Iconic 1960s Arby's with twin 10-gallon hats, featured in my new book, closes
Plus, details on my "Great American Retro Road Trip" tour, beginning with an event on June 24 in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
We’re just days away from the release of my new (and first!) book, “The Great American Retro Road Trip.”
That’s the happy news. The sad news is that another place that I featured in the book has closed, one of a growing number to vanish even before “The Great American Retro Road Trip” officially hits stores on June 24.
On June 15, the Arby’s on Concord Pike in Wilmington, Delaware, closed for business. My friend Wally Koval from Accidentally Wes Anderson shared photos documenting the sad news from the store, located in what locals call Talleyville.
As the reader board says, 58 years. That’s a good run for an outlet of a chain restaurant, but after all that time —Lyndon Baines Johnson was still president when this store opened — you grow accustomed to a place and mistakenly assume it will always be there, especially if it’s been there your entire life.
Even if you never ate there, even if fast food runs afoul of your culinary code of conduct, this place was a landmark, a symbol of home for some, a reminder of a more exciting era in restaurant design for all, an accessible museum piece in the wild at best, a curiosity for certain.
This Arby’s reportedly opened in October 1967, but ads celebrating its grand opening did not turn up in the local newspaper until Jan. 2, 1968.
The store was said to be the very first Arby’s in the state of Delaware, a product of the 1960s restaurant franchise boom that was having a roast-beef moment. (Burger and chicken places had reached a point of satiety.) Several more Arby’s remain in Delaware, including another one with a vintage sign in Wilmington, on 3211 Kirkwood Highway.
Business at the Talleyville store wasn’t what it used to be, Delaware Online tells us, and the fast-food restaurants of today aren’t what they used to be either, the owner explained to the newspaper. Today’s restaurants are smaller, with less dining-room space and more room on the property for drive-thru service. The building and land were put on the market and reportedly are already under contract.
This closure is doubly sad because we are losing not one but two 10-gallon hat signs. The signs flanked either side of the store, which sits on an island on a highway, a prominent locale offering easy access to the motorist, explaining why it was so quickly scooped up.
These signs were rolled out with the launch of Arby’s in 1964 in Boardman, Ohio, riots of neon and incandescence that were in production until about 1975, when smaller plastic versions of the sign began to be used. The old neon hats are rapidly dwindling, with closures in the news every few months. This building, and all original Arby’s, was shaped like a chuck wagon in its early years.
So unique was this Arby’s that I featured it in my book as a “Roadside Quirk” you need to seek out. I certainly hope that the signs can be saved, as a kind of roadside memorial, and, if not, then at least end up in clever hands with access to enough cash that can ensure they enjoy a bright future.
It’s a reminder to me of why I wrote this book: to celebrate these places while we have them – and memorialize them after we don’t.
Meet me at one of my book signings!
My book tour begins next week with an event in Sleepy Hollow, New York, my hometown. We’ll have refreshments, conversation and hopefully a few laughs. The book signing is at Sleepy Hollow Bookshop, 95 Beekman Ave., starting at 6 p.m. Details here.
My next event will take place July 2 in Manhattan, at the Strand Book Store. I’ll be in conversation with my WABC-TV colleague Joelle Garguilo. Joelle and I are kindred spirits, with a special love for mom-and-pop businesses, which she displays in her reporting on the small shops that make New York and the communities around the Tri-State area tick.
There will be more events, in the New York region, as well as around the country. I’ll have more details soon. Please bookmark my tour page for updates.
When the retro Arby's sign in OKC came down several years ago I think I cried. I photographed so many retro signs around the city back in the 2010s. So many of them are gone now. Good luck with your book. That is such a huge accomplishment.
Ohhhh I will be there JULY 2!