Happy Days – Early Drive-ins in Rogers
By James F. Hales
After World War II, the youth of America found a newfound freedom with the popularity of automobiles. Now youngsters could borrow the family car, or even better, buy one for themselves, and start searching for excitement. In the late 1940s, a new phenomena sprang up across America – the drive-in restaurant. Now teenagers with wheels could cruise the local drive-ins looking for friends and excitement.
During the 1950s, and early 1960s, Jack’s Drive In was one of the most popular eating places and hangouts in Rogers. It was located on Highway 71 (412 S. Eighth Street) just south of the old Foodtown Grocery. In October 1961, Jack’s became Milly’s Drive Inn owned by Mildred and Earl Jones. The restaurant appears to have closed around1962, the year the Jan-Lin Drive-In opened further down the street on S. Eighth.
In April 1951, the Dairy Queen opened at 225 S. Eighth Street by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Neal. In 1952, the restaurant celebrated Dairy Queen’s birthday by offering big ice cream sundaes for 12¢. (I’ll bet many local citizens gained a few pounds.) Glen Pickel shared his memory of the Dairy Queen Drive-In on a popular Rogers’ web site: “I think the Dairy Queen was the first. I believe they had the first pizzas in Rogers – very primitive. It didn’t work out too well, but the ice cream was great.” By the mid-1960s, the restaurant had become Ness’s Dairy House and operated at least until 1970.
Another popular drive-in in the 1950s through 1980s, was the Dari-Delite at 604 W. Walnut. A student did not even have to drive to this popular hang-out as it was just a few feet from Rogers High School. The Dari-Delite was located west of the old high school on Walnut just across Sixth Street. The restaurant was always crowded with students, and in 1966, you could get a cheese burger, foot long chili dog or a jumbo malt for 19¢. About 1970, after the school was torn down, the business became the Dari-Creme.
In June 1960, Mildred Head opened the Susie Q Malt Shop downtown, and her niece, Patsy Head Simmons was there to help her serve the very first cone of ice cream. Tamra Potter-Mott shared her memory of the Susie Q on the Friends of the Rogers Historical Museum Facebook site: “Going to the Susie Q was a treat for us. We loved their cherry cokes and curly fries.” The drive-in at the corner of N. Second and Locust Street (Highway 12) is the only surviving 1960s era drive-in restaurant and has continued in Rogers for 57 years. Not only has the Susie Q stayed the same since 1960, but the ownership has stayed in the Head family. Mildred Head handed over the reigns to her son, J. B. Head, in 1972, but continued to work in the restaurant until she was 87 years old. J. B. Head sold the business to his childhood friend and cousin, Patsy Head Simmons, in 2004 and she still owns it today. For the past few years, the still-popular spot has been leased and managed by Sheila Williams.
The start of the1960s decade brought remarkable growth and exciting changes for Rogers. For the preceding thirty years, Rogers had little growth and was a quiet, Mayberry-like, Ozark town. Then Daisy Manufacturing came to town in 1958, and Beaver Dam was started in 1962. The new Highway 12 Bridge was under construction and opened in August 1963. These events brought good high-paying jobs to Rogers and started the amazing growth and progress that continues today. Also, in the fall of 1961, classes started in the new high school on Mountie Boulevard (now Heritage High School).
In the early 1960s, drive-in restaurants were opening on Highway 71 along with many other businesses as commerce started moving away from downtown to areas with more parking and easy access. Kenneth & Verna Phillips opened the Besi-Dream in early 1963 at the northwest corner of 8th and Walnut, just west of Rife Variety. In 1966, the Besi-Dream advertised a hamburger, French fries, or milk shake for only 15¢, or you could get a whole catfish dinner for 99¢. Ken and Verna’s daughter, Kennita Phillips Rakes, recently posted on Facebook: “My parents sold the Besi-Dream to my grandparents, and I bought it from them in the mid 1970s. I sold it to the owner of the Besi Dream from Springdale after a couple of years. My mom has several homecoming pictures from the kitchen as most of the court worked there including Kathy Fairchild and Donna Umholtz.” Donna Knox remembered, “I worked at Besi-Dream all through high school. Verna Mae Phillips taught us, disciplined, and molded her girls into fine employees with great work ethic.” Kathy Collins posted on the Facebook site, Rogers AR History Club, “My favorite memory of the Besi-Dream is Dirkie Wilson taking the whole bus load of us kids to Besi-Dream at the end of the school year. That was a huge treat.” The drive-in stayed open into the early 1980s when it was torn down to widen 8th Street. Up until that time, South 8th Street did not line up with N. 8th Street as it crossed Walnut. The site of the Besi-Dream is now part of N. 8th Street.
