“...within this glittering spectacle ... a human centerpiece...”

On Oothcalooga Street, or the Highway 53 Spur which leads to Rome, Georgia, stands the Yellow Jacket Diner in an area of aged, ailing, and dead warehouses, factories, carpet mills, and repurposed early strip buildings now living as thrift stores and mercados. One mile away on Highway 41, roughly a mile from a major I-75 exit, the Sonic drive-in restaurant offers rootbeer, coney dogs, and slushies amidst ice cream shops, fast food chains, flower shops, real estate offices, and all the other bustle of a busy throughway. Both restaurants have longevity in Calhoun, Georgia; the Yellow Jacket diner has been in operation for over fifty years serving the lunch crowd of millworkers and the after-school crowd of the high school (it was named for their mascot); the Sonic is one of the oldest chain restaurants in town, built in the mid-70s. Both subscribe to an older ethic of fast-food eating by using “tray girls” (and guys) and a focus on the car, yet the diner emerges from the “chuckwagon” tradition described by Liebs while the Sonic clearly draws on postmodern and consumerist elements to stay a competitive chain. Yet the car and the gal who serves the car remain the “human centerpiece” (Liebs 211).

The first picture of the Yellow Jacket diner is taken around 5 pm and shows how busy this small box-of-a-restaurant is. The vehicles parked out front have ordered from the “tray girl” (Liebs 211) and are waiting for or have already received food. The drive-up window (where the white van is) allows a more familiar access to a 'fast-food' restaurant, yet the tray girl (not pictured) has also taken the order at the van. Driving up to the window is a means of picking up food. The human interaction is privileged at the diner. One can see elements of early road-side stand architecture in the graphic Coca-Cola signs, prominent menus, (very small) false front, and the utilitarian box shape of the restaurant. This is a functional, vernacular space which does not pretend to be other than what it is: a place to have a gal take one's order, get some chow, and all from the convenience of one's car.

The second picture is of the Sonic Drive-In, also taken around 5 pm, and shows roughly the same number of patrons although they seem scarcer in number because of the sprawling space available. The “tray girl” striding across the parking lot is a staple of this chain. Occasionally in the summers, one can still see waitresses on roller skates delivering food at this restaurant. The Sonic is the evolution of the roadside stand, as Liebs describes, with its additional architectural elements of shelters for cars, separate structures to shield cooking facilities and staff, and a focus on easy, quick food in one's vehicle. Additional consumerist architectural elements, as described by Chase, include the signage with its black, red, yellow, and white vivid colors; the hyperbolized red cones as a lure for passing cars and a postmodern Googie-esque element, as described by Langdon; and the rounded shapes of the canopies suggesting futuristic themes at this very old style of American dining. This is a chain which must use its building to sell its product, yet it also emerges from an older tradition to which it still adheres.