Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age (The Road and American Culture)

Eating on the run has a long history in America, but it was the automobile that created a whole new category of dining: "fast food." In the final volume of their "Gas, Food, Lodging" trilogy, John Jakle and Keith Sculle contemplate the origins, architecture, and commercial growth of fast food restaurants from White Castle to McDonald's. Illustrated with 217 maps, postcards, photographs, and drawings, Fast Food makes clear that the story of these unpretentious restaurants is the story of modern American culture. The first roadside eateries popularized once-unfamiliar foods―hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, milkshakes, burritos―that are now basic to the American diet. By the 1950s, drive-ins and diners had become icons of rebellion where teenagers sought freedom from adult authority. Like the gas station and the motel, the roadside restaurant is an essential part of the modern American landscape―where intentional sameness of design "welcomes" every interstate driver.

Eating on the run has a long history in America, but it was the automobile that created a whole new category of dining: fast food. In the final volume of their Gas, Food, Lodging trilogy, John Jakle and Keith Sculle contemplate the origins, architecture, and commercial growth of fast food restaurants from White Castle to McDonald's.

Illustrated with 217 maps, postcards, photographs, and drawings, Fast Food makes clear that the story of these unpretentious restaurants is the story of modern American culture. The first roadside eateries popularized once-unfamiliar foods -- hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, milkshakes, burritos -- that are now basic to the American diet. By the 1950s, drive-ins and diners had become icons of rebellion where teenagers sought freedom from adult authority. Like the gas station and the motel, the roadside restaurant is an essential part of the modern American landscape -- where intentional sameness of design welcomes every interstate driver.

Eating on the run has a long history in America, but it was the automobile that created a whole new category of "fast food." In the final volume of their "Gas, Food, Lodging" trilogy, John Jakle and Keith Sculle contemplate the origins, architecture, and commercial growth of fast food restaurants from White Castle to McDonald's. Illustrated with 217 maps, postcards, photographs, and drawings, Fast Food makes clear that the story of these unpretentious restaurants is the story of modern American culture. The first roadside eateries popularized once-unfamiliar foods -- hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, milkshakes, burritos -- that are now basic to the American diet. By the 1950s, drive-ins and diners had become icons of rebellion where teenagers sought freedom from adult authority. Like the gas station and the motel, the roadside restaurant is an essential part of the modern American landscape -- where intentional sameness of design "welcomes" every interstate driver. "In Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age, John Jakle and Keith Sculle contemplate the origins, architecture, and commercial growth of wayside eateries in the United States over the past 100 years. This new volume examines the impact of the automobile on the restaurant business and offers a thorough account of roadside dining. Jakle and Sculle begin with America in the 1850s, when restaurants came into their own, and trace the evolution from coffee shops, main street cafes, and diners to drive-ins and drive-throughs. Focusing on the people who created and ran these enterprises, the authors recount the rise of early franchises such as White Castle and White Tower and the later dominance of large corporate chains such as Burger King, Hardee's, and - the giant of them all - McDonald's."--BOOK JACKET. The authors contemplate the origins, architecture and commercial growth of wayside eateries in the USA in the 20th century. They examine the impact of the automobile on the restaurant business and offer a thorough account of roadside dining, beginning in the antebellum era. The authors contemplate the origins, architecture and commercial growth of wayside eateries in the US over the past 100 years. Fast Food examines the impact of the automobile on the restaurant business and offers an account of roadside dining Restaurationskæder, sandwich-, is-, morgenmads-, pizza-, tacosteder m.m. langs de amerikanske veje i historisk perspektiv We begin by asking our readers to indulge some personal reminiscing and some preliminary defining of key concepts. John A. Jakle & Keith A. Sculle. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 365-383) And Index. Explores the impact of the automobile on American restaurants