The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
The 1950's in Chelsea
Three summers at the corner root beer stand and ice cream stand
By Kathy Clark, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: May 15, 2008
It was a cold spring and summer in 1954. That year Rufus T. Gillam leased the Chelsea root beer stand from the end of April until the first week in September.
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Two drive-ups, the root beer stand and the neighboring Dairy Queen, stood at the corner of Old US-12 and M-52, where the Chelsea State Bank is now located.
Both buildings and businesses were owned by J. Vincent Burg, who for many years was the pharmacist and owner of Burg's corner drugstore in downtown Chelsea.
Burg did not buy the A&W franchise; however, the root beer was mixed with syrup bought from the A&W in Jackson.
Sugar in 100-pound sacks was bought elsewhere to mix with the syrup. Car hops traditionally served food and the root beer in adult and child-size glass mugs.
In 2007 Gillam had retired from teaching and moved into Silver Maples. While cleaning out his home he located the 1954 ledger recording inventory, expenditures and income at the Chelsea root beer stand. The ledger represents a small glimpse into our past.
Gillam, a World War II Army veteran, taught fifth grade in Manchester schools, and was intermediary supervisor for Manchester Public Schools.
Looking back at how he came upon the summer job he said, "One of my students was connected to 'drive-ups' through Mr. Higgins and I contacted Mr. Burg to lease his root beer stand for one year."
The old cash ledger reminded him that the venture wasn't very lucrative.
That summer afternoons and evenings were unseasonably cool which affected the traffic of customers.
"That summer seemed quite windy. Business depended on the weather and it was too cool for people to come out for root beer," Gillam recalled.
"It was fun, but one year was enough. I figured out I didn't make a thing after driving back and forth to pick up supplies."
The ledger showed total amount taken in was $3,103.63, minus expenses of $2,429.14, leaving Gillam with $674.49 in profit.
The "Tas-Tee Root Beer" stand was not screened. Food was served over open-air counters when the three-sided awnings were lifted for business.
Serving trays and equipment for grilling, deep frying and steaming buns were provided inside the stand.
Employees were Gillam, chief cook Marilyn Honbaum Elkins and two car hops. Two local girls, Lois and Betty Pierce, worked for a few years as car hops.
Employees popped corn and mixed root beer. Other menu items were french fries, "red hots" hot dogs for 20 cents, red hots with chili, gum, candy and cigarettes.
Hamburgers were a quarter and a carton of cigarettes was less than $2.
Gillam's shift began in the early afternoon and the stand was closed by 8 or 9 p.m. due to the cool weather.
Personal memories
I located chief cook Marilyn Honbaum Elkins for a phone interview.
She moved from Chelsea to California in 1970.
In 1955 and 1956 she and her mother, Emma Honbaum, leased both drive-ups.
Emma was an inspector at Chelsea's Federal Screw Works. When auto companies were on strike, she was often laid off by FSW and needed other work.
The Honbaums had two successful summers at the drive-ups and were satisfied with their earnings.
"The key to the Dairy Queen and root beer stand was you had to have a hot summer," Marilyn recalled, and both summers of 1955 and 1956 are on record as being consistently hot, even into late evenings.
"In April 1955 the Easter weekend train wreck started out the first mad rush."
A 22-car New York Central derailment was one of the largest train wrecks recorded in Washtenaw County.
People came from all over for days to see the 22 cars and engine being removed near the Chelsea depot.
This was the first weekend of a continuous busy summer for the Honbaums.
They increased the staff in 1955.
Weekends were busy with three or four girls inside the root beer stand and at least four car hops working outside.
Business depended on the age of car hops. Older high school girls were a draw for the high school crowd.
No one wore uniforms, and car hops wore capri pants.
One of the traditions at root beer stands seemed to be taking a mug home as a souvenir.
Gillam's records showed a starting inventory of 114 mugs, detailing 55 "lost" at end of the season.
"Car hops had to keep track of root beer mugs on their trays. Some customers tried to fool them by ordering three mugs, then order two more later!" Marilyn said.
Summer hours were from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Marilyn's shift was six to eight hours.
Linda Walker Binkley, now living in Edmore, Mich., could recalled working at the Dairy Queen.
"A new Dairy Queen with the soft-serve ice cream, in place of frozen custard, was a big and modern event for the small town of Chelsea," she said.
"We had to weigh each cone to make sure they didn't weigh too much. Mistakes were recycled through a drip pan. It took practice to get the curl on top," Linda recalled.
"Everyone gathered at the Dairy Queen and root beer stand. It was a hangout for high school kids. They stood around the cars."
Dairy Queen ice cream was vanilla flavored, delivered in big milk cans. The staff poured mixture in a hopper to stir with an auger. The temperature had to be just right for proper softness, or it would freeze up.
"The Dairy Queen specialized only in soft ice cream products to make shakes, sundaes, banana splits and cones dipped in hot chocolate or butterscotch," Linda said.
Records show there were 2,600 Dairy Queen franchises in the United States in 1955.
A few years after the small Dairy Queen was established, a new Dairy Queen and restaurant was built at the northeast corner of M-52 and Old US-12.
For a short interval it was a plant and pet supply shop. Soft-serve ice cream has recently returned to Chelsea with the old Dairy Queen becoming Twister's.
In the 1960s a new A&W was located on South M-52. Car hops continued to serve food and root beer.
It wasn't long before A&W owners abandoned the drive-up ordering stations. A building expansion included phones inside booths to call in orders, and waitstaff brought the food to your booth.
After serving as an A&W restaurant for many years, the restaurant is now the Main Street Coney Island.
Car hops are a nostalgic memory of a bygone era in Chelsea and neighboring cities of Jackson and Ann Arbor.
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