I’m about halfway done with this annual winter project with the four giant sections remaining. After Eateries, there will be gas stations, signs, and mid-century buildings. I’m just getting going with this section and I already have plenty to report.

This former Mr. Swiss (Master Wong’s for many years) in Bolivar, MO:

now has a giant addition in front (a common dining room expansion for many of these buildings and other fast food places):

This former Chicken Chef (a very similar looking chain design) in Hammond, LA:

has been cleaned up for the Pour House and is now partly concealed behind an open-air patio dining structure:

This Dari-Delite in Clanton, AL moved in 2011. This sign was removed last year but the building remains.

This Arby’s sign in Tulsa, OK:

got the ugly LED rope treatment this year:

Another one bites the dust — the neon Arby’s hat replaced with modern plastic in Miami, OK:

One of the very few remaining original pylon A&W buildings still operating as such closed earlier this year. This building was from the late 1940s in Hanford, CA is vacant and the signs are gone:

This former pilgrim hat A&W in Humboldt, IA has been vacant for years. Earlier this year, the “hat” and canopy were removed:

Moving on to Burger Chef signs — as per John Margolies, here’s what the original signs looked like — this one was in Albuquerque, NM:

The former sign in Springfield, MA has been through many updates for different business over several decades. Recently, the sign was encased in plastic panels but it still bears a resemblance to the original design:

Around 2007, the former sign in Baltimore, MD was painted as a chicken for The Roost:

The paint faded quite a bit over the years and now it’s been painted over. What’s nice though is that you can see where the chef was more clearly and your can make out the 15 cents bulb sockets. Yes, and the building is still there (with some updating, of course):

The Biff-Burger in St. Petersburg, FL closed last year. GoogleStreetView shows what things look like as last month. So sad. The last report is that it will all be demolished for a car wash soon:

The Big Boy restaurant in Novi, MI closed in 2020. The building and this statue are gone now:

The former Coffee Dan’s restaurant in Oceanside, CA from 1956 was demolished earlier this year:

For more about the place, see this website:

https://historiesandmysteries.blog/2022/07/25/end-of-an-era-the-flying-bridge-and-coffee-dans/

The former Bridge Motor Inn sign remains (for now) but the building on the right is gone. I believe a big hotel is planned for the property:

That’s enough for now. I’ll be back very soon with more.

Happy trails,
dj & the dogs