The A&W Root Beer drive-in had its grand opening in August, 1962 and operated throughout the 1960s at 809 W. Poplar, the location is now part of the parking lot in front of the old Smoking Joe’s Ribhouse.
In conjunction with these exciting happenings, on April 8, 1962, the Rogers Daily News announced the grand opening of a new drive-in restaurant at 1608 Highway 71 South that would influence the lives of local youth for decades. The restaurant was the Jan-Lin Drive-In owned by Bill and Dee Nelson. Mrs. Dee Nelson, formerly with the First Federal Savings and Loan Association, was the manager of the new restaurant. It had a 48-seat dining room and sheltered parking for 24 cars. The parking area featured jukebox speakers and outside selectors, with both short order and complete meal service. Car-hop service was available to those who wanted to eat in their car. The new business provided about 20 new jobs, many of them high school students who worked part time as car-hops. The name, “Jan-Lin” was selected by taking the names of the Nelson’s two children, Jan, a nine-year-old daughter, and Lin, a 19-year-old son who attended Harding College. (Rogers Daily News, April 8, 1962)
The Jan-Lin was not just another restaurant, but an institution. Every teenager in Rogers and the surrounding area, who had motorized wheels of any kind, drove around the Jan-Lin at every opportunity to see who was there. The following is a quote from local barber, Rogers city alderman, and town historian, Gary Townzen: “In 1964, when you got out of school, the first thing you would do of course was to head to the Jan-Lin. It was the place to go. You went to a lot of other places but you concentrated on the Jan-Lin, because everybody in town, teenagers anyway, were there at some point during the evening, and we would all do the same thing, but not at the same time. We would leave the Jan-Lin and go north on 8th to Walnut and drive to Lake Atalanta. You would drive around Lake Atalanta and stop if you saw anybody that you knew. You would make that circle, come back up Walnut to First Street, come in front of the barber shop, go down to Poplar, Poplar back to 8th and south to Jan-Lin. I don’t know how many times a night that we would do that, but that is what we did.” (From the book, The Fabulous 1960s in Rogers, Arkansas, by James Hales)
Others shared fond memories of that magical time and place on popular Rogers’ Facebook sites:
Debbie Neff Paul: “The Jan-Lin had the best fried pickles ever. When I was in high school – I graduated in 1969 – after your date picked you up, you always had to spend time driving around the Jan-Lin.”
Margaret Stigers: “We would drive from Bentonville for some of those pickles. One time … we actually called the Jan-Lin and asked if they would give us the recipe. They said they couldn’t do that.”
Linda Thrasher: “We would circle and circle that place sometimes hanging out of the windows. One night a guy went around the circle with the back door open, mooning everyone as he went around.”
John Sampier: “I graduated in 1965. The Jan-Lin was our main gathering place, and the owners were very patient with us. I remember having deep fried pickles there for the first time.”
Mark Love: “The Hulsey’s had the service station just north of the Jan-Lin. It was used as overflow parking (car hood sitting). The Blevins had the car lot on the NE corner. The cops would sit in the car lot and try to pretend they were a used car for sale and watch us hardened juvenile delinquents. Undercover and incognito at its finest.”
The building that was once the Jan-Lin Drive-In and the center of teenage culture is still functioning as a child care facility at 1602 S. Eighth Street in front of Southgate Shopping Center. As I drive down S. Eighth Street today, I cannot help but glance over at the child care center and have visions of teenagers circling the building in ’57 Chevys, laughing and shouting at their friends, and enjoying life in a carefree world.
The Jan-Lin was the center of teenage culture in Rogers during the 1960s. (Photo from the 1966 Mountaineer, the Rogers High School yearbook.)
The Susie Q is the only 1960s era drive-in still thriving today. (Photo by James Hales, May 4, 2017)
