Art & Inspiration Dating Rituals in a Car-Centric World

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Dating Rituals in a Car-Centric World

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In the '80s and into the early '90s there were still several still operating in the greater Seattle area and even Washington state in general. Zesto's in Ballard and Big Daddy's in Auburn to name just a couple. My buddies and I frequented them on a weekly basis with our cars.

Unfortunately a lot of them have been lost due to the rising cost of real estate, among other things. This current generation is obsessed with food trucks. They don't know what they're missing.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's song Junior's Grill sums up the experience pretty well.

"It's heaven with a corner booth,
That's the truth;
Chrome and naugahyde;
It's cool inside.
The jukebox never stops,
There's coffee in the pot,
So come and get your fill
At junior's grill."

 

I grew up in that era (grad HS in 62) and a guy I knew hustled the chick at the drive in, knocked her up and married her. She was a cutey, I got to know her in later years, glad he was married to her If a girl wanted attention from boys it was a good place to work, now days we would consider the antics of young guys to be sexual harassment

 

Sonic drive in is going strong here in the south, but it doesn't have the feel of the old drive-ins.

 

We have Dicks Hamburgers here in Spokane, a burger stand that has not been updated since the 60's.

That Vette is killer

 

Met my first love at the Dairy Queen in Hebron Nebraska in the mid 60's. Never married her but I got a lot of free barbecues and malts. Tore it down a few years ago to expand the Casey's General Store. We also still have Sonic drive ins in the area.

 

Good call Chris. Dicks is the best! I used to cut class at Lewis & Clark High School and drive my VW Beetle there for a Whammy and/or Chicken Snack. The A&W at Lincoln Heights was also a good cruise-in spot on the South Hill.

 

I agree with the comment that Sonics are not quite the same, but they're about the only drive-in service still around. We have a lot of Sonics in the Tulsa area, including 3 just in little old Claremore (Tulsa suburb).
Waylan's KuKuBurger in Miami, OK is the most old school burger place in NE OK in my opinion, but it isn't a drive-in. The old man is still the cook, takes pride in the food prep.

 

I hear ya. If I start dating a girl and it looks like it might go somewhere I take her to a car show or cruise night and let her get the feel of it. Youd be amazed how many it turns away, no loss. Though its cool when they really get into it, I don't care if they know a Chevelle from a Deuce, as long as they have fun. (ill fix the knowing cars from eachother later if she stays around)

 

What is up with the red paint on that 46 Ford Grille,stock or a cool custom touch?

 

While your mom was a senior at Poplar Bluff, Mo high school, I was a freshman at Poplar Bluff, Mo high school. Interesting. The freshman class was in a separate building near downtown so our paths probably never crossed at school but I know I would have been at the A&W many times.

John

 

Don't the old days seem more romantic!
We use to cruise the Hawthorne, Ca A&W Friday nites. Always a big car crowd.
A drive in was always a good double date spot........do not remember any movie I saw there.
These days:
Drive in theatres take up an enormous amount of land and today better served as housing or. Plus the sound system left a whole lot to be desired if you really went there to see and hear the movie!
We still have an A&W here and they tried to do a cruise nite but not to successful.
Times have changed and people move on.
It was fun while it lasted.

 

Ok, O/T car but the "ritual" none the less. Out cuisin around, haunt all the local spots. This was a bit over 30 years ago and I was always on the hunt for a little more than a race. Beautiful girl, bubbly in all the right places, fair hair, greenish blue eyes, nice fuzzy sweater that wasn't too loose or too tight. My buddy's driving my car for a change and I have him stop. "Hey, I really like you." I say. She fires back, "I really like your car!" "Yeah? But how well do you like it?" She leans in the window, arms crossed right below em, "Oh, REAL well!" I melted like butter on hot pancakes. "hey, kiss me honey..." just as her friend grabbed her arm and yells "I TOLD YOU LET'S GO!"

Another ritual night, walking to the car, little hot sexy gal clad in a black leather jacket and sprayed on Levis, just as I pass she screams to her friend, "SANDY ARE YOU COMIN!?" Now I was right there not 10' from her and instantly replied, " I think she's just breathin heavy..." and kept walking. She laughs then it occurs to her she doesn't know me and yells "Hey! Fuck off!" I turned and blew her a kiss.

Pretty kool, the memories that come up on a topic like this. I have even better stories but I'll keep at least some semblance of decorum. Hotties and hot rods? Like peanut butter and jelly right? No offense to anyone's family, it's just how it was.

 

I do the same thing... Most girls I've dated like the car scene and the people especially. Every girl goes crazy over pinstriping, right Jeff?

 

So many girls out there with pinstriped shoes/handbags/boxes etc as consolation prizes!

My new girl likes cars AND fishing, shes got a kustom flaked out fishing pole now.

 

This made me laugh pretty hard... True story. I wonder if Jeffries and Dutch and Southard gave out consolation prizes?

 

We had , Jolly Jacks, Burger King, Tastee Freeze, etc. We would cruise from one to the other, in my 38 Chevy coupe. I kept the old shot gun, on the package tray. Some great memories. Ron...

