1975 the Sonic constructed along Fuqua in late 1974 boasted the restaurant's second slogan "Happy Eating" with it's blocky letters. Those wouldn't change until the 1998 revamp that played on the 50s retro-future shapes.
The first, original slogan from 1959 "Service with the Speed of Sound" was coined at the first Sonic in Shawnee, Oklahoma when Troy Smith was enchanted by a little kitchen-to-carport microphone he happened across driving between Texas and Louisiana. It revolutionized the popular drive-in restaurant as he wired up the intercoms to play the latest rock-n-roll hits, and serve up orders within minutes, rolled directly to you from the kitchen by your friendly carhop. His original drive-in called the Top Hat was changed to Sonic to play on this quickness and the intercom "speed of sound" angle.
Their first menu from 1959
And the menu as it probably appeared at our Fuqua Sonic in the early days:
The first Sonic commercial did not air until two years after the Fuqua location was opened. That means the chain had been in business for nearly 25 years using only print ads.
When the South Belt Sonic was celebrating its 30th year in operation, the chain celebrated the opening of its 3000th store in 2005, entirely within the United States and Mexico. These days, the company pushes the drive-through lane far more than the more expensive carports of old. But all in all, not too shabby for a little root beer stand from Oklahoma.
Vintage Sonic photos here.
Very cool blog! Stumbled into it, believe it or not, from a website in England.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Ive never lived in the Houston area, I still have been going thru your site and enjoying it immensely - things werent THAT different in my home town of Tulsa...the pics of the kids on 70s japanese foof bikes [readers of Dirt Bike Magazine will understand] from bitd are fantastic - looks just like my suburban neighbourhood. All decked out in full motocross gear, but lights still on the bike for occasional street duty. Thats the way it really was; although we all wanted em, very few actually owned Husqvarnas, Pentons, CZs and such.
Anyway...one thing; wasnt the first Sonic drive in located in Stillwater Oklahoma? Their sign claims that to be so...
Thanx again for posting these great period pics.