http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress The History, Folklore, and Popular Culture of the American Road and Automobile Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:55:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en By Michael Karl Witzel ©2007-2008 During the twilight of the fifties, the Englander Company manufactured a commercial sleeping slab with a mechanical vibrator at its core. One of their top salesman, John Houghtaling (hotel-ing), peddled the unit to customers in the lodging industry. When a number of clients complained ... http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress/motels-with-magic-fingers/ By Michael Karl Witzel ©2007-2008 What do McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Denny's, Arby's, Roy Rogers, Taco Bell, Jack-in-the-Box, and Kentucky Fried Chicken have in common? All have their distant origins in the diner, that unsung institution of roadside America that began over one-hundred years ago, decades before there were automobiles, drive-thru ... http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress/diner-history/ By Michael Karl Witzel ©2007-2008 [caption id="attachment_130" align="alignleft" width="161" caption="Tokheim Moneymaker"][/caption] Americans drive more than 2.5 trillion miles per year in cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles—a distance equal to 14,000 round trips to the sun! To rack up this amazing mileage, the U.S. motoring market consumes 146 billion gallons of ... http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress/cheap-gas-remembering-the-golden-age-of-the-gas-station/ By Michael Karl Witzel ©2007-2008 [caption id="attachment_219" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Circular Texas Pig Stand, Beaumont, Texas"][/caption] “People in their cars are so lazy that they don’t want to get out of them to eat!” The proclamation still rings as true today as it did when candy and tobacco magnate Jessie G. Kirby ... http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress/the-texas-pig-stands-drive-in/ By Michael Karl Witzel ©2007-2008 [caption id="attachment_394" align="alignleft" width="333" caption="Tydol Flying A Gasoline Uniform Patch, Circa 1940s"][/caption] During World War II, Allen P. Bell was transferred to the Air Base in Kingman, Arizona to work his tour of duty as an aircraft mechanic. On his 21st birthday he stepped off the ... http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress/the-legend-of-allen-bells-flying-a-service-station/ By Michael Karl Witzel ©2007-2008 In 1947, Art Lacey opened a small, five pump filling station along Highway 99E in Milwaukie, Oregon. It was the same year he had his biggest—and his best—idea: Why not mount a full-sized, four-engined airplane on top of a roadside gas station business? [caption id="" align="alignleft" ... http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress/the-bomber-gas-station-milwaukie-oregon/ By Michael Karl Witzel ©2007-2008 “Wian plopped on some relish, and began stacking up a ridiculous caricature of the hamburger—a double-decked delight pushing burger creativity to the outer limits!” [caption id="attachment_154" align="alignleft" width="178" caption="The Big Boy Himself"][/caption] Robert Wian learned the restaurant business the hard way.  When his father’s furniture business faltered during ... http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress/bobs-big-boy-burger/ By Michael Karl Witzel ©2007-2008 Back in the fifties, while cruisers were haunting the drive-in restaurants found along the loop, couples were finding entertainment in places that weren’t so brightly lit. With many of the same characteristics that made curb service so popular, the drive-in theater became a secondary destination ... http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress/remembering-the-drive-in-theater/ By Michael Karl Witzel ©2007-2008 Heinrich Geissler invented one of the first genuine prototypes of the non-filament lamp in 1856. To create artificial light, he used high voltage alternating current to excite the carbon dioxide gas sealed inside a glass tube. But there was one major drawback: The energized ... http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress/a-brief-history-of-neon/ Barbecue Road Trip: Recipes, Restaurants, & Pitmasters from America's Great Barbecue Regions by Michael Karl Witzel With its fervent aficionados, traditions, and wildly varying regional styles—each with its passionate advocates—barbecue is much more than a way of cooking meat: It’s a cultural ritual. [caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="389" caption="Barbecue Roadtrip, Published by Voyageur Press"][/caption] A history as ... http://michaelwitzel.com/wordpress/barbecue-road-trip-book/