was on the north side of Florence Avenue just west of the filling station at Florence and Figueroa.

Neat, note the lettering, "Patent Pending" near the doorway. That could be my Model A in the pic, although I don't think Mr. Green (the original owner) was in LA at the time, but it's a sure stand in!

There was a Currie's Ice Cream on Firestone Blvd. and La Reina in Downey. Not as picturesque as the one in the above photo, but a Currie's none the less. It's a Mexican food restaurant now. I know, hard to believe, right?
The Tamale Diner still stands. It's in Montebello and I've heard that it's a real estate office now. The Chilli Bowl diners were also a chain. I saw a photo once where the diners were built at a lot somewhere in L. A. and trucked out to their final location. There may be one or two survivors.

Wonderful pictures and i really enjoyed them!! Funny but there was not a picture of a old railroad diner made over into a eating place!! Bud.

And now the "new normal" of where we eat along the road! At least this year and maybe even next year anyway.

Tom, Wonderful photos, I was touched by the feed rack offering coffee and doughnuts for the old timers. Great stuff. Thanks jw

I remember the Curries on Anaheim that Steve mentioned. We used to go there. There was another on Pacific Coast Hwy at Santa Fe in Long Beach. I may have gone there too. They used to be all over Southern California, but not any more.

Putz’s is a Cincinnati institution. Notice “is a Cincinnati institution” as in the present tense. This original stand opened in 1938. Putz’s is still in business and run by the same family several generations removed from the founders, although at a different location.

For anyone interested here is a link to a brief history. https://www.putzscreamywhip.com/history

Another chain I wish I had a picture of, was the Big Orange. They served orange juice and other drinks along Highway 99 in San Juaquin Valley. It used to get hot along there in the summer and the old cars were not air conditioned, so they got a lot of business. They were round and looked like a giant Orange.

The Curries and Chili Bowl I remembered were along Los Feliz Blvd between Griffith Park and Glendale. Another interesting place on Los Feliz was the Tam O Shanter Inn which was a Scottish theme. We used to eat there often in the 1950's and in 2019 we actually had a class reunion for Glendale High class of 1954. 65th reunion. Only one person I knew well, having gone all the way through elementary school to high school but he didn't remember me, so I guess that was the last reunion I would attend.
Norm

Norm,

I very well remember the Big Orange. I hadn't thought about them for years. Thanks for reminding me!

Here's one that was famous, the Brown Derby on Wilshire Boulevard. Mom and I took my little brother to lunch there for his sixteenth birthday in 1962. I think Dad was working. I had trout.

Norm's mention of the San Joaquin Valley reminds me of a cafe on old US 99 between Bakersfield and Fresno, I don't recall exactly where. It had a plane stuck nose down on the roof to look like it had crashed into the building. I've seen photos of similar places, but so far I haven't found a picture of that one.

Here it is Steve. I remember it as a child.

I found two photos of Bruce’s Lodge.

My grandparents went through the Depression with a house full of kids and were the penny pinching-ist people I ever knew.

Therefore, growing up in the 70's with them on trips, we NEVER did something as crazy as stopping and paying for food at an eating establishment. We always ate at roadside parks with pretty darn good food that my grandmother made.

This was also the woman who made us wear winter coats (in south Texas) in the summer so we could more effectively smuggle food and drinks into movie theaters.

Yes, Bruce's Lodge was the place. It brings back other memories of old US 99. Miles and miles of pink and white oleander planted along the road. An underpass at Goshen that filled with water in a heavy rain so you had to detour. Three lanes. The center lane for passing in both directions was known as the suicide lane.

Suicide lane on the Ridge Route.

There's still one of those in State Highway 36 east of I-5... While I always assume all is fine, it;s still a bit spookey watching someone come towards you in a middle lane that is also dotted for your passing lane...