The region’s historic drive-ins remind us of a time when the car was king and eating on the go was a social and stylish way of life.
By Joseph Platania
HQ 36 | AUTUMN 1999
No invention or discovery has shaped the culture of 20th Century America like the automobile. In the 1950s and 60s, it seemed as though anything was more fun if a car was involved. Along with the high speeds and fast times of a carbased society came one of our most popular and enduring institutions — the drive-in restaurant.
In the 1930s and 40s, drive-in restaurants sprang up all over the country. However, their heyday was in the 50s and early 60s before they began their slow demise.
Most of us who are of a certain age can remember the peak years of Huntington’s drive-ins where radios blared, cars cruised and teenagers thronged to their favorite hangout.
The drive-in that I can best recall was Adkins Fat Boy on Washington Boulevard near what was then 16th Street. In particular, I remember the boxy metal intercoms for ordering and the metal trays hanging onto car windows.
“In small town America, car service survived in small pockets but these were the last repositories of the drive-in’s heyday,” states a book about car hops and curb service.
The Huntington area has been recognized as “one of the few places left in the country that still has drive-ins.”
For several generations now, the “Big Three” of Huntington’s drive-ins have been Stewart’s Original Hot Dogs at 2445 Fifth Avenue, Smith’s Midway at West Fifth Street and Madison Avenue and Frostop at 1449 Hal Greer Boulevard. Nearby drive-ins include a Stewart’s Original Hot Dogs on First Street and in Kenova, Stewart’s Root Beer in Chesapeake, Ohio, Farley’s Famous Hot Dogs on U.S. Route 60 East, near Barboursville, in Milton and Hurricane and Triple H Drive-in at Lavalette.
The Tri-State’s oldest drive-in and one of the oldest in the country is Stewart’s Original Hot Dogs, the little orange drive-in that opened for business in 1932.
In an article in the Spring 1992 Huntington Quarterly, Stewart’s owner John Mandt Sr. expressed his thoughts about the continuity of his family’s business over four generations and what it means to their customers near and far: “It’s a hook people can hang a hat on and say, ‘You know, I remember when I was a little boy and came to Stewart’s.’ It hasn’t changed. There’s a lot of tradition here. People grew up with us. Some people say that when they come back to Huntington, the first place they go is Stewart’s — then they go home to see mom. And people will stop by who are in their 60s and 70s and say ‘you know, the first date I ever had was right there.”‘
The Huntington landmark was established by J.L. Mandt and his wife Gertrude, both German immigrants who came to the U.S. in the late 1800s. The little drive-in has survived the Depression, the 1937 Ohio River flood (which submerged the building), food and gasoline rationing during World War II and the expansion of national and international fast food and pizza chains into local markets. Now in its seventh decade, Stewart’s Original Hot Dogs is a time-honored custom for eating out in the Tri-State.
It wasn’t until 1949 that the first drive-in restaurants were listed in the city directory. These included Carl’s Drive-In on Waverly Road, Carter’s Drive-In at 1559 Fourth Avenue (later the site of a Wiggin’s restaurant) and Midway Lunch.
By the time of the 1952-53 directory, there were 15 drive-in restaurants including Stewart’s Drive-In, Wiggin’s Drive-In on Piedmont Road, Wiggin’s Fifth Avenue Barbecue at 29th Street and several drive-ins in Kenova.
In the 1955 directory there were between 15 and 20 drive-ins in Huntington most of which have disappeared or, like Shoney’s Big Boy and Cam’s Corner Drive-In, have been converted to restaurants with indoor seating.
There were a dozen drive-ins listed in the 1958-59 directory including a Shoney’s at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 10th Street, where Bank One now stands.
Some Huntington residents have recalled from the 1950s the Chu Chu Inn, located on Fifth Avenue between 25th and 26th Streets. This drive-in was unique because car hops served beer as well as food to motorists in their cars.
In 1968, Long’s Parkette had three drive-ins including one across from Marshall’s Twin Towers dorms that was popular with students. Adkin’s Fat Boy was down to one location and Dwight’s Drive-In opened at 823 Eighth Street.
The number of drive-ins dwindled in number locally as they did nationally until by 1974, there were fewer than ten in Huntington.
During the late 70s, the Chatterbox in Kenova remained in business as did Dwight’s on Eighth Street and Dolen’s Drive-In at 931 Sixth Avenue, formerly at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 10th Street. Frostop, Midway, Stewart’s and the Parkland in Ceredo continued to be popular eateries.
By the time of the 1980 directory, the number of drive-ins was down to eight including Dwight’s, Chatterbox, Frostop, Midway and Stewart’s Original Hot Dogs as well as Stewart’s Root Beer, now Farley’s, on Route 60 East near Barboursville.
Smith’s Midway Drive-In at 445 Sixth Avenue West (Madison Avenue), in business for 60 years, is Huntington’s second oldest drive-in. Its location at about halfway between the city’s east end and west end probably accounts for its name.
Midway owner Jeff Smith explains that Strobe Fulwiler built Midway as a drive-in restaurant in late May or early June 1939. He states that the first year it was open, Midway only served root beer, popcorn and ice cream. In 1940, hot dogs were added to the menu. In 1944, his mother went to work as a cook for Fulwiler and after that, hamburgers, barbecue, fries, etc. became part of the fare.
In 1956, Fulwiler leased Midway to “Smitty” Hart who hired Smith’s father, who was then a baker at Bailey’s Cafeteria.
Smith explains that during the mid-50s, Hart, Bill Hazelett and Rupert and Marian McGinnis opened the Frostop Drive-In, which was a franchise, at 1449 16th Street, now Hal Greer Boulevard. In fact, Smith says that his mother cooked hot dog sauce for both Midway and Frostop for several years. First Hart and then Bill Hazelett left Frostop. He adds that Hazelett built his own drive-in that he named the Triple H in Lavalette, south of Huntington.
Smith adds that in 1988, Strobe Fulwiler’s heirs sold all of the property that he owned in Huntington, including Midway, and later that year he bought the drive-in. The building was remodeled the following spring and reopened on May 3, 1989, says Smith. He adds that in 1990, the name was changed to Smith’s Midway Drive-In.
At present, Midway has ten employees who work as cooks, counter servers and car hops.
He recalls that during the 1960s when drive-ins were at their peak, cars would often back up from the filled Midway lot and park along West Sixth Avenue waiting to get into the drive-in.
Smith says that as far as he knows, almost all the drive-ins in the Huntington area are doing well in terms of volume of business.
The third of Huntington’s Big Three drive-ins is the Frostop. A popular Huntington eatery for more than 40 years, Frostop’s sign is a large mug of root beer atop the little drive-in.
The drive-in opened in 1957 after having been built by Smitty Hart.
Frostop uses its own recipe for root beer, and its menu includes hot dogs, hamburgers, barbecues, chicken, fish, French fries, onion rings and other soft drinks. About a dozen people are employed at the drive-in with most working as car hops.
The glory years of the drive-in have become part of our culture, but in the Huntington area, it’s still possible to experience what was once taken for granted by every kid and family with a car. With its car hops, homecooked food and cozy atmosphere, the drive-in has been called “a true American icon,” and Huntington is fortunate to still have them around.
