[PRCo] How far off TRACK can we get????

[Dwight Long]

Fred

Robyn's place, Whiskers Restaurant & Pub, served typical American cuisine. 
No regional specialties, unless one considers seafood to be regional.

I spent summers in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina from 
1948 through 1956, all or parts of it each of those years.  While mostly I 
ate at my grandfather's house, occasionally we went into the nearest "big" 
(maybe 1500 population back then--2100 now) town.  In particular there was 
one drive-in restaurant I liked.  But it is no longer there and has not been 
for at least 20 or more years.  It was turfed out by the local fast food 
joints with their universal food.  I miss their hamburger concoctions with 
cole slaw on the bun with the burger, etc.

Our drive to and from was through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  We 
often stopped at "Chicken in the Rough" local places, all of which had 
slightly different takes on fried chix.  Most if not all of these are now 
gone, but one can get predictably same fried chix from KFC at most any town 
of consequence along US. 11 (or at or near the interchanges of I-81).

To the extent one is comforted by consistency and uniformity, the new order 
must be attractive.  I find it sad.  But OTOH as you have readily stated, it 
has also enabled the migration of ethnic or regional (more the former than 
the latter) to parts of the nation that did not enjoy these back when.

You win some and you lose some.

Dwight

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Schneider" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
To: "Western PA Trolley discussion" 
<pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2013 8:14 PM
Subject: [PRCo] How far off TRACK can we get????



We have had a long discussion, mostly involving Dwight and Bob Rathke and 
myself (and anyone else who gives a hoot) about the trains into Cleveland 
and my questions about how the jets took away their business.

While having dinner tonight in a Mexican restaurant, I began to wonder, did 
aviation also influence how we eat?

Let me walk you slowly into this….

In the 1940s and 1950s we had tremendous regional variations in cuisine in 
the different parts of the United States.   For example, ham and eggs in 
Virginia meant Smithfield Ham.   Eggs for breakfast in the southeast always 
meant grits will be served on with the eggs … like-em-or-not you will have 
grits with a dollop of butter on the plate.   New Mexico had its favorites 
like chicken fried steak (breaded steak tossed into a deep fat fryer). 
Chinese food?   Why you went to Chinatowns in places like New York, San 
Francisco or Los Angeles for that.  Pierogies?   You might find them in the 
coal regions like Shenandoah or Wilkes-Barre or Scranton, PA.

But today we find all sorts of food everywhere….   Well, everywhere but 
Washington, Pennsylvania.   :<)

And I have been questioning why and have come up with the following reasons.


1)  Background:    In the 1940s and 1950s we traveled by train or automobile 
on two-lane roads at an average speed of 30 miles per hour.   You did not 
get very far in a day.   Two things happened almost simultaneously.   Jet 
planes and better navigation systems happen after 1958.   The very first 
interstate highway shields were erected in 1958 or 1959.   Both spread like 
a grass fire in a drought.  Suddenly it was possible for us to fly cross 
country in a six hours or drive across the nation in three or four days if 
you were a maniac.

2)  Background:  Prior to the 1945 vacations were essentially a perk of the 
rich, management and executives.   After World War II it became a common 
perk of the rank and file.   You no longer had to risk getting fired for 
taking a week off without pay to take a railfan trip  (or any trip).

3)  Background:  Prior to the 1960s many states had rules preventing any 
form of intermingling of races let along intermarriage of races.   Today if 
I want collard greens and black-eyed peas, best place to get them is to go 
to my granddaughter's home when her mother-in-law is visiting and bringing 
some of her home-cooked delicacies.   Yes, his side of the family is African 
American and southern.   I recall having dinner a few years ago in a Chinese 
restaurant in Hardeeville, SC … Chinese lady was the hostess, her 
African-American hubby was in the kitchen cooking … 30 years earlier they 
would both have been thrown in prison for intermarriage.   But obviously 
that does spread cuisines around.   I suspect that the big change is Chinese 
living with Mexicans or Whites with Blacks today but then I imagine that it 
was probably a really big deal in the 1890s when my German grandfather went 
up in Herron Hill and fell in love with an Irish girl … that wasn't proper 
then either.

OK guys … what did I miss?   What causes all these wonderful foods to move 
around?   I think we can agree that food is much more homogenized today … we 
no longer have to go to West Texas or Arizona to find a really good Mexican 
meal … you can find authentic Mexican anywhere (and bad Mexican anywhere). 
But what causes it to move?   What did I miss?   What is most important? 
And since Dwight's wife was in the restaurant business, I expect him to 
respond.



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