Big Bun Drive-In, 1950s, by Elaine Creed

From MemoryArchive

Who: Elaine Creed
What: Big Bun Drive-in
When: early 1950s
Where: Wichita, Kansas

The speaker blurted out the familiar "May I take your order?", and just as I had done a thousand times in the past, I responded "Cherry limeade with extra cherry." Sitting there waiting for the order to come, I wondered if the magic would still be there - not just the magic of the sweet, tart, liquid but the whole drive-in experience. Would one taste bring it all back or was that possible? Somehow, it seemed important to relive that wonderful and even innocent part of my adolescence. I had recently read that the city was going to tear down the BigBun drive-in that had been a gathering place for hundreds of kids of my generation and even some after that. It seemed a sacrilege to tear it down. It had been "THE PLACE" - the place to hang out, hook up, see and be seen. It was a place where by ordering a simple limeade you could stay for as long as you wanted and not worry that someone would ask you to leave so that others could occupy your space. For the most part, the clientele was teenage kids but the place seemed to thrive and the management seemed to respect our desire to be there. There were no rules set in stone. As long as no one got obnoxious or disrespectful, as long as no one got totally out of line, we were allowed to play our teenage roles. I was sad to think that that experience would be lost to future young people. After all, it was a rather harmless pastime especially harmless when you compare it to all the harmful things that go on now. The beauty of the drive-in was that there was no time or leave (unless, of course, they closed). You could stop in in the afternoon, early evening, late evening and someone would probably be there. There might be a crowd of kids, or even one couple but always someone you knew and who knew you. Somehow just being there made you a part of that once in a lifetime phenomonon known as "teenager". Even if you thought of yourself as an outsider, your very presence at the drive-in made you feel like an insider - a part of a group. And so you were. No one ignored you or refused to sit with you as sometimes happened in the cafeteria at school. Everyone was equal in this atmosphere. Oh, of course, there were some who were more popular, better looking, better athletes, had more money, but none of that mattered here. What mattered was that you were in a safe place - a place where you could be yourself.

Some kids even ordered food. At the Big Bun, the speciality was a loose meat sandwich (made with ground been that had been crumbled and steamed) with pickles, and mustard served on a bun. The bun was always warm and the top was moist from the cooked meat. Actually, it was fabulous. The fries were cooked when your order was placed so they were always hot and fresh. The limeade was the usual drink order although some kids ordered coke. Coke was something you could have at home but the limeade was special. In those days of balanced meals, school cafeterias that still served things like meat loaf and mashed potatoes and gravy, drive-in food was a luxury and we relished the experience.

But the "drive" part of drive-in was the major attraction for the teenager. You could walk to a restaurant and experience some of the same things. But to experience the drive-in you had to be able to drive in and park. In those days. most of us "borrowed" our parent's car. Unlike today, very few teenagers had a car. As a result, when you got to drive, you wanted every to see you and the car. It was a kind of "right of passage" - you were trusted - you were responsible - you were licensed. The drive-in gave kids a chance to be seen in this new role. When you drove up and parked, everyone could see you in the driver's seat. And because everyone was parked, the passengers went from car to car. Even the drivers occasionally got out and leaned in the window of another car if it was close by. There was an unwritten rule, however, that if you took up spce in the drive in you stayed close to the car. Occasionally, passengers even switched cars. Some couples made arrangements to meet this way thus arriving in one car and leaving in another. Some couplles were introduced while floating from car to car and ended up leaving together. Still others left one car in anger and got into another leaving a partner alone. So, the drive-in was really a social phenomenon.

The sound of my straw on the bottom of the cup reminded me that I was finished. As I took that last few drops of the sweet, tart limeade, I looked around at the parked cars. They were full of mothers with children,men in work clothes, and older couples. Then I knew. The drive-in as a gathering place for teenagers had long passed. Maybe that is as it should be. Each generation has its own way of coping with the world, and today's kids have a much wider swath to cover. My generation was much less worldly. Maybe that is why when people talk about the 50s, they talk about it as a time of innocence. And in many ways, it was. We were a generation who always went home at the end of the evening, who tried to follow the rules and who respected authority. We used the drive-in as a learning experience. It gave us a chance to try or wings, learn valuable lessons and begin our journey to adulthood. Certainly we made some mistakes but for the most part those mistakes did not ruin our lives. In fact, they may have made us better people. Yes, the drive-in as I knew it was gone, but I will always remember it as being an important part of my life.