Car Hops and Curb Service: A History of American Drive-In Restaurants 1920-1960 Review

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Car Hops and Curb Service: A History of American Drive-In Restaurants 1920-1960 ReviewThe humble drive-in gets the Jim Heimann treatment: well researched, excellent photo and graphics selection, bibliography, index and he designed it, too. Though it was published in 1996 I don't think there is a better book about the subject. Michael Wetzel's `The American Drive-in' (1994, ISBN 0879389192) comes close, with a lot of the same images but I thought his rather too superficial.
Heimann has clearly done a lot of research and I liked the many architectural references. Drive-ins, because of their rather temporary nature, could be designed with latest visual gimmicks and building styles yet could be easily changed to a newer look. Heimann refers to Exaggerated Modern as a suitable name for drive-in style. The book has plenty of historical photos to show the changing face of the eatery, especially in sunny California.
It seems LA was the experimental center of drive-in style with architects like John Lautner, Armet & Davis or Wayne McAllister designing establishments always that little bit different from the competition. Incidentally neither Lautner or Armet & Davis are mentioned in the index of Witzel's book.
Visually the book is a treat. Plenty of really good historical exterior black and whites of establishments backed up with color postcards and graphic material like menus or book matches. All the material is presented in a straightforward layout (and this is another area where the Witzel book falls down: the layout is far too scrappy with too much unused white page space). It is unfortunate though that the captions are set in a rather small type in long lines and frequently they refer to photos on a preceding or following spread.
Heimann has written the definitive book about a little bit of Americana and I bet it will remain in print for many years.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.Car Hops and Curb Service: A History of American Drive-In Restaurants 1920-1960 Overview

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