Inspired by this post over at Lileks.com -- and by the fact that everything is available somewhere in the vast reaches of You Tube -- I thought I'd post a couple of commercials from a long-defunct restaurant that was a big deal back when I was a kid, Red Barn...
The two Muppet-like characters seen here are Hamburger Hungry and Chicken Hungry, and I'm sure there was a Fish Hungry character, too. Here's another ad, this time showcasing what was a pretty amazing innovation of the early 1970s, the salad bar...
Other signs of the times: the prominently displayed Tab dispenser on the pop machine, the haircut on the dad who makes the "halibut" joke and the glasses on the woman who makes the "fowl weather" joke.
We also had (in my home town of Niles, Ohio), a Burger Chef, which was another fast food chain that died sometime in the mid 1980s. The mascots were Burger Chef and his young sidekick, Jeff, and the reason we liked them as kids was they had a "Fun Meal," which was sort of an earlier version of a Happy Meal that came in a cheap cardboard tray instead of a cheap cardboard box. I think there was a prize involved, too. I do remember owning the posters featured in this Burger Chef ad...
I can't remember specifically, but I'm sure I saw that ad back in the day, and I'm equally sure it blew my fragile little mind.
Naturally, this being the age of Wikipedia, there's more information about both Red Barn and Burger Chef than I could ever want -- or, frankly, than I could have ever compiled back when the chains were actually in business. (There are, of course, even fan sites for both.) So I only have one question: Do any of you remember these restaurants?
Friday, March 13, 2009
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11 comments:
You KNOW I do.
In our neck of the woods you can see MANY repurposed Red Barn buildings. The one here in town is now a German restraint.
The Burger Chef went through a few different incarnations, (one being video game arcade) before it finally settled in as "Susan's Coffee & Tea."
We ate at Burger Chef often but I can only remember going into Red Bard a couple of times.
Do I! Burger Chef was the only fast-food option in my flyspeck of a hometown of Newton Falls...we didn't even get a McDonald's 'til 1985 (which was part of the town's "revitalization" effort after a bunch of it was destroyed by the same tornado that took out Niles). I remember those Star Wars posters, too...it was cool that they'd hand 'em to ya rolled up in a tube, rather tan all folded up a dozen times. I don't know about anyone else, but once something's got twenty creases in it, it's no longer a poster, as far as I'm concerned.
Interestingly, I never knew Susan's was once the Burger Chef...they're a little more hard to spot than the Red Barn.
Speaking of which, the Red Barn in Stow, OH, where I went to high school, actually remained open 'til at least 1987, probably 1988. It was in the same few blocks as the public library (where my ne'er-do-well friends and I liked to hang out) and a couple of friends houses. One of my friend's friends, who was a colossal dork no one really liked, worked there for a while, which we gave him tremendous shit for day in and day out.
Will:
Is the girl with the speaking part behind the counter the actress who played Violet Beauregard in Willy Wonka? Look closely!
-Russell Lissau
Russell, you may be right. And if so, this could be the greatest achievement in pop cultural archeology in decades!
We also still have a building that used to be a Red Barn. Since then, it's been a florist, and now sells cellular phones.
By the way, I'm pretty sure the fish was called Big Fish Hungry.
Like the song goes, "When the hungries hit, when the hungries hit -- hit the Red Barn."
As for that Burger King commercial, I used to have 2 of those posters. Hung them on my wall for a long time, and probably threw them out later. Bet they're worth a bunch now.
Wow. Red Barn and Burger Chef. That brings back memories. We had a Red Barn up on the corner of my street and the infamous 8 Mile, about 7 blocks away. First fast food place my friends and I were able to go to on our own.
That building is long gone, but there is a mobile phone store a few miles away that looks like any other cell phone shop if you see it from the front. If you see it from the back, you immediately notice that the facade on the front covers the signature barn shape we remember so well.
I don't remember a thing about Burger Chef, except trying to collect all the original Star Wars posters they put out.
GREAT find from the past, Will. I used to love going to the Red Barn in Ravenna. It was right across from what's Tractor Supply and Marc's now...I think it's been torn down, however (haven't looked for it in years).
Notice how the ad's HUGE burger is 1/4 pound? And the drinks everyone has on their tray are about 12 ounces? Now the kids' meals are bigger than that.
The Red Barn buildings really stand out - like Jay said, Henry Wahner's in Kent (which has fantastic, Fred Flintstone-sized portions of prime rib) and in Stow I think it's a heating/cooling store now? I remember having rings of the Red Barn characters - and of course, I can never forget that jingle.
I also remember Burger Chef in Ravenna - I had one of their fun meals that came in a glow-in-the-dark frisbee, which I had until my dog finally chewed it up. And those posters - I had two of them, too, and had completely forgotten where they came from.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
Gimpy
You're welcome, Dave -- and the rest of you, too. It's been really gratifying to see everyone look back at this cheesy part of our childhoods!
Do any of you remember the Spaghetti Tree restaurant chain? They had crazy cheap spaghetti and meatballs, as well as hamburgers. A really weird business model. The only one I remember was in, I think, Kent. Not something that lasted more than a few years, for some reason.
Also, a favorite as a kid (6 years old or so) was Anthony's Spaghetti Bowl - in Ravenna, I think.
Gimpy
Hey Will-
I think you & I discussed Red Barn at length back in our KSU days! Oh God how I loved that place growing p in Erie, PA. Unfortunately I never had the Star Wars posters from there! I did have the drinking glasses from McDonald's (as well as the first Star Trek movie toys from McD's happy meals - actually more fun than the movie...), but I don't recall ever keeping any goodies from Red Barn.
Oh what I would give for a Barnbuster right now.
-Dave Welte
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