{"id":6938,"date":"2026-08-14T11:34:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T18:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/news\/7809845\/pull-up-to-the-window-please-for-a-glimpse-of-an-american-icon-the-drive-thru\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T11:34:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T18:34:05","slug":"pull-up-to-the-window-please-for-a-glimpse-of-an-american-icon-the-drive-thru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6938\/pull-up-to-the-window-please-for-a-glimpse-of-an-american-icon-the-drive-thru\/","title":{"rendered":"Pull up to the window, please, for a glimpse of an American icon: The drive-thru"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Full disclosure: this should really be two tales. How better to pay tribute to the natural and perhaps inevitable combination of two distinctly American icons: fast food and cars?<\/p>\n

Those two massive sociological forces had already joined up, Voltron-style, early in the 20th century with the development of the drive-in restaurant \u2013 that classic scene evocative of \u201cHappy Days\u201d where customers sat in their cars while servers (ideally on skates) brought out food that was consumed on site from window trays.<\/p>\n

But the real innovation dates to the late 1940s and is the brainchild of either (depending on which source you trust) an In-N-Out Burger<\/a> in California in 1948 or Red\u2019s Giant Hamburg<\/a> in Springfield, Missouri in 1947. (In comparison, the first reported drive-thru in Europe didn\u2019t open until 1985 in Dublin.)<\/p>\n

By the mid 1960s, this had mushroomed into a robust American market, spawning imitators and innovators. Jack in the Box pioneered the drive-thru exclusive restaurant with no indoor seats and no parking \u2014 and a talking mechanical clown to take your order. In Western states, residents of a certain age will recall the Wienershnitzel<\/a> chain with its distinctive A-frame structures specially built with a tunnel down the middle for cars.<\/p>\n

The innovation sparked unexpected knock-on developments. Restaurant menus shifted heavily toward sandwiches, fries, chicken strips and other portables that could be consumed on the go. The cars themselves adjusted over the years to accommodate larger and larger drink holders. What sociological (and nutritional) impact this has all had on the actual consumers would be the subject of a much longer essay.<\/p>\n

The innovation hasn\u2019t stopped. Modern drive-thrus have evolved into tightly coordinated multi-lane affairs. At Chick-fil-As around the country, actual humans with electronic tablets now stand \u2013 breathing in exhaust fumes all day \u2013 to ensure a seamless ordering process with no mechanical speaker garbles.<\/p>\n

The drive-thru, with its distinctly American creative spelling, has become woven into the fabric of the culture. It has been enshrined in the Smithsonian<\/a> Museum of American History and has played a memorable role in recent and successful Presidential<\/a> campaigns.<\/p>\n

As one historian put it,<\/a> somewhat pointedly: \u201cThe drive-in was less a pure novelty than an expression of great American passions that go hand in hand: speed, efficiency and, sometimes, laziness.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Part of a recurring series, \u201cAmerican Objects,\u201d marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click here<\/a>. For more stories on the anniversary, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n \"|\"
FILE – A Jack in the Box restaurant is shown in Los Angeles in November 1970. (AP Photo\/David F. Smith, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
FILE – A customer receives her burger and fries from the drive-thru at In-N-Out Burger on Friday, June 11, 2010, in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Adam Lau, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
FILE – A customer orders a meal at a drive-thru at McDonald’s restaurant in Palo Alto, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006. (AP Photo\/Paul Sakuma, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Full disclosure: this should really be two tales. How better to pay tribute to the natural and perhaps inevitable combination of two distinctly American icons: fast food and cars? Those two massive sociological forces had already joined up, Voltron-style, early in the 20th century with the development of the drive-in restaurant \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":6939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"guid":"0eb3c307-f7cf-4b72-9992-76c549910607","source":"The Associated Press","byline":"Ashraf Khalil","published":"2026-08-14 11:34:05","updated":"2026-08-14 11:34:05","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1303,1304],"tags":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-6938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6938\/pull-up-to-the-window-please-for-a-glimpse-of-an-american-icon-the-drive-thru\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Pull up to the window, please, for a glimpse of an American icon: The drive-thru","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6938\/pull-up-to-the-window-please-for-a-glimpse-of-an-american-icon-the-drive-thru\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6938\/pull-up-to-the-window-please-for-a-glimpse-of-an-american-icon-the-drive-thru\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-9eb09a4bc2cdcf64a1688b71044950fc648e8d56c283494f233a16eb1486ac07.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-9eb09a4bc2cdcf64a1688b71044950fc648e8d56c283494f233a16eb1486ac07.jpg"},"articleSection":"International","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNwheels","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-08-14T18:34:05Z","datePublished":"2026-08-14T18:34:05Z","dateModified":"2026-08-14T18:34:05Z"},"rendered":"