Oklahoma City has a new history kid in town ... RetroMetro OKC. Click the above video for a quick preview, but see below for much greater detail. For RetroMetro OKC's Facebook page, click here. By the way, the musical background in the above is the 1928 tune Crazy Rhythm performed by Roger Wolfe Kahn & his orchestra.
Here is another video, this one produced by Justin Tyler Moore, Retro Metro's outstanding web designer ...
And here is yet another video, this one featuring the Oklahoma Railway Museum's Chuck Shinn and RetroMetro's web designer and one of RetroMetro's founding members, Justin Tyler Moore (of Abandoned Oklahoma), shown on Fox News 25 on July 20, 2010. This video shows how Retro Metro OKC is working with existing Okc historical organizations to further our mutual purposes.
HOW DID THIS COME TO BE? Probably for many years, many individuals in Oklahoma City have yearned for Oklahoma City to have "a place" where our city's history would be presented and be freely available to anyone that wants it -- since such a place has heretofore never existed. The founding members of Retro Metro OKC doubtless had different paths until they eventually converged. As for me, I recall having lunch at the downtown Interurban restaurant with Blair Humphreys, Buddy Johnson, and A.J. Kirkpatrick in the summer of 2007 (I think, memory fails me, might have been 2008) at which we discussed some possibilities, but time passed without further activity. In late spring 2009, Steve Lackmeyer and others sort of pulled various threads of people together and we began to meet to consider the possibilities. New people were identified and added into the core of those people who are identified as Retro Metro "founders" and, after a year of behind-the-scenes work, Retro Metro OKC was ready to announce its first venture -- the Retro Metro OKC website ... notice that I said "first venture" ... I'm still hoping for a physical museum down the road. The 1st press release is shown below.
Press Release, July 14, 2010
A year-long effort to make Oklahoma City history more accessible goes public Thursday with the unveiling of Retro Metro OKC and the group’s website, www.retrometrookc.org. Retro Metro OKC is pending 501c3 organization whose goal is to create an online exhibit of thousands of photos and documents relating to our city’s history, culture and heritage. The website debuts with more than 1,200 such materials, and thanks to a cooperative effort with the Oklahoma Historical Society and other area historical organizations, we hope to be adding many more historical Oklahoma City images in the near future. Retro Metro OKC operates differently from other organizations in that we have no museum, we have no physical collections, and in most instances the materials we display remain in private ownership. In a typical situation our volunteer crews go to a home or business to scan an owner’s collection and the owner participates in the project by sharing information about the photos and documents as they are being scanned. The materials never have to leave an owner’s possession – the owner is simply asked to sign a release that allows for the materials to be displayed online. The owner of such materials is given a disc of the digitized images and documents – and copies also will be given to the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Metropolitan Library System to ensure they will be preserved for future generations. Retro Metro OKC’s founding members include historians, authors, planners, a preservation architect, a retired Greater Oklahoma City Chamber executive, a city councilman, a city clerk, business owners, graphic designers and filmmakers. Our common history is Oklahoma City history. Our youngest member is 17; our oldest members are in their 70s. Over the past year our members have tried to carefully assess the needs and wants of our community. In addition to creating on online display of historic materials, we’re also using our experience, talent and resources to help other history organizations. For us, we check egos at the door. It’s about the history. Our city’s history is waiting to be revealed and enjoyed. It resides in the photos left to us by our grandparents; it can be found in the postcards, souvenirs and letters gathering dust in the attic, in the stories of our relatives and in the archeology of old places. Our city’s history can only be truly appreciated and kept intact if it’s found, revealed, shared, enjoyed and passed on to future generations. Please feel free to visit www.retrometrookc.org and email any comments or questions to info@retrometrookc.org. The site is interactive and allows for visitors to leave comments about photos and documents as they view specific collections. Updates about our activities can be followed via our Twitter account @retrometrookc. - Steve Lackmeyer, president, Retro Metro OKC
Here are a few potential Frequently Asked Questions put together by our president Lackmeyer:
Q: The membership includes popular bloggers like Doug Loudenback. Does this mean he will no longer be operating www.dougloudenback.blogspot.com?
A: Gosh no! Doug’s website has an international audience and he will be continuing to provide his own take on history, the city’s heritage and current events. Doug’s influence can be found in kindergartens where his “Oklahoma Rising” video is played in classrooms, or on the Oklahoma River Cruisers where guides share history of the city they learned from Doug’s blog. Likewise, Steve Lackmeyer and Jack Money will continue to operate www.okchistory.com, and Buddy Johnson will continue to dig into history with his Oklahoma Images collection at the downtown library. Justin Tyler Moore and Cody Cooper can hardly go a day without exploring an abandoned historic property and sharing their discoveries at www.abandonedok.com.
Q: Does one have to pay to view images at www.retrometrookc?
A: No. They are meant for viewing by the public. We also encourage people to use the photos on their own blogs and websites as long as proper credit is given to the collection’s owner.
Q: Will the images be for sale?
A: We have no such plans at this time. Anyone wishing to obtain a higher resolution version of an image should email info@retrometrookc.org to determine availability of such images (those wanting images belonging to the Oklahoma Historical Society will be directed to the museum, which sells photos for very reasonable prices).
Q: How can I get involved?
A: Look in your attic. Look in your closets. Look in your basement. What photos and materials do you have in your very own home that might make a good addition to our collections? Retro Metro OKC will also be providing updates on activities and needs as warranted.
Q: How did you get all of this work done? It must have cost a fortune.
A: Nope. We are a volunteer organization that raised no money for ourselves in getting to this point (we did help raise $5,000 to help the Oklahoma City/County Historical Society display the I.M. Pei model in May). So far our costs have been kept under $1,000 with all work paid for or performed by Retro Metro OKC members.
