3/1/2000
"The American roadside has represented a kind of frontier for capitalism," write Jakle and Sculle. In earlier books, they've taken on the history of gas stations and motels. Here, in Fast Food, they explore the origins of roadside restaurants, their evolution as a business, their changing geographical distribution, and their evolving place in the U.S. economy and society. From "wood-frame sheds [that] were modeled on stalls at carnivals and amusement parks" to the entrepreneurs who fed the nation's appetite for food on the go to today's corporate franchises spanning the globe, the authors tell the tale of an industry that, love it or hate it, is an inextricable part of the American landscape.