 

That's stock Henry Ford. If you buy new Bob Drake parts they come painted.

 

Nice ass grab Ron

 

Hey Ron
Was that shotgun present on your wedding day?

 

There's a McDonald's here in my home town that has a bunch of photos on the wall of scenes over the past 50 or so years and many are black & white with the old style structure like you posted.

I stopped in the one not too far from my wife's shop with my granddaughter and we were looking at the photos and I was telling her about what year the cars were and trying to guess the year the photos were taken,low and behold I see the front right fender and part of the hood of a '54 Ford and I tell my granddaughter that's my old car in that photo which was taken in 1967.

She gave me that look that she learned from her Grandmother & Mother.

"How do you know that's your old car"? "See the dent in the front fender and bumper that has a slight twist" I explained that I had hit the only pole in the Town & Country Restaurant parking lot,I was just pulling out and it was the first time I spotted you grandmother,I was watching her and not where I was going. HRP

 

As a graduate of Seattle's Ballard High in 68, I did my fair share of cruising through Zesto's which was just across the street as mentioned by Rolleiflex. Lunch was within walking distance and much better than school food. Friday and Saturday evenings, the place was crowded with those who wanted to see and be seen with 50s and 60s street cars. Not too much early stuff on the road. Plenty of flirtatious behavior from car to car as well as groups of guys and girls who drove through trolling for possible dates. There was and still is the "Dicks" drive inns in several locations around town and the circuit was made through all during the course of the evening.

 

We've still got a nice family owned drive-in here.

We go hang out at least once a month

Sent from my SM-G900V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I always enjoyed hanging out at the drive in burger joints to check out the cars and the girls. Those were the days. We have the WHAT-A-BURGER drive ins (2) still with us and a couple of SONICS but they are not the same. All you ever see are 4 door sedans and SUV"s. Beside all the GOOD girls are married, some with grand children....The cruise ins are not bad in the Kannapolis area...............

 

All I can say is " I got a lot of first hand information in the back seat of a second hand car".

 

I miss Clancy's Hamburgers in Manhattan Beach, CA. on Marine Ave. near Sepulveda Blvd.. There was a 2nd Clancy's in Redondo Beach near Hawthorne Blvd. on Manhattan Beach Blvd. They were both there in the early 1960's. No photos have ever shown up anywhere of these fine eating establishments. It would be so cool to see them again.

 

Mom tells about her first job at a place here in town that was a creamery but had a drive in for at least Ice cream and milk shakes. I think she quit when some clown rolled in with a bra hanging from the mirror and gave her a ration of crap. He probably didn't know about the guys out in this area that all treated her like their little sister and would kick your butt at the drop of a hat if you did something wrong around her.
I remember driving my 51 Merc down to the local A&W drive in that was only open about 6 months out of the year then and trying to make sure I parked in one certain gal's section.

Best one for a head shaker then was my buddy who the gals now would call hunk of the month.. He drove a slick little 53 Ford F100 and could get a date with almost any gal he asked but had more than one not go out an get in the truck when he showed up at their house to pick them up. Hell no, I don't ride in trucks was one gal's comment. It got me a few dates as he would chat a gal up and in the process I would end up with a date with her friend and we went in my Merc. That Merc got me in trouble in a couple of other towns in the area because the gals liked it but their boyfriends or would be boyfriends didn't like me talking to them.

 

Moriarity was kind enough to take us to this little gem of a drive in been going since 1961.
Home made root beer with the same A&W recipe since then . Burgers made with fresh meat that cant be beat. Cruise night every Thursday.Though I believe they are closed for winter.
Spring Park MN.

 

Great drive-in memories growing up in 1960's in high school. Our small local drive-in sat in the middle of a large gravel lot adjacent to paved main street. You could circle the drive-in to see and be seen. The trick for those of us driving older, almost stock Chev. 6cyls......to be seen was as follows: circle the drive-in on gravel.....get close to main drag ......throttle up.....dump clutch.....throw gravel like crazy for 8-10ft......hit pavement with wheels spinning......screeching tires.....black marks for 2ft......getting noticed !!!

Several years later, we were building dirt track stock cars. We ran a 57 Chev and our hauler was a 1950 stretched Chev 1ton. Sunday nights were Tunis Speedway in Waterloo, Ia. Regardless of our success at the track, the high point of our night was a visit to the drive in a short distance from the track. Three of us dirty, greasy, smelly guys stuffed into the hauler.......we would pull up to the side where "Gretchen" worked......she had a smile and a voice that would melt you ! Don't remember the burgers.....or the fries.....or the root beer.........but I can still picture Gretchen to this day !!!

 

Back in the sixties in Stamford, CT. we would check out do down town after school. There was a Sauners Dept. store and many other stores kids would hang out in front. I saw this cute chick walking in town and asked a friend to introduce us. That would be my wife. We also had Tony's Drive In and JoAnne's Drive In on Shippan Avenue. Plus there was The Starlite Drive-In theater, Also on Shippan Ave.