Seen in Print

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I can't remember the exact year but it was early '60s the first McDonalds in the area opened in Lower Burrell, Pa. You got a Big Mac, fries, and a milkshake for $0.49. Costs you about $8 or $9 to eat there now.

Roughly 60 years ago; what were you getting paid/hr then?

My first job after graduating college in ‘78 paid an annual salary of $9800. The Seventies were brutal.

I was getting a $5500 stipend to go to grad school and teach at the same time. Factor in rent and food, and a lot of my colleagues were living on cereal the 4th week of the month.

[robert.]

Nixon's second pay freeze stopped my parents from buying a house. They were set in 1973 then their bank backed out of a mortgage. It was only a short term freeze. Short enough for someone else to buy the house they wanted. It took two more years for a house to come up for sale in that neighborhood.

[Mitch]

I can't remember the exact year but it was early '60s the first McDonalds in the area opened in Lower Burrell, Pa. You got a Big Mac, fries, and a milkshake for $0.49. Costs you about $8 or $9 to eat there now.

Roughly 60 years ago; what were you getting paid/hr then?

I wasn't getting paid anything. I was only 12 or 13 years old! My first real job after high school was the US Navy. As a Seaman Deuce out of boot camp, my base pay was $88 a month. After taxes, I got $32 every two weeks. Big money for me in 1969.

[E7]

"GINOS" ala the Baltimore Colts player, Gino Marchetti, was the first burger joint in central PA. 15 cents a pop, and you better like mustard and ketchup! Eventually McD's came on the scene. Ginos lasted quite a while. Red Barn was a big deal for a nano-second. Still got Burger King and Wendy's!
Lum's and Big Boy, long departed!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[healey36]

"GINOS" ala the Baltimore Colts player, Gino Marchetti, was the first burger joint in central PA. 15 cents a pop, and you better like mustard and ketchup! Eventually McD's came on the scene. Ginos lasted quite a while. Red Barn was a big deal for a nano-second. Still got Burger King and Wendy's!
Lum's and Big Boy, long departed!

I seem to recall that at some point Gino's offered fried chicken of the KFC brand. I think KFC was a sit-down restaurant before the fast-food arrangement with Gino's. That might have been how they (Gino's) stuck around for so long in the face of the McD's juggernaut.

Some of The Old Man's brand loyalty was likely due to his acquaintance with Alan Ameche, Gino's VP and former Colts running back. They used to go goose hunting over on the Eastern Shore this time of year with one of my uncles and a couple other guys. Those guys were a hoot to hang around.

Some one bought the rights to the Gino's name a few years back and actually opened a few restaurants:

http://www.ginosgiant.com/

[healey36]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

"GINOS" ala the Baltimore Colts player, Gino Marchetti, was the first burger joint in central PA. 15 cents a pop, and you better like mustard and ketchup! Eventually McD's came on the scene. Ginos lasted quite a while. Red Barn was a big deal for a nano-second. Still got Burger King and Wendy's!
Lum's and Big Boy, long departed!

I seem to recall that at some point Gino's offered fried chicken of the KFC brand. I think KFC was a sit-down restaurant before the fast-food arrangement with Gino's.

Think that there was some sort of partnership there for a while......seems everyone offers a chicken sandwich now....

Some one bought the rights to the Gino's name a few years back and actually opened a few restaurants:

http://www.ginosgiant.com/

Over in Glen Burnie......wonder if it's still operational?

[healey36]

There's one in Towson on Joppa Road. I've never been in there for fear of being disappointed. Like they say, you can never go home again.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

There's one in Towson on Joppa Road. I've never been in there for fear of being disappointed. Like they say, you can never go home again.

Good point. Or learn to live with disappointment.

[J. S. Bach]

Hmmm, I remember a chain called English's mostly on the eastern shore; a chicken place.

[healey36]

Hmmm, I remember a chain called Easter's mostly on the eastern shore.

One of my favorite places when I was a kid was White Coffee Pot Junior. Only fast food joint (more like a lunch counter, but carry-out only) I can recall that served crab soup. Totally Maryland...don't know if they had WCPs or WCPJs anywhere else.

Don't remember Easter's, but I spent a bunch of time on the Eastern Shore, so probably just not recalling.

[J. S. Bach]

Hmmm, I remember a chain called Easter's mostly on the eastern shore.

One of my favorite places when I was a kid was White Coffee Pot Junior. Only fast food joint (more like a lunch counter, but carry-out only) I can recall that served crab soup. Totally Maryland...don't know if they had WCPs or WCPJs anywhere else.

Don't remember Easter's, but I spent a bunch of time on the Eastern Shore, so probably just not recalling.

It was English's, not Easter,s I made the correction probably while you were typing your response.

As for White Coffee Jr, I really liked their salad bar and green goddess salad dressing!

[healey36]

Okay, English's sounds familiar. That might have been one of the places we'd dive into on the goose-hunting expeditions.

[E7]

Healey, You and Rufus are correct on the Ginos and KFC. Pretty sure there was an English Grille in Salisbury, MD. One of my cousins married into the family. She was from Cambridge and I haven't seen her in eons! She would be cruising on 80 if she's still with us, which tells you what an olde fart I am! I haven't been to the Eastern shore since my grandmother passed roundabout '93.

The Old Man met my Mom down there when he was in the service (WWII). He was offered a job and could have stayed down there, but he hauled her back to PA, which looking back was, I think, a bad choice.

Bach, White coffee pot sounds real familiar. Talking about coffee, my grandmother could make a pot of coffee to die for. She was an outstanding cook, and there is absolutely no bias in that comment.

Rich