The Retrologist explores the land of Dairy Queen; plus a former Arthur Treacher's with strong 1970s vibes; and the NYC neon signs we lost in 2022
Also: A 'dinerant' closes; a Pizza Hut sighting in Manhattan; and the noble work of Noble Signs
If you enjoy my Pizza Hut Instagram posts, consider those the main course in our social-media virtual meal. Chain-restaurant dessert is Dairy Queen, and my DQ posts this year on Instagram have been the most popular in all my years running my account.
There is something so sweet and all-American about DQ, a chain that still feels like a hometown mom-and-pop.
A part of living. A part of life.
The first DQ opened in 1940 and was a sensation, and the young couple who managed the shop thought it was a “dream come true” – because soft serve does not require laborious hand-dipping, explains Naomi Mortensen in her book on the history of DQ.
The chain would spread far and wide from its birthplace in the Land of Lincoln, and today numbers over 6,000 stores.
Of those locations, the special ones – the ones where the ice cream just hits better — are the legacy stores that have preserved a taste of the simple charms of the American roadside.
These are all DQs I’ve photographed, mostly over the past couple of years, that have vintage roadside appeal to spare. You can still visit them, and you should! The video is above, and the locations, in order of presentation, are listed below. Now go check ‘em out in 2023!
First up is my favorite DQ photo, preserving a moment of snowy serenity one February day in Butler, Pennsylvania. The snow melted within an hour. [MAP]
Enjoy the charming Dairy Queen in Anaconda, Montana. [MAP]
This DQ in Iowa City, Iowa, has a sign that is a meticulous recreation of the original one lost in a 2006 tornado. [MAP]
This is a perfect DQ “Country Fresh” barn, gleaming in East Windsor, New Jersey. [MAP]
This store is in Salisbury, North Carolina, a state that has some of the nicest vintage DQs. I’m getting nostalgic for this one — I visited on Jan. 1 of last year! [MAP]
The Dairy Queen in Hackettstown, New Jersey is a gem. (Make sure you go inside!) [MAP]
Here’s the DQ in Huntington, West Virginia. I love that “sunroom meets spaceship” design! [MAP]
This is a country-barn charmer in Faribault, Minnesota, across from one of the A&Ws I showed you the other day! [MAP]
This DQ is set amid palm trees in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The most significant change here since 1953 is the addition of hot dogs to the menu in 1983! Why mess with a good thing? [MAP]
This DQ is in Wantage, New Jersey, and has one of my favorite features of older shops – the lamp cones on the lawn! [MAP]
11 and 12. The DQ is in Roseville, Minnesota, a historic store that opened in 1947 with a unique design that’s like a pumped-up old Carvel. [MAP]
13, 14 and 15. The Dairy Queen in Hibbing, Minnesota, features Little Miss Dairy Queen. The mascot was rolled out in the early 1960s, when DQ introduced its “Country Fresh” look featuring those red barns. She topped the barns as part of a weather vane. [MAP]
16, 17 and 18. This is the Dairy Queen in Trenton, Michigan, which features now rare ice cream and shake signage (sadly stripped from the Hibbing store). This location has it all, including a DQ lawn cone lamp, an example of which I’d love to own one day. [MAP]
19 and 20. This is an absolute charmer of a DQ in Ypsilanti, Michigan, that stole my heart because of one particular thing, They’ve created a little “free library” kiosk on the side of the building, in the shape of a red barn Dairy Queen. How clever and cute is that? [MAP]
21 and 22. And finally, this DQ is in Woodlawn, Ohio, just outside Cincinnati. The neon sign is working beautifully, as you can see in the video. [MAP]
Where is your favorite Dairy Queen?
Arthur Treacher’s is almost a memory, and this store preserves its 1970s look
I absolutely LOVE these pictures of a former Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips in Columbus, Ohio, the birth state of this almost-gone chain.
1985inc on Instagram sent along these pictures, and, as you can see, Marino’s Seafood Fish & Chips has done very little to change the old-school AT ambiance. This location appears in the Not Fooling Anybody website, not surprisingly!
I will definitely be paying a visit on my next visit to the Columbus area. [MAP]
Below is my Instagram post on the last remaining Arthur Treacher’s standalone restaurant, outside of Cleveland.
Not a Pizza Hut Classic, but the classic Pizza Hut logo in Manhattan
No, this is not a Pizza Hut Classic, but it is really cool to see the 1974 logo (brought back in 2019) over a storefront on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, between 55th and 56th streets.
