Car Hops

The Miami Herald reported in 1952 on the burgeoning number of local drive-in restaurants staffed by scantily clad young women. “There seems to be a race going on among Miami drive-in restaurant owners to see who can clothe curvaceous curb cuties in the tightest sweaters and the briefest shorts,” a Herald story by reporter Pat Murphy said. “Within metropolitan city limits, there are some 150 drive-in hasheries operating throughout the year. Of these roadside restaurants, about seven-eighths of them are known to have curb girls — ‘car hops,’ if you please — sprinting between car and kitchen wearing uniforms with little more fabric than two handkerchiefs.” One of the restaurants mentioned was Colonel Jim’s Tasty Thrill on the 79th Street Causeway in Miami Beach where the car hops brought food to patrons in their cars. A sign instructed: “Blink lights for service.”

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