The American Drive-In: History and Folklore of the Drive-in Restaurant in American Car Culture [Hardcover]

Michael Karl Witzel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994

A wonderful collection of the nostalgic history, culture and folklore of the drive-in. Neon signs, rollerskating waitresses and more.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The drive-in was once a classic expression of car culture and remains a fixture in the memory of the first baby boomers. In his lavish iconography of burger-on-the-dash emporia, Witzel (American Gas Station, Mortorbks. Internat., 1992) tracks these high-caloric palaces of middle America from their birth in Texas to ultimate refinement and near death from decadence in California. (The drive-in has survived teen rowdyism and even undergone an American Graffiti-fueled revival.) Witzel's most interesting passages explore drive-in prerequisites (cars), precursors (drugstore soda fountains), components (coke, neon, carhops), and offshoots (fast-food franchises), but his corny "you are here" conjurations of imagined trips to the drive-in are stale from the start. Still, you'll be getting the story in the pictures, not from his words; clearly, he's a skilled editor and energetic collector. Suitable for public libraries, though most aficionados will want it on their coffee tables or not at all.
Scott H. Silverman, Bryn Mawr Coll. Lib., Pa.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

If you'd like to read a book that will stimulate your appetite, make your heart race and stop your clock, take a look at Michael Witzel's The American Drive-in. What purports to be a history of our national preoccupation with fast food served at curbside will not only take you down memory lane, but also make you look at your life as one long trip from drive-in to drive-in. -- Road & Track, July 1995

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks International; 1St Edition edition (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879389192
• ISBN-13: 978-0879389192
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,206,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Member, American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lot's of great color pictures, July 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The American Drive-In: History and Folklore of the Drive-in Restaurant in American Car Culture (Hardcover)

I have several of his diner and drive-in books. If you are a fan of diners, drive-in eateries and burgers and shakes; you will not be dissapointed. There are many, many beautiful color pictures.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Only Grade A Beef, March 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The American Drive-In: History and Folklore of the Drive-in Restaurant in American Car Culture (Hardcover)

Unlike many coffee table books on pop culture phenomena, The American Drive-in Restaurant supplements its generous use of photos with material from regional archives and 1950s restaurant trade industry journals, resulting in a pop history with a strong seasoning of well-researched facts. Interviews with former carhops also provide an interesting slice of life effect.

Witzel's copywriting background intrudes most in the brief portraits of major drive-in chains, which read like corporate marketing pieces. The serious researcher needs to handle this book with care: not only are there numerous typesetting errors (including mislabeled dates and places), but some corporate biography facts don't match those presented by the same corporations' official Web sites (though it wouldn't be surprising if the corporations were the ones who had it wrong).

All in all, a good read packed with interesting material.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgia is contagious, January 9, 2010

By 

Ron Heberlee "acmeron" (USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The American Drive-In: History and Folklore of the Drive-in Restaurant in American Car Culture (Hardcover)

Wonderful book, most of the places I used to go to are featured such as Simon's; what a shame they most were on corners that later became prime real estate and were torn down. The photos are top notch.