Friendly / Cosy / Homely roadside
diners, friendly / cosy / homely motels, convenient
gas stations and numerous drive-in businesses had long been
part of the American landscape. Up until then they had been friendly / cosy / homely family-owned
places with an original design meant to attract the exhausted driver’s
attention. But in the mid-fifties, strict government regulations were passed allowing
large-scale industries on the interstates. So “Mom’s and Pop’s” places went
gradually out of business. Franchising led to fast food-chains: standardized, mass-produced,
impersonal / dull buildings adapted to accommodate motorists. The
advent of impersonal / dull drive-throughs allowed hurried drivers to keep one hand on the wheel
and the other on a tasteless burger.
