# Drive-thru? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2002, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963 "2002-11-02T03:48:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/1 "2002-11-02T03:48:00Z")
I have The History Channel on, and they’re talking about the history of drive-through windows at fast-food restaurants. If I’m interpreting what they’re saying correctly, they seem to be giving the impression that “drive-thru” windows are predominantly a 1970s phenomenon. I thought I heard the year 1977 as the date of the first “drive-thru” at a major burger chain. A window manufacturer says his company displayed a “drive-thru” window at a convention in 1979 and people didn’t know what it was. They thought, he said, the windows were models of a full-size thing that cars could drive through. But I remember going through the “drive-thru” at Jack-in-the-Box with my grandmother, who died in 1969. So it must have been around 1968. I know I went to JitB with dad before then, but memory gets fuzzy that young. I remember driving through Picnic’n Chicken in San Diego in the early 1970s with my mom. So what’s the deal? When _did_ "drive-thru"s become widespread? I can’t believe it was so late as the middle-1970s. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/2 "2002-11-02T03:56:11Z")
From [here](http://www.cloudbow.com/snapshot/mcdonalds1.html): > [@](#): > > The first McDonald’s drive-thru window opened in Sierra Vista, Arizona, on January 24, 1975. That’s only McDonald’s though. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/3 "2002-11-02T04:00:38Z")
The late Dave Thomas invented the first (modern-day) drive-through at a [Wendy’s](http://www.wendys.com/w-6-0.shtml) restaurant in November, 1970. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/4 "2002-11-02T04:13:36Z")
> [@](#): > > The late Dave Thomas invented the first (modern-day) drive-through at a Wendy’s restaurant in November, 1970. But that runs counter to my own experiences. As I said, one of my grandmothers died in 1969. It was at least a year prior that we went through the “drive-thru” of a Jack-in-the-Box in Anaheim, CA. I remember it clearly because she ordered a hamburger. When the voice-in-the-clown asked, “Would you like anything else?” she said, “No, I just want a plain hamburger.” Which is what she got – a bun with meat in it. She was angry about it, since she expected a plain hamburger with the normal toppings but without a side of fries and a coke. Anyway, it’s clear in my memory. Also, I would get sick occasionally as a child. We’re talking five or so, which would have been in the latter part of the mid-1960s. Dad would take me to the Jack-in-the-Box “drive-thru” in San Diego – I think it was on Balboa and Kearny Mesa Rd. (obviously I didn’t drive then, and I don’t know the roads very well). There was definitely a “drive-thru” with a clown-thing to take the order. ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/5 "2002-11-02T04:27:58Z")
According to the Jack in the Box [website](http://www.jackinthebox.com/aboutourco/index.php?section=1) they were one of the first restaurants to use a drive-thru.Wendy’s probably just had a larger implementation of the concept. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/6 "2002-11-02T05:29:38Z")
I also remember going to a Jack in the Box drive thru, when I was a kid in 1970-71 or so. In San Bernardino, I think. I also remember having to talk into a big clown to place your order. I also remember my older brother working at a fast food place with a drive thru around that same time, not a big chain thing, but a local deal. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/7 "2002-11-02T05:46:46Z")
I remember the JitB drive thru in Carlsbad about the same time. Perhaps SoCal was on the cutting edge… But my fave was In-N-Out, which I’m sure Johnny L.A. must be familiar with. [http://www.inandout.com/](http://www.inandout.com/) implies they were doing it in 1948. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/8 "2002-11-02T15:22:12Z")
Yes, I’m familiar with In-N-Out; but I prefer Fatburger. I like the taste of the burgers better, and the fries are good as well (inlike In-N-Out’s fries). But INO does have a pretty good burger. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/9 "2002-11-02T15:23:50Z")
“unlike”. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/10 "2002-11-02T22:56:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hammerbach \* > \*\*But my fave was In-N-Out, which I’m sure Johnny L.A. must be familiar with. [http://www.inandout.com/](http://www.inandout.com/) implies they were doing it in 1948. \*\* I agree, In-n-Out Burger’s drive through in 1948 trumps Jack’s in 1951 by three years, and Wendy’s isn’t even in the running with 1970. In-n-Out also has the best burger by far. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/11 "2002-11-02T23:52:37Z")
A story about [Drive-Thru Day](http://www.appeal-democrat.com/marketplace/072102Marketplace.shtml) (July 28) in Callifornia includes this statement: > [@](#): > > The advent of the drive-thru restaurant in 1921 has grown to include coffee houses, film developing, pharmacies, car washes and dry cleaners. > > \ > > Restaurants began serving motorists in 1921 when the first drive-in, called Pig Stand, opened in Dallas, Texas. Hmm…, drive-in or drive-thru? [USA Today](http://www.usatoday.com/money/covers/2002-04-03-drive-thru.htm) offers this: > [@](#): > > No one knows who opened the first drive-thru. But by most accounts, it was Royce Hailey, who in 1928 promoted drive-thru service at his Pig Stand restaurant in Los Angeles. Anyway, drive-thrus were widespread in Texas by the 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drive-thru/134963/12 "2002-11-03T00:19:17Z")
More on Pig Stands: [http://www.geocities.com/frenchhighschool/Spigstd.html](http://www.geocities.com/frenchhighschool/Spigstd.html) They began as carhop service in 1921. That article claims: > [@](#): > > The Pig Stands were also pioneers in other areas such as drive-thru windows in 1931 and fluorescent lighting in 1939 Although one wonders about the accuracy of the chronology when the article opens with: > [@](#): > > The 21st Century embraced a new invention that revolutionized mobility for all Americans: the automobile! oops. At any rate, I’m willing to believe that there were a few drive-thru windows in the early 30’s, though most places would have had carhop service through the 50’s.