I'm kitbashing a Walthers White Tower hamburger restaurant to look like a White Castle of the 1968-70 timeframe. I've done google searches but the only photos that seem to show up are ones from the 1920's (when the business was first getting started) or from the 2000's and later - nothing in between.
I know that their colorful orange-and-blue logo didn't come into use until 2001, so I obviously can't use that. The early pics show structures with the White Castle words in fancy script lettering, plain black & white. What I really need is to see a photo of a White Castle building that was taken sometime during the Sixties.
Any help with this will be greatly appreciated!
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
I had this in a Pinterest account. Not sure if you can view it or not. I don't know what city it's in, or anything about it, just that it must be close to your time line, judging by the vehicles.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/91338698666535423/
Mike.
My You Tube
White Castle hasn't really changed its building designed since it still looks like a castle.
Sorry to say since the 60s their 'burgers went from good to terrible. Last two I had for old times sake I had to toss since it was like bitting into a greasy sponge.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
mbinsewiI had this in a Pinterest account. Not sure if you can view it or not. I don't know what city it's in, or anything about it, just that it must be close to your time line, judging by the vehicles. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/91338698666535423/
Mike that's perfect - thank you so much!
Even though the blog itself is gone, I was able to view & capture a larger image by clicking on the little magnifying glass icon.
Your from Bawlamer, you should be modeling the Little Tavern
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Walthers White Tower does look very close to the real thing, which was a copy-cat of the White Castle:
http://www.shorpy.com/node/3618?size=_original#caption
Good Luck, Ed
The Pintrest picture seems to confirm my memory that the trim color and script lettering was a royal to dark blue.
Ray
BigDaddy Your from Bawlamer, you should be modeling the Little Tavern
Amen! Sure spent a ot of time in Little Taverns growing up. Last one I saw was on Joppa Road Sure beat that arches place for sure!
Roger Huber
BigDaddyYour from Bawlamer, you should be modeling the Little Tavern
Quite true, if I was modeling a Maryland right-of-way; but I grew up in the Rust Belt (near Detroit MI), and I'm modeling a Great Lakes steel mill and an auto plant. I don't think the LT chain existed anywhere beyond the Baltimore-Washington metro region...
BRAKIE White Castle hasn't really changed its building designed since it still looks like a castle. Sorry to say since the 60s their 'burgers went from good to terrible. Last two I had for old times sake I had to toss since it was like bitting into a greasy sponge.
Larry, did the burgers change, or did we old timers have iron stomachs back then?
Tom
I love White Castles, now or then. I used to have to drive out of state to get them on my way by Ann Arbor, MI. Then we gotne here in LAnsing, but after just a few years, it closed. Sad.
You might contact White Castle directly, they always seem to have an interest in their own history.
My grandmother used to work at the White Castle at 6700 S. Western Ave in Chicago, long gone. Best hamburgers made back then. Whitey one biters ordered like 12 at a time for $.19 each. Everytime I go to Orland Park to see my sister I stop there for a couple and they are now terrible. I think its the old timers stomach (mine). White Castle used to throw great Xmas parties for the familes at Chicago HQ on Circero Ave near Clearing Yard. Thanks for the memories.
TomO
The Shurpy's link is to the zoomed in view - but if you click on that and zoom back out, one of the first comments below the image (sadly from 2008) has a listing where you could buy one of the White Tower buildings for $1 (but had to immediately move it - not a cheap proposition).
Couldn;t tell you the last time I had a White Castle burger - the nearest one to me is over an hour away in a neighborhood of Philadelphia I'd rather not stop my car in. They do sell frozen ones in the grocery store you heat up at home, but they never were all that good to me. Got to hand it to them, they were selling sliders before anyone used that word.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
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tloc52 My grandmother used to work at the White Castle at 6700 S. Western Ave in Chicago, long gone. Best hamburgers made back then. Whitey one biters ordered like 12 at a time for $.19 each. Everytime I go to Orland Park to see my sister I stop there for a couple and they are now terrible. I think its the old timers stomach (mine). White Castle used to throw great Xmas parties for the familes at Chicago HQ on Circero Ave near Clearing Yard. Thanks for the memories. TomO
You think White Castle has gone down hill, try Burger King. In the early 70's their bugers could not be beat, White Castle was already on the down slope then. Now 5 Guys is or should I say was top dog for this type of place but they have already started downhill, seem to be cutting a corner here or there. Got to say White Castle was always cheap and the place to go during a time I had no money.
ACYLarry, did the burgers change, or did we old timers have iron stomachs back then? Tom
Tom,Judging by my appetite as a teen maybe we did have bottomless iron stomachs. How I remain skinny is beyond me since I was on a see food diet and Coke was my drink of choice. By all rights I should have been super size in Levis instead of size 30.
I do recall watching a White Castle eating contest one afternoon after school and while I can't recall the number of burgers those two boys ate,I do recall it was a very,very large number.
