Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age (The Road and American Culture)

Jakle (geography, U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) and Sculle (history, U. of Illinois, Springfield) explore the origins, architecture, and commercial growth of wayside eateries in the United States over the past 100 years, analyzing the impact of the automobile on the restaurant business and the ways that these businesses reflect the story of modern American culture. They cover the evolution of the American restaurant from coffee shops and main street cafes, to early franchises such as White Castle and the current dominance of corporations such as McDonald's. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"John A. Jakle and Keith A. Sculle are not into breast-beating or finger-pointing. Their mission, in this meticulously detailed study of the origins and growth of fast-food chains in the 20th century, is to understand the reasons such enterprises succeeded or failed, how the automobile affected the architectural subculture of the urban fringe, and what kinds of people have succeeded in the cutthroat business of persuading motorists to stop for a Whopper and a Super-Size order of fries... But enough nostalgia. Jakle and Sculle offer a refreshing draft of realism." -- Karal Ann Marling, New York Times Book Review

"Jakle and Sculle don't miss a trick in their fascinating in-depth tour of American eateries... Loaded with thoughtful analysis of social trends, the book tracks fast food from the emergence of the soda fountain in 1839 at a Philadelphia perfume shop (who knew?) to the modern-day ice cream wars pitting Haagen-Dazs against Ben & Jerry's." -- Entertainment Weekly

"Thorough, compendious, and businesslike, it... repays perseverance in the richness and suggestiveness of its prodigal tales." -- Eugen Weber, Times Literary Supplement

"Refreshingly free from foodie pietism. [The authors] are talking about everyday food as it is, not as it might be or should be, and the book is all the better for it... It is lucid, sensible, and well-constructed. It knows where it is going and why." -- Reay Tannahill, History Today

"[An] upbeat image of roadside restaurants. One that should prove immensely enjoyable for the over-40 crowd who are old enough to remember the early days and the long-gone names and logos... The authors very rightly tie together a nation's passion for eating with its love of the automobile." -- Bruce Heydt, American History

"A great nostalgia trip... Jakle and Sculle go to great lengths to understand the industry. They unearth surprising tidbits from sources as mundane as postcards of old restaurants." -- Louis Jacobson, Washington City Paper

"Fast food... is a big subject which needed a big, juicy book; this is it. Jakle and Sculle are geographer and historian, authors already of the definitive works on the American motel and the American gas station. In fast food, they have found the perfect subject for their meticulous surveys: a cabinet of curiosities and the picture of a cultural fact which is a powerful down your local high street as on some California highway... Their book, unlike their subject, is downright nourishing." -- Michael Pye, The Scotsman

"An important contribution to the literature... Place is an important concept in this book on fast foods. In their previous work, Jakle and Sculle have developed the concept of place product packaging. It's certainly a valuable approach to understanding patterns of locations to sleep and fill up the tank. With food, however, a full appreciation of the holistic dynamics of place comes through.... Well written and fun reading... this book qualifies for coffee table prominence. In other words, it's lively and entertaining enough that almost everyone will enjoy picking up a copy and scanning the old photos and stories." -- Ary J. Lamme III, Historical Geography

"Amply illustrated and written in straightforward prose, Fast Food offers a treasure trove of information and insight." -- James R. Curtis, Professional Geographer