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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 6 2008, 05:02 PM (1,197 Views) | |
| Ali | Jan 8 2008, 06:28 PM Post #16 |
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Ortonologist
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I haven't the faintest idea what any of those things taste like! Are you sure you're not from off planet? |
| Now you're sittin' on a Paris train, laughing at your own jokes again | |
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| rc.cope | Jan 8 2008, 08:19 PM Post #17 |
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Forum HIstorian
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Root beer floats are heavenly. Put two scoops of vanilla ice cream in a big tumbler, and pour the container full of root beer the rest of the way. If you like, you can add a little vanilla extract too. A variation on that treat would substitute Pepsi or Coke for the root beer. It is then called a Black Cow. Yummers! Oh, and do you have root beer stands in England? In the states they are a dying breed, but we still have them. You stay in your car and order your food, and the tray is delivered to your car by a teenage girl on roller skates. Some of the food is stuff like chili dogs, fries, fried mushrooms, and pork tenderloin sandwiches. To die for... :rolleyes: |
| I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy. | |
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| TJ | Jan 8 2008, 08:57 PM Post #18 |
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Beth-anorak
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Best of all, these concoctions gave rise over the years to their own brand of humor, towit: Q: How do you make a dead baby float? A: A glass of root beer and two scoops of dead baby! ba-da-rum-bum! Rob, I happened to watch a documentary Sunday Night, "What Makes Pittsburgh Pittsburgh?", and they happened to profile the company in this article that still makes soda pop the old fashioned way on 70+ year-old bottling equipment. This site tracks traditional small-volume bottlers, and it looks like there are quite a few in Wisconsin you should check out! You can also buy several brands mail order here. |
| "Happy Hallucinations, Honeys!" | |
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| rc.cope | Jan 8 2008, 09:24 PM Post #19 |
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Forum HIstorian
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Thanks for the links, TJ...but we don't need to mail order soda pop up here. We have a place right here in town called Soda Pops. http://www.travellady.com/Issues/July05/1592SodaPops.htm It does a real good job of providing nostalgia and bringing home the good old days. Not only do they whip up some good chow, they have a salad bar and several types of soup for the lighter fare. It is one of the first places I visited when I moved to town, and is still one of my favorites.
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| I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy. | |
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| Ali | Jan 8 2008, 10:26 PM Post #20 |
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Ortonologist
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I don't even know what root beer is ... we don't have it here, unless of course it goes by another name! :rolleyes: |
| Now you're sittin' on a Paris train, laughing at your own jokes again | |
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| TJ | Jan 9 2008, 12:52 AM Post #21 |
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Beth-anorak
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Wow, I gained ten pounds just reading that! It sounds worthy of a road trip...I'll bring Schwarzenegger with me and we'll try the "Almdudler National Soda of Austria". |
| "Happy Hallucinations, Honeys!" | |
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| Scipio | Jan 9 2008, 02:44 AM Post #22 |
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Beth Evangelist
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From the all-knowing and infallible Wikipedia:
(link) Do you know it as Sarsparilla by chance? I'm surprised to learn there's an alcoholic version, I never knew! A&W Restaurants is the most well-known purveyor of the soft drink version in Michigan. I haven't been in a long time since they changed the recipe for the chili on the hot dogs, (or perhaps my tastes have evolved); I don't enjoy them as much anymore. But I recall that the giant frosty mugs of root beer were a wonderful treat on a hot summer day. |
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| Ali | Jan 9 2008, 03:14 AM Post #23 |
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Ortonologist
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Oh yes! I know sarsparilla, but like you have not come across the alcoholic version.
While we're on the subject - vaguely - I have an unopened bottle of Rose's Lime Cordial dating from about 1870. In case you were wondering, TJ, I have no intention of sampling the contents, unless the dreaded scurvy returns! |
| Now you're sittin' on a Paris train, laughing at your own jokes again | |
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| TJ | Jan 9 2008, 08:01 AM Post #24 |
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Beth-anorak
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Perhaps I could interest you in some absinthe lollipops!