BRAKIE ACY Larry, did the burgers change, or did we old timers have iron stomachs back then? Tom I do recall watching a White Castle eating contest one afternoon after school and while I can't recall the number of burgers those two boys ate,I do recall it was a very,very large number.
ACY Larry, did the burgers change, or did we old timers have iron stomachs back then? Tom
Reminds me of an epic Root Beer chugging contest at an A&W Drive-In about 50 years ago. There were winners in the categories of speed of quaffing and total consumed. There aren't many of those A&W Drive-Ins left. I like to stop at the one in Tallmadge, Ohio whenever I'm in the area. They still have carhops. That's where the epic contest was held. For you young folks, if you think Sonics is innovative, you're way behind the times.
There's only one place I can think of that still tastes exactly as I remember from going there as a kid - that would be a small non-chain joint called Richard's Drive-In - still owned by the same family. The place still looks and smells the same, adn the food tastes the same as I remember. The only real change is that there are no trains - it is located alongside a siding off the Lehigh Valley's Easton & Northern branch and across the street was a rail-served scrapyard somplete with those big electromagnet cranes. We didn't eat out a lot when I was a kid, but when we went there, if we didn't see a train, at least the cranes were busy loading gons with scrap metal.
rrinker Got to hand it to them, they were selling sliders before anyone used that word. --Randy
Got to hand it to them, they were selling sliders before anyone used that word.
Rich
Alton Junction
ACY There aren't many of those A&W Drive-Ins left. I like to stop at the one in Tallmadge, Ohio whenever I'm in the area. They still have carhops....For you young folks, if you think Sonics is innovative, you're way behind the times.
There aren't many of those A&W Drive-Ins left. I like to stop at the one in Tallmadge, Ohio whenever I'm in the area. They still have carhops....For you young folks, if you think Sonics is innovative, you're way behind the times.
Tom,
Yep, those old A&W Root Beer stands were the best. My wife and I stopped off at one outside Dodgeville, WI back in '96. Placed your order via the button on the call box and they brought out our rootbear floats in the frosted glass mugs. Combine that with ice cream from Wisconsin dairy country and it was the best rootbear float I ever had. So good, in fact, I purchased another one in a to-go cup for the road home.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
ACY BRAKIE White Castle hasn't really changed its building designed since it still looks like a castle. Sorry to say since the 60s their 'burgers went from good to terrible. Last two I had for old times sake I had to toss since it was like bitting into a greasy sponge. Larry, did the burgers change, or did we old timers have iron stomachs back then? Tom
We changed. We also grew to realize cheap food is garbage.
I always liked White Castle, was one of the first buildings I made for the layout when I switched to HO. Plus I always have my morning coffee in a White Castle mug. They do seem to have a lot of new things I haven't tried yet, appealing to a younger / spicier crowd I guess.
FWIW I used to work with a gal who had been sort of an undercover health inspector, getting jobs in restaurants to find out what was really going on. She didn't like fast food places (largely because of her own dietary restrictions), but said if she had to eat at one it would be White Castle - their food was best / freshest etc.; also they treated their employees the best.
Very much like cheap beer: not worth the price. It takes a lot of livin' to learn these important lessons.
We drove I-70 back to Ohio for Christmas in 2015. We had to stop in Lafayette, Indiana to buy a bag of White Castles.
ACY We changed. We also grew to realize cheap food is garbage.
Well I figured I might as well share what I've done, based on the first image in the Pinterest link that Mike (mbinsewi) shared earlier in the thread. Basically what I would refer to as a "plausible foobie", since White Castle architecture varied widely by location:
It's not completely finished, I still need to disguise a few seams on the tower corners. But I'm going to hold off with that until I install a lighted interior, and the top of the tower needs to be removable in order to open the roof. That's a project for a few months down the road...
Looking good, Ken. From a couple of others photos that have shown up Pinterest, some of corner accent color can stay, below the roof level.
They did seem to vary from city to city. The original link I had, I found out is in Chicago. The picture was taken in the early 80's, of a "60's era White Castle", a short time before it's demolition.
richhotrainThe sliders haven't changed as we have grown older. The secret is to scrape off the fried onions before eating the sliders.
Ken,
Good looking model! I especially like the awnings, although they may be a recent additon. Photos I've seen with the blue awnings show cars from a newer era. At the risk of picking nits, your Coke "wave" logo was introduced in the late 60's, 1969. Prior to that (50's thru the 60's) Coke used the "fishtale" logo, an oval with a notch out of each end. So it depends on where in the 60's you model.
Hi Ken,
It looks like I'm a little late to respond to your initial request, but I found the Ohio Memory Project's White Castle Digital Collection extremely helpful. I'm a complete noob to model railroading but I like trying to tackle projects that are way outside my experience and comfort zone. Long story short, I'm in the midst of research for eventually scratchbuilding, first the WC in Sunnyside NY as it looked in 1987, then the Queens Boulevard Viaduct for the #7 elevated subway that runs across the street from it. Eventually I want to make my own R36 WF redbird cars. I'll definitely post pics if I make any progress before 2023.-Bob