OAHT 1609: Drive-Ins & Carhops
This Geocache WAS part of the Oconomowoc Area Historical Tour:
Drive-Ins & Carhops
The first carhops appeared in 1921 when automobiles were beginning to be a common sight in Dallas, Texas. Two men, a businessman named J.G. Kirby and a physician named R.W. Jackson, decided to take advantage of the fact that many people owned cars and more were coming. They realized that many of the drivers would rather not get out of their cars to eat. They opened the first Drive-In restaurant called the Pig Stand, which had male carhops from its inception. The A&W corporate website actually claims to have opened the first carhop restaurant in 1923, just two years after the Pig Stand initiated carhops. The word itself isn't used in print until 1937.
Women soon replaced male carhops during World War II, because when most men were in the war restaurant’s discovered that a pretty girl sold more food.
The Kiltie Drive-In dates back to 1947. Two Scottish fellows, one named O’Connor, built the Kiltie. Because of their heritage and fondness for Scotland, the drive-in was named the Kiltie. It is one of the few remaining Drive-Ins with carhops in America.
The area where the Geocache is located stood a local bank. The bank was moved when the current Bypass Hwy 16 was built. The original Hwy 16 is now the frontage road, Wisconsin Avenue.
Permission was granted to hide this cache by: Drew Howie