Cops and criminals, and anyone unlucky enough to get in their way had it good back in the 1970s. At least around lunchtime. Just about every corner of the business district featured a thriving five and dime replete with a full-service soda fountain, aka lunch counter.
A little bushed by the fact that you’ve been on your feet all day tracking a notorious killer? Chances are there was a Woolworth’s, or a Ben Franklin, around the corner serving up the kind of sustenance to fuel you up and keep you going on only a wayward hunch and a few lines of snappy dialogue to let everyone know that you’re on to the fact that the world’s been one big a cruel joke. Yes, we are talking meatloaf, melted cheese sandwiches and chocolate malts.
And that’s just for starters. If you just got back from having a ditzy femme fatale try to show you the business end of that ice pick she keeps in her purse as a lucky charm, you could treat yourself to a comforting pickle loaf on rye and a banana split.
Chasing a runaway baby buggy heading downhill straight for Pier 39 and Alcatraz beyond? Better keep it light with an egg salad and a fruit cup.
Detective Hollandaise knew these things. That’s why he took his surveillance team down to the Woolworth’s on 16th street. He needed to figure out if their loyalty to the idea of justice was easily swamped by the letter of the law. You can read all about it in the free book Broad Headlights
He would go back to Woolworth’s for mom’s turkey dinner at three in the morning after interrogating Cramden Cooper and realizing that the Murder in the Museum was a conspiracy that went much deeper than some nitwit used car dealer could hatch all by himself. The whole sordid crime is documented in the soon to be released: The New Ride in Town.
Old time soda fountains were like cop substations that used to dot the map of every town in America. And even if you weren’t a cop, a visit could still solve most of your problems and give you the hiccups for pocket change.
Time has passed and traditional dime store lunch counters have been thrown to the wayside like some sort of mass casualty event. There are still a few around, if you know where to look.
Here is one worth looking into:
