Vintage Arby's Closes, Yellow Wendy's Survives, Fish Fry Fades, Circus Drive-in Founder Remembered: Rolando's Roadside Roundup
Plus, new hope for an old diner and other headlines from the American roadside
I remove my figurative hat out of respect for this Arby’s in Cudahy, Wisconsin, which I learned closed not long after I took these photos.
This location, not far from Milwaukee, has been here since at least the early 1970s, and, according to a Journal Times article from 1973, was owned by Norbert Kozlowski. (That article explained how Kozlowski was opening another Arby’s in a former Lum’s down in Racine. Remember Lum’s? That’s a conversation for another day.)
Back in July, I was visiting the beautiful old Sullivan shoe shine/tobacco store (now a barber shop) in Cudahy when the owner tipped me off to this Arby’s, which was not on my list of places to visit. It was a reminder that no matter how much you research before a trip, nothing beats talking to people who live there.
I immediately checked it out. The weeds spouting from the courtyard did not bode well for the future of this store, and sure enough, it would be closed a few months later.
I do hope the sign can be saved — we continue to lose these Arby’s beauties, which were only made for about a decade, from 1964 to 1975. Just the other day, I saw a rescued one — cut up into parts — in the parking lot outside the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, below. I’ve shared many other Arby’s big hats over the years, which you can explore by scrolling back on my Instagram. I’ll also work up a guide to Arby’s here soon!
The Cudahy building itself is special, too, appearing to be a late 1970s-1980s modification of the original chuck-wagon structures that dated to the launch of Arby’s in 1964. [Map]
IF YOU’RE NEARBY: Check out the beautiful Sullivan’s sign, now a barber shop, and say hello to the nice folks inside! [Map] [Website]
In-N-Out can’t wait to celebrate its 75th birthday!
Over on my Instagram, I shared a post on Oct. 22 saluting In-N-Out on the occasion of its 74th birthday.
Well, the beloved hamburger chain has already announced plans for how it’s going to celebrate its 75th next year.
Reports ABC7 in Los Angeles on the planned celebration:
It will be held on Oct. 22, 2023 at the soon-to-be-named In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. The video announced the renaming of the drag strip at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona by next year.
In-N-Out's president Lynsi Snyder - the grandchild of Harry and Esther - says the Pomona racetrack is nostalgic for her, as she would go there to watch her dad race. She says having the event at the racetrack fits with In-N-Out's culture.
Here is In-N-Out’s page announcing the big affair, and KABC’s report, embedded below.
The photos I’ve posted here are from the replica of the first In-N-Out in Baldwin Park. That original restaurant was demolished for the I-10, but in 2014, the Snyder family opened this store — which is a museum, not a working restaurant — as a tribute to how it all began.
As I wrote on my Instagram post:
This store you see here is the closest you can get to that early In-N-Out experience, because the original is long gone, demolished for the construction of Interstate 10. So it’s appropriate that it was the 10 that brought me here.
This store is purely a museum, a pristine exhibit that captures the look of the first store, from the tiny shack – measuring about 10 square feet – and red-and-white awning to the innovative two-way speaker to cater to hungry, in-a-hurry motorists – a pioneering drive-thru service that is the standard today. (Jack in the Box would immediately go all-in on drive-thru service – you’d talk to a clown head – but McDonald’s would not roll out a drive-thru until 1975. Ronald’s head, however, would not be on the intercom!)
Even the sign at this In-N-Out is different – the distinctive In-N-Out arrow design was introduced in 1954, replacing the “No Delay” sign you see here.
A comeback for a Connecticut diner?
I visited the old Comet Diner (originally Aetna, among other names) in Hartford, Connecticut, last year, and was left smitten by its shiny, sinuous curves, and all that wasted potential, sitting there vacant for many years.
In its most recent iteration, this Paramount-built diner was called Dishes, and the sign is fun and festive, but whether it will stay is unknown. It does work nicely with the building. At one point, there was even a nightclub/restaurant in the basement.
Windsor-based developer Wayne Benjamin said the diner’s overall structure won’t change since they must retain its historic nature. Renovations will include the installation of a new roof and elevator, as well as an electric car charging station and a bike rack.
The new diner is at the forefront of a major transformation for this area of Hartford that will include a streetscape project and redevelopment of blighted homes over the next few years.
