Going to Dunkin' Donuts in 1962, Phoenix, Arizona


It was a particularly beautiful morning today and I decided to go for a ride, with no particular place to go. I stopped for a coffee at Thunderbird Road and 83rd Avenue in Peoria, and since the Burger King was closed for remodeling, I went to Dunkin' Donuts across the street.

And as is typical of most of the places in Phoenix that have outdoor seating, even on a gorgeous day, with the temperatures in the seventies, most people were sitting inside. I suppose the people in there, if they noticed me, knew that I hadn't lived in Phoenix all of my life. I spent about a decade in Southern California, where I developed a taste for al fresco dining, and I sit outside every chance I get. So I had the outside all to myself, and as I sipped my coffee, the Musak blared into my ear, stopping every once in a while to do a commercial, which repeated so many times in the short period that I was there that it really was the main reason that I left. I heard, over and over, that Dunkin' Donuts began in 1950, and of course that got me thinking about whether I had a vintage pic of it in my collection, which I do, and is the one that was on McDowell and 14th Street in 1962. And I know that it was 1962 because there's a sign that says that across the street. Looks like it was the Christmas season, too.

As I look at the picture, and step into it, I'm surprised by the term "Coffee Bar". You don't see that term used anymore! But I'm not surprised by that thing below the sign, it's a telephone. I'm old enough to remember when that was the only way that you could make a phone call when you were out and about. Cost a dime.

I suppose back then if you went in there and asked for a coffee, they would hand it to you. Today the cashier took my money and just smiled at me, assuming that I knew that I was supposed to go pick it up on the other side of the room. These places get very crowded, and I understand that's the most efficient way to keep everything moving. I waited patiently for my coffee, and had to confirm with the person who had poured it that it was what I ordered. I couldn't help but think how ridiculous that would have been in 1962, when I would have just sat at a counter, and someone would walk over and put my coffee in front of me. I'm kinda thinking that I'd be called "hon", but maybe not.

I suppose in 1962 Dunkin' Donuts would have been considered fancy and flashy, as compared to the little "mom and pop" coffee shops. It was a chain restaurant, and chains, like McDonalds, were catching on. That 1962 picture up there looks quaint to us now, but I'm sure that when it was new a lot of old-timers wouldn't think of going to a place like that - they would stick with the coffee shops that had been there since before 1950.
If you like pictures of old-time Phoenix, please become a member of History Adventuring on Patreon. I share a LOT of cool old photos there, copyright-free, with no advertising. If you like Phoenix history and would like to help support my efforts to preserve and share precious digital historic images, please consider becoming a patron. Thank you!

Become a Patron!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why cars in the future won't need stop signs, red lights, or stripes on the road

Image
Time-travel with me into the future. Where we're going, we'll still need roads, but our cars won't need the kind of stuff that human drivers need, like stop signs, or stuff painted on the road. And if you're already panicking that computers will take over, don't worry, they already have. The fact that you're reading this right now combines so much amazing computing power that it would have been unthinkable to anyone in the 1960s, or '70s, when I was a kid. Speaking of being in the geriatric age group, if you're like me or older, you took a lot of pride in knowing the rules of the road, such as what to do at a stop sign if four cars approach at the same time, the difference between a "yield" sign and a "merge" sign, or maybe how to parallel park. But calm down there old-timer, that type of knowledge will just be as quaint as how to use a horse and buggy is nowadays. Sorry! The best way to picture how traffic will flow in the future is ...
Read more

Watching a neighborhood grow and change in Phoenix, Arizona

Image
I stopped to take a closer look yesterday at where the old Circle K had been in my neighborhood, which is a suburb of Phoenix. And it's got me to thinking about how much Phoenix grows and changes over the years, and how people feel about it. This particular neighborhood was built in the mid 1980s, when there had been only a smattering of houses and a community college (Glendale Community College, built in 1965). There are some houses that I can tell are from the 1970s, and a few even older, but what happened here is that the neighborhood suddenly appeared in 1985 or thereabouts. There are three shopping centers on the corner of 67th Avenue and Peoria - the one in the photo is called "Peoria Station", and it was designed to kinda look like a train station. The other three are called Westporte Village, Brittany Square, and Crossroads Plaza. I've lived in this neighborhood for a very long time, and no one ever uses those names, even though the signs are still up. But the...
Read more

Why did Adolf Hitler always have such a bad haircut?

Image
As someone who has been interested in history since I was a little kid, I've always asked the most childish questions, and quite often never got an answer. As a kid, I was told to run along and play, and don't bother the grownups, so I set my questions aside to work on when I myself became a grownup. But some questions I really haven't found a satisfactory answer for, and get thrown away as I find myself learning the more important stuff. I now understand the grownups, but the kid in me still has childish questions like "Why did Adolf Hitler always have such a bad haircut?" The first question to ask is whether a particular style (whether hair, clothing, etc.) was in style at the time. The moustache was, and you can Google a photo of Charlie Chaplin, who wore the same style of moustache at the time, and quite stylishly. The wide lapels were in style in the 1930s, as was were the tall shirt collars and small ties. But the haircut wasn't - it's just awful. Me...
Read more