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| "Happy Hallucinations, Honeys!" | |
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| Walrus | Jan 9 2008, 09:23 AM Post #25 |
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better by design
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Haha...funny you mention that. My grandfather on my mom's side owned the company that made the chili for A&W (in Michigan, anyway) until the late 80's or early 90's. They didn't change the recipe, just got a new supplier. And yes, back in the day...it was good shit, and I'm not just saying that cause I used to get it for free.
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| Ali | Jan 9 2008, 11:11 AM Post #26 |
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Ortonologist
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Only in California ...! |
| Now you're sittin' on a Paris train, laughing at your own jokes again | |
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| rc.cope | Jan 9 2008, 03:18 PM Post #27 |
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Forum HIstorian
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As a kid growing up in Miller Beach, we had our own A&W restaurant...Whitey's. My friend Roger worked there and made the best chili dogs ever. We used to play a game called "steal the mug." Six of us would cruise into the place and six root beers were ordered up. They came in frosty mugs. Then, we'd get one of us to vacate the vehicle. When the car hop came back for the tray, she would see five people and five mugs. The sixth kid was hiding behind the auto dealership next door. Little did he know that we would ditch him, leaving him cold and without a ride home! HA! Yet another trick we played centered around the ketchup and mustard bottles. Some guy would cruise into the place with his girlfriend driving his mucsle car. Right when the girl came back for the tray, we would spray his car and his girlfriend with a vigorous shot of ketchup and mustard! Leaving them screwed! Touchee! Rotten kids, we were.
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| I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy. | |
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| TJ | Jan 9 2008, 09:12 PM Post #28 |
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Beth-anorak
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I'm sure I ate at A&W once or twice in my childhood but they were never big enough to be much of a factor; at some point (maybe late '80s) I recall seeing them mostly in the "food" court section at shopping malls. My favorite burger joint as a kid (and I still like them best of the big chains) was Jack-in-the-Box, mostly because you gave your drive-through order to a large talking Jack-in-the-Box head in the parking lot. After Ralston-Purina bought them out (yes, the dog food company ) they got rid of the big Jack heads in the drive through and ran TV ads showing one exploding (message being they were henceforth going to be a classier place, or something...
). When the company was spun off years later, they brought back "Jack" (though not the drive-thru head) as company spokesman in their great commercials.Which gives me an excuse to link to their latest and possibly best one, a **ahem** porno-inspired ad. Also good: the intern goes to Philly, the stoner, the medical expert, and the transvestite. |
| "Happy Hallucinations, Honeys!" | |
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| rc.cope | Jan 9 2008, 09:46 PM Post #29 |
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Forum HIstorian
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When I was in high school we had a hangout called Frank n Stein. It had a big gaudy statue of the monster with a frank in one hand and a stein in the other. it was the only one I had ever seen, and never saw another. Their big seller was, you guessed it, the Monster Burger...and it wasn't half bad. There was a lady who worked there who was very matronly and motherly. We called her Mrs P. Later, when the place went under, a friend of mine saw Franky down in Texas, of all places. I wonder what ever became of that big old statue...
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| I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy. | |
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| TJ | Jan 10 2008, 09:08 PM Post #30 |
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Beth-anorak
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Rob- In your old neck of the woods (NW Indiana) did there used to be a restaurant that had an old prop airplane (WWII bomber, or '50s era passenger plane like a Constellation, or some such) on stilts over the entry area? I saw some similarly aeronautic-themed roadside attraction on TV a few weeks ago, which for some reason made me recall visiting the restaurant while staying w/ relatives around 1970 or so.
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| "Happy Hallucinations, Honeys!" | |
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) they got rid of the big Jack heads in the drive through and ran TV ads showing one exploding (message being they were henceforth going to be a classier place, or something...
). When the company was spun off years later, they brought back "Jack" (though not the drive-thru head) as company spokesman in their great commercials.
8:18 PM Jul 11