Founder of New Jersey’s beloved Circus Drive-in dies at 95
Richard Friedel, the founder of the beloved and sadly defunct Circus Drive-In in Wall Township, New Jersey, has died at 95.
The drive-in closed in 2017 and was later demolished. The sign stood for many more years, becoming quite weathered, before being taken down and placed into storage.
After jobs including a stint at Revlon, Friedel was inspired to open the drive-in after visiting similar businesses and realizing his part of New Jersey was booming with families flocking in their shiny new cars to suburbia and looking for places just like this. Why the circus theme?
Well, everybody loves a circus. he told the Asbury Park Press — at least they did in 1954. Clearly, creepy killer clowns were not a shared national trauma during the Eisenhower administration, although this clown has always struck me as friendly.
The drive-in was cleared to make way for a shopping plaza, yet another sign of change in the area, according to the Asbury Park Press, which reported the death.
These are my photos from several visits over the years, and here is but one of the elegies I wrote for this place:
Tears for the clown: After 64 years, the Circus Drive-in in Wall Township, New Jersey was demolished today. One of the premiere surviving examples of American roadside culture of the 1950s was destroyed in just minutes. It had been shuttered for almost two years, and last year the land was sold for some still unknown but likely quite predictable use. You can Google photos of today’s carnage, or look at this photo and those in my story and remember what was. The sign still stands, by the way. We’ll see what becomes of it. Yep, tears for the clown.
As for Friedel, there was wistfulness, perhaps, but no tears at the Circus’ fate. According to the Press:
"It stood the test of time," Friedel told the Asbury Park Press after the Circus was sold to developers in 2017. "I was proud of it, and I'm still proud of it. And I'm sorry to see it go. But, like everything else, nothing is forever."
Iconic location of Ted’s Fish Fry closes in Troy, New York
The Capital District of New York state is home to many fish-fry restaurants. And Ted’s, which is a chain, is among the most iconic.
Back in 2014, I shot this awesome sign for Ted’s at its Second Avenue location in Troy. Sadly, this location recently closed. [Map]
“We cannot go without mentioning how blessed we have been to have such amazing family and friends who’ve kept our doors open in North Troy since 1962,” said S.K. Deeb. “We have shared so many wonderful memories from family and friends, to employees and customers that became our family and friends. We are truly grateful to North Troy for all that it has offered us over the many years.”
The property is not being sold, and Ted’s left open the possibility of opening the store on a seasonal basis. I hope that means the sign will stay in place.
Here’s a guide to the area’s fish-fry places.
Yellow Wendy’s alert!
I do love finding what I like to call Yellow Wendy’s, and they are quite rare, as this design was last installed in the early 1980s, but they are out there, especially, it seems, in Maryland and Virginia.
My pal Bonnie, who shares wonderful roadside Americana on Instagram, shared this location of a Yellow Wendy’s that was not on my radar.
It’s on Richmond Highway in Alexandria, Virginia. Find it here.
Watch out for a “Yellow Wendy’s” guide soon on The Retrologist — as well as a tour of the Wendy’s museum in Dublin, Ohio.
Notes From the Road
Do you go gaga for Googie? Get thee to the Googie World Expo! Watch out for more soon on this event, and my photos of Googie buildings! [Sign Up Here]
Aldo’s Ristorante in Baltimore, a Little Italy mainstay, has closed for good. [Baltimore Sun, paywall] [Earlier story, WBAL]
Cool tour alert: Explore New York’s Guastavino-tile spaces. [Untapped New York]
The Neon Museum of Las Vegas celebrates a decade at its current site. [Fox 5 Vegas]
Tucson’s Ignite Sign Art Museum gets a nod! [Tucson.com]
You’ll want to travel to Canada to check out this stunningly restored neon sign! [CBC]
A guide to the vintage neon signs of Milwaukee. Below are two I shot myself this summer. [Shepherd Express]
A Maryland ghost sign is being restored, but is keeping its spectral spirit. [WMDT]
Did you hear the buzz about the world’s largest mosquito sculpture? [World Record Academy]
And sit a spell in this gigantic Adirondack chair conceived by a Boy Scout! [Daily Mail WV]
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We used to eat at that diner on Farmington Ave in Hartford back in the late ‘90s, but only in the basement, when it was Pancho’s. Amazing habanero salsa. It had that creeping heat. By the time you realized how hot it was, it was way too late. A shame the place isn’t open now.