If you want to find a Pizza Hut Classic, I’ve got the world’s most comprehensive list, and it’s a click away, below.
A ‘Noble’ sign indeed: Charles Pan-Fried Chicken on the Upper West Side
Back in February, I had the pleasure of profiling Noble Signs, the innovative, Brooklyn-based sign company that is bringing back artistry and vintage-inspired flair to New York, one storefront at a time.
If you’re not familiar with their work, I encourage you to watch and read this report on Noble Signs I worked on this with my colleagues Toby Hershkowitz and Emily Sowa at Eyewitness News.
From the piece:
Somewhere along the line, a lot of New York signage grew dull and predictable. The creative spark was gone, replaced with functional if bland creations, often just a vinyl awning.
"The city we grew up in was full of really amazing signs," says David Barnett, co-founder of Noble Signs in Brooklyn, "and by the time we got out of college, the city was headed in a very different direction."
Barnett, who was paying the bills as a graphic designer post-college, and his friend Mac Pohanka, who worked in fabrication, both lamented the loss of the storefront heritage that gave New York City so much of its character. They took their nostalgia for the way things were as, well, a sign.
And the work they have done for Charles Pan-Fried Chicken is another fine example of how Noble Signs is enlivening the streets of New York. This photo shows Charles’ second location, on West 72nd Street. From the hand-painted sign to the neon frying pan in the window, this design is both fresh and historical, a clear extension of New York sign-making traditions that were widely discarded in recent decades.
A sign does not have to be OLD to be GOOD!
I’m seeing similar signs of hope, if you will, in other cities, as shopkeepers are investing in their storefronts and making them engage with the pedestrian in ways signage used to do, helping create a sense of place in ways that well-designed storefronts only can.
I’ll do a roundup featuring the work of Noble Signs (and other examples of fine, new signage I’ve seen in other cities) in a post early in 2023. And by all means, let me know what examples you’ve seen out there of well-designed new signage, and send along your photos if you have them!
Tom Rinaldi of New York Neon reports on the signs the Big Apple lost in 2022
My good friend, the author Tom Rinaldi, has just published his annual requiem to lost New York City neon signs.
Tom, as you may know, wrote the excellent book, New York Neon, which has a special place on my bookshelves and is a trusty guide to the shining legacy of neon in New York City.
So much of what he beautifully documented in this 2013 book is now gone, and his latest post on his website, the New York Neon blog, reports on the signs that were whisked away by the streetscape grim reaper in the year that just was. He also alerts us to signs we MIGHT lose in 2023 — you have been warned. Snap them while we have them! One of the most endangered is below:
Notes From the Road
Sad news: The Hunter Dinerant in Auburn, New York, has gone out of business. It closed at 2 p.m. Dec. 31. I visited (photo above) back in August 2019. Dinerant — what a wonderful portmanteau. I hope the dinerant, which opened in 1951, finds new owners, as it has before. [Auburn Pub]
Things Remembered is shutting its fulfillment plant in North Jackson, Ohio. The mall mainstay has been on the financial ropes for years. Will it become a memory, left to be a … thing remembered? [WFMJ] [Tribune Chronicle]
Weekly vinyl record sales set a new “modern-era” record. It was the best week since — 1991! [Billboard]
What can be learned from the “surprising turnaround” of Barnes & Noble. Check out Ted Gioia’s piece on Substack below.
A historic church in Pittsburgh is closing for good after its New Year’s Eve service. [WTAE]
A wall in Waukegan, Illinois, is the subject of a debate over its historic value. [Chicago Tribune]
The charming Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denver, Colorado, might be designated a historical landmark. [Newsbreak]
Thank you for your support!
I wanted to take a quick moment to thank each and every one of you for subscribing to my newsletter. Since my first post went out in September, I knew I had made the right choice to extend the Retrologist brand from Instagram, where many of you found me.
I have so many great things planned for 2023, and I can’t wait to share them with you.
Please share my newsletter with your friends, and consider upgrading to paid. Next year, I plan to develop state-by-state guides (as well as brand-specific guides) for paid supporters, much like I did for Pizza Hut. And you also can count on my personalized trip-planning advice if you want or need it as a paid supporter.
I wish you and yours a very happy and healthy New Year. Here’s to more amazing finds and old-fashioned fun on the road in 2023.