If you’re modeling the East or Midwest, I’d go with the White Castle prototype. I don’t remember many out here on the West Coast (though you can still buy the White Castle burgers in the frozen food sections of a lot of West Coast supermarkets). However if you want a more ‘generic’ restaurant, the Atlas is really attractive–with some detailing and maybe a little kit-bashing, you could turn it into a Denney’s. You could also use it in a more ‘rural’ setting, whereas I think the White Castle prototype would probably be more often seen in a down-town or city setting.
Actually, a really nifty one that I don’t think is available anymore, unless IHC still makes it, is a kind of seedy little joint called “Ma’s Place” which was put out by AHM some years back. I’ve got one on the Yuba River Sub, turned it into a kind of hangout for miners, loggers and such. In the back there’s an–ah–“establishment” that Ma runs on the QT–with payback to the local law enforcement, of course, LOL!
The McDonalds kit was originally made (without permission) by LifeLike and can quite often be found on ebay selling for a minimum of $50 for one that’s well used to a couple hundred or more for a mint one still in the box !!!
Over the years there has been a couple Burger Kings, one by Tyco and a much nicer one by Vollmer. Tyco also made a Pizza Hut as well along the same time as the Burger King.
LifeLike still makes the Kentucky Fried Chicken and Summit Models currently makes both a modern day Taco Bell as well as a Denny’s.
The White tower kit was originally made as a craftman’s kit in the Magnuson line until Walthers took it over and retooled the kit into a simpler plastic version.
Over the years, many licenced name brand kits have been modified to avoid having to pay fees for the name. Who remembers the LifeLike 7-11 that ultimately became the Ace Supermarket or the Tastee-Freeze that became a more generic Free-Zee ice cream stand.
To the best of my knowledge, the Atlas Roadside Restaurant was never labelled as a Howard Johnson’s, although the appearance suggests it is. IHC makes a legitimate Howard Johnson’s reataurant with the proper monikers.
That should be enough for any one to get their “fast food drive” filled in !!!
Walthers’ White Tower Restaurant is far superior to Atlas’ White Tower Restaurant which doesn’t exist; so, also, Atlas’ Roadside Restaurant is far superior to Walthers’ Roadside Restaurant which also does not exist.
As long as we are on this sort of subject I would like to raise the following question: Which is better? Atlas or Kato.
Good old Ma’s Place. I’ve got a prebuilt one that was part of a lot of stuff I picked up at an estate sale about 25 years ago. Looks just like the one in your picture. On both my current layout and previous one, it served a useful purpose as a temporary fill in structure until I could get something more substantial built. I have another section of layout yet to be built and it will probably be used again. Someday I might even dress it up and find a permanent location for it. It’s really an interesting structure for such a simple kit. Surely somebody must still be producing it.
Sliders is one of the kinder nicknames for them. The company has actually embraced that one. It’s much better than some of the other terms such as ratburgers or rectum rockets.
I don’t care how many owners or name changes it goes through, to me and most of my generation, it will always be Colonel Sanders or just The Colonel.
Does anyone know when that style of restaurant was adopted by The Colonel. I know he began franchising in the 1950s but I don’t remember seeing that style of building until the late 1960s or early 1970s. I bought one of those kits before I backdated my previous layout and am wondering if it would be appropriate on a 1950s era layout. That was back when we could still enjoy food that tasted good before the food Nazis (rhymes with Yahtzee) started trying to worry us all to death. GOD BLESS TRANS FATS!!!
I can’t date this one exactly, but it looks like the one I remember as a kid in the late sixties - it also eventually had the rotating barrel out front, but a much older design than that in the kit …
Harman Cafe’s were the first place to take on the Colonel as a franchise. Here is a picture of one of the first partnerships in 1952 …
Here, the Colonel and Pete Harman stand beside one of the first 1952 advertisements …
I’m going to take an educated guess and say the standard style of KFC store depicted in the Life-Like kit wasn’t adopted until after Colonel Sanders sold the business in 1964. Pictures I’ve seen of the early franchises seem to indicate they were located in whatever building was available, such as the Harman’s Cafe you show.
I bit of trivia which a lot of people don’t know is that the late Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s, learned the franchising business at the side of Colonel Sanders. He opened the first Wendy’s in downtown Columbus, OH a few years after the Colonel sold the business. He said at the time he was hoping he could earn $10,000 a year from his little store on E. Broad St. I think he suceeded.
An interesting discussion. As an East Coast (New Jersey and Northern Virginia) boy in the early '60s, I remember Howard Johnson’s (not HoJo’s back then) being the most universal restaurant on the major highways at the time. Interstates were just being built, and I remember many miles on US 1, 29, 301, 17 because there was no other alternative. It was either Howard Johnson’s or the local greasy spoon run by Ma and Pa. Howard Johnson’s also spread their name by having the franchise at the rest areas along the toll roads of the time - New Jersey and Connecticut Turnpikes, etc. Fast food wasn’t suitable for the toll road rest areas then. Possibly coincidence that Atlas came out with its roadside restaurant kit that looked like a Howard Johnson’s in the early '60s? Especially considering Atlas was located in New Jersey?
McDonald’s was just really getting started where I lived, and had plenty of competition from Burger Queen (10 and 15 cent hamburgers and cheeseburgers) as well as Burger King.
I never saw a White Castle until I moved to Indiana in the '80s.
Mine is the older resin Magnuson kit. The Wathers kit is based off of the Magnuson kit, but is plastic. I actually prefer the resin kits as they take paint very nicely, although can be warped a bit.
Scale Structures now manufactures the old Magnuson line, they even offer the White Castle.
I’m likin this http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2909 . It has a detailed interior & Model Train Stuff (M.B Klein) has it for $23.00! I would change the name from Miss Bettie’s Diner to Trackside Diner ( after the most famous & amazing Diner, Elliot’s Trackside Diner)!
Looking at your image (I assume that’s your model) did White Castle even offer Car-hop service during the 1950s? I know that’s one of the first things the McDonald brothers got rid of on their march to Fast Food History, but for some reason I never thought of White Castle offering such service (Maybe individual franchises) - or is such service part of ‘creative history’.
Yes, details such as that both fascinate and irk me [:P]
Yep my model. It was built around 1990 or so? The car hop is most likely “creative history”. Just thought it made a nice scene for the 1957 era.
I’m actually not too familiar with White Castle since I’ve lived most of my life in California and the layout is set in California. However the layout dates back to 1973 (and Illinois) when my dad started it. So some buildings and such are more appropriate for the Midwest. A McDonalds or Bob’s Big Boy would be much more appropriate. But then a lot of the buildings on the layout are more Midwestern in flavor. The department store is labeled for Carson Pierre Scott (of Chicago fame) and I’ve been telling my dad we should change it to Bullocks to be more Californian…but since his dad (grandpa) worked at Carsons, we’re keeping it as is for now.