Running the route

Friday and Saturday nights was not a time to be in transit on Broadway unless you knew the flow — the circuit centered around that drive-in and a set route extending south to 14th and Meridian and north to Oak and Broadway, where the Pink Horse was located. In between were drive-thrus at Jerry’s and Frisch’s. There was unwritten law as to parking at Frisch’s — you had to be able to back that car into a space so that you were facing the parade of cars that continuously crept through.

You had to order something if you planned to sit there and watch the parade so a lot of customers made multiple orders and had numerous deliveries for sodas. If you sat there too long without service, officer Hanna would stop by and remind you to order or move on.

— Jeane Atkinson



The blind date

Cruising through Frisch’s with my blind date was a highlight of the evening. It was 1960. Having the freedom to scoot beside my date in a 1956 Chevy and go cruising, (gasoline was 30 cents a gallon) through Frisch’s became a favorite pastime as well as fashionable in that era. Grilled cheese with Frisch’s sauce fit our budget, consequently became a date staple. Of course, having our windows open resonating Elvis, Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Brenda Lee, Sam Cooke and other rock ‘n’ roll idols was paramount.

That blind date and I recently celebrated our 47th anniversary. We still frequent Frisch’s occasionally, sometimes during the cruise-ins, but now “observing” the era of cars we once drove.

— Judy Roof



On their supper hour

My sister and cousin and I would cruise at Frisch’s on some evenings after school. We would back into a parking bay and order cherry Cokes over the speaker phone and talk to guys. In September 1973, my sister and I met a couple of guys there. They were on their supper hour from Delco Remy. We exchanged phone numbers. (I made him guess each number until he got it right.) Soon after, we had a double date.

Rex and I started dating regularly, so we weren’t cruising anymore, but ate inside Frisch’s together. We were married April 6, 1974. We found out later that we were both praying for a soulmate. Today, we still love to eat at Frisch’s on Broadway. It has special memories for us, and we hope it stays in Anderson.

— Rex and Peggy Bowers



The wedding reception

After our wedding on June 2, 1962, the best man and his wife took us (to Frisch’s) after the reception, before they took us to our new home. We enjoyed a Big Boy platter (75 cents) and a small Coke for a dime. The waitress gave us a menu for a souvenir. An up-to-date menu has a Big Boy platter at $4 and a small Coke $1. After 47 years, we still go to Frisch’s from time to time to reminisce.

— Karen Hartwell Wechsler



In a station wagon?

Frisch’s was a major part of our high school life! That was the place to go. Anderson High School had open lunch hours, so often my friends and I would make a quick run for lunch. And, of course, “cruise” any and every night of the week possible! My dad forbade the family station wagon to park at Frisch’s, but then what teenager would WANT to be seen cruisin’ in a station wagon?

On Memorial Weekend 1970, I was 17 and Tom was 20. Guide Lamp (Tom’s employer) went out on strike, so money was tight. I remember us digging oout change from his ashtray for our meager orders. We became engaged in December and married April 1971. We have been happily married for over 38 years.

— Elaine Heath



Across the bridge

Back in 1966, we met (at Frisch’s) just before New Year’s Eve, and we married in ’68. And we’re still married today, 41 years later. We’d both graduated that year, me from Madison Heights and him from Anderson. Back then, on Friday and Saturday nights, it would just be packed out there. And (cars) would be waiting on the Broadway bridge, and you’d inch along, just waiting to cruise Frisch’s. Our favorite order was cheeseburgers and cherry Cokes. And then you’d do it all over again. We can’t remember any violence they ever had out there, but it was a different time. We still cruise after all these years. We try to go to different towns and states and go to their drive-ins.

— Steve and Vicki Moyer