Drive-ins and carhops of yesteryear

By Katie Duncan

Special to Business Today

KENNETT -- It was the age of the automobile. Teenagers everywhere had a car and they spent their weekend nights cruising. They would show off their wheels and meet friends at the local drive-in. Kennett was no exception. During the mid-'50s until the mid-'70s, the places to be were the Log Cabin, McGhee's Drive-In and A&W.

They were the drive-ins in town.

"We would go to the drive-in theater and then to the drive-in restaurant," Jane Diggs, who has collected pictures and memorabilia from the local drive-ins at her husband's shop, B & H Auto Electric, said. "It was before air conditioning when people didn't mind sitting in their cars eating and sweating."

Teenagers circled Kennett from one end of town to the other meeting friends, catching a bite to eat and driving their cars.

Beer, barbecue and curly fries -- the Log Cabin

Joann Bartmess' father, Joe Scales, owned the Log Cabin for three years during the late 1940s. "I would meet my friends there," Bartmess said. "We'd sit in the car talking and eating barbecue. That's when it was a nickel for a hamburger and another nickel for a soda."

For Bartmess the Log Cabin was a meeting place.

"Whenever I had a date from out of town, I would tell him to meet me at the Log Cabin," Bartmess said. "That way my dad could meet him too."

In 1948, Scales sold the Log Cabin to Georgia Stanley.

Jane Diggs recalled that the Log Cabin was known for "beer, barbecue and curly fries. It was the only drive-in in town that the carhop would bring a beer with your barbecue," she said.

Debbie McElwarth-Sample carhopped at the Log Cabin and recalls the fights that broke out.

"There were so many fights," she said. "That was the local place to get into fights. It was nothing to look out the window and watch a beer can fly through the air and hit someone in the head."

While owned by Stanley, the Log Cabin became famous for its homemade chili, stew, barbecue and curly fries

Homemade ice cream and chicken salad - McGhee's Drive-In

"Joe McGhee was the best baby-sitter in town," Judy Bush recalled. "He knew every kid by name and ran a nice place."

Joe Reid McGhee opened his drive-in, McGhee's Drive-In, in January 1953. It began as a rootbeer stand and evolved into a teenage hangout for the next 20 years. McGhee sold Richardson Rootbeer in a frosted mug and his own homemade ice cream.

Soon, McGhee added Coney Island sandwiches to the menu because "they go well with rootbeer," McGhee said.

During 1957, Independence Avenue in Kennett was widened to four lanes from two. With the construction and the vast amount of rain during the year, McGhee closed the drive-in for six months.

"It rained 10 inches on July 3, 1957, and we had 100 inches of rain that year," McGhee said.

In 1960, McGhee installed the speaker system which was the first of its kind in the Kennett area and the first between St. Louis and Memphis.

It was a family place with pinball machines, a jukebox, good food and the famous tree. The tree was located at the back of the drive-in property at the sharp curve in McGhee's circle drive.

"I don't think there was a fender in town that didn't hit that tree," Tom Duncan said.

Diane Johnson carhopped for McGhee during her teenage years along with her sisters, Pat Beggs and Sandra Sisler. Her mother, Juanita Byrd, was a cook at McGhee's for 10 to 15 years, according to Johnson.

As a carhop, Johnson earned $3.50 a day plus tips. "Twenty-five cents was considered a good tip," she said.

Carhops wore loose, black pants, black shoes and a white cotton shirt. They worked late, sometimes until 2 a.m., according to Johnson.

Since the carhops worked so late, one of McGhee's rules was that he took his carhops home.

McElwarth-Sample worked as a carhop for McGhee from 1966 to '68. She later married McGhee's nephew, Ken Sample.

"He is no longer my boss but still in my life," McElwarth-Sample said. "He is a very special person to all the teens and people who knew him." McElwarth-Sample recalls another McGhee rule. Carhops were not allowed to chew gum. "I remember one time I almost got fired for chewing gum," she said.

According to Johnson, McGhee did not allow foul language or fights on his property.

"If a fight broke out, he would kick the teens off the drive," Johnson said. "They would go to Billboard Road, finish the fight and then return to McGhee's. And the crowd would follow."

McGhee's became known for the best corndogs, chicken salad sandwiches and coney islands in town.

McGhee closed his drive-in in 1973. But it survives today in the hearts of those who grew up there.

Menus from McGhee's can be found in homes, businesses and museums around Kennett and the actual building that once was McGhee's is still in Kennett.

"My dad, Daniel Byrd, bought the old building and moved it to his home north of Kennett for a workshop," Johnson said. The workshop is now a rental home on the Bryd's property.

Katie Duncan is a staff writer at the Daily Dunklin Democrat.