Q: What’s next?
A: Just wait. The fun has just begun.
Q: Can I donate?
A: Soon. We are a pending 501c3 organization. Contact us for more information.
Here's a small taste of the kind of rare photos you can find there ... click on the images for larger views ...
From the Robert Allison Collection
From the W.T. Hales Collection
RETRO METRO OKC DEBUT PARTY. From 6pm - 8:30pm on July 15, Retro Metro held its coming out party. Where better a place to host the event than the restored Sieber Hotel at 1305 North Hudson and what better a hostess than Marva Ellard who did the restoration.
And, it was a fine party, indeed. I'm wholly crappy with remembering names and so while I either knew or met most of the people shown in the photos below, I apologize, very sincerely, in advance for those whose names did not stick in my memory.
Enjoy the pics ... click on any for a larger view.
Katie Friddle, James & Dale Cobb
Norman Thompson
Dean Schirf, Pete White, Tiana Douglas
Dean Schirf, Pete White, Tiana Douglas
Jack Money
David Wanzer, Bradley Wynn A.J. Kirkpatrick
Marc Weinmeister, Jack Money
Katie Friddle, Elaine Weinmeister
Norman Thompon, Elaine Allison Blair Humphreys, Steve Mason
Bob Allison, Norman Thompson Elaine Allison
Meg Salyer, Mickey Clagg
Brenda Johnston, Randy Johnston Marc Weinmeister
Norman Thompson, Steve Mason Marva Ellard
Elaine Allison, Meg Salyer Catherine Montgomery, Sara Werneke Steve Mason
Frances Kersey, Rachael Mosman, Bill Welge
Steve Mason, Nancy Coggins, Jim Cobb
Randy Johnston, Brenda Johnston
Steve Lackmeyer
Katie Friddle, Dean Schirf Blair Humphreys
Catherine Montgomery, Sara Werneke
Justin Tyler Moore
Justin Tyler Moore
Meg Salyer, Bob Blackburn
Buddy Johnson, Blair Humphreys Bunee Tomlinson, Marc Weinmeister Justin Tyler Moore
Elaine Weinmeister, Cody Cooper Bunee Tomlinson
Bob Blackburn, Steve Lackmeyer Doug Loudenback
And, so, Retro Metro OKC has begun. It is still a puppy, but it is being fed well by lots of local folk who are interested in Oklahoma City history, and I predict that it will have a long and prosperous life.
This post was originally written July 20, 2006, and was one of my first blog articles at Doug Dawgz Blog. It has been updated since then a few times, the most recent before this being in April and the most recent being today, July 21, 2010. Thanks to all of you who have commented on this post ... which is probably the most visited article in my blog ... it has certainly generated the greatest number of comments (70 as this is written). This update substantially updates the artifacts section at the end of the article. A menu is also added there.
First, a show of hands: How many of you remember that, driving south on Lincoln Boulevard toward the Oklahoma Capitol, it ran smack into NE 23rd just north of the capitol? I don’t know when the change occurred, but in days gone by Lincoln Boulevard and NE 23rd intersected with a plain ol’ stop light (at least, that’s my recollection).
As a high-school kid traveling from to Okc Lawton High for debate trips (I was born here but I mainly grew up in Lawton), the two places that stand out in my mind just north of the capitol are Beverly’s Chicken-In-The-Rough and the Park-O-Tell – both being a part of the US Highway 66 nostalgia. They are part of mine, too!
History of the “meal that created food service and fried chicken franchising”
In 1936 Beverly and Rubye Osborne were driving west from Oklahoma to California. They had no reason to be joyful. They were middle aged and the Depression had wiped out their savings. [Ed. Note: another version of this story places Beverly's restaurant business as starting in 1921 and the trip was mentioned as a vacation, not an exodus, as this article implies. See The Vanished Splendor II, Edwards and Ottaway (Abalache Book Shop Publishing Co. 1983)].
On this particular afternoon it seemed that everyone in the state was attempting to scape the famine of the Oklahoma dust bowl. With not much more than their meager belongings and a basket of fried chicken, Beverly Osborne coaxed his Ford pickup across the barren prairie.
Suddenly, a bump in the rutted road scattered the chicken and basket. Picking it up, Rubye complained “this is really Chicken in the Rough.”
With that chance remark, a fortune was born. Beverly turned his truck around and headed back home. A man who, on instinct, had made a modest fortune and lost it - Beverly reasoned that “fingers were made before forks” and that chicken could be a cheap source of food at a time when incomes were sparse. Beverly learned from his previous business experience and failures that every business must provide customer satisfaction by identifying customers' needs and how to satisfy those needs better than anyone else. Soon, with the money he had received from the sale of his wife's wedding ring, he had an operation serving fried chicken with shoestring potatoes, hot biscuits and honey. That was the delectable meal that started “Fast Food - Fried Chicken Franchising” - long before McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken.
By 1950, when Time magazine ran a feature article on the Chicken in the Rough operation, Beverly and Rubye Osborne were grossing almost two million dollars per year, had sold 335 million orders of Chicken in the Rough and had created 250 franchised outlets including some as far as Johannesburg, South Africa.
Now, how much of the above is fanciful, I don’t know. But, I do know that I just loved the chances to venture into this spacious restaurant just north of the capitol:
Click on any image in this article for a larger view
(credit: www.route66roadfood.com)
(credit: Vanished Splendor II, Edwards and Ottaway, above)
Apparently, the restaurant on Lincoln was called a “drive-in” early on, though this old postcard says that it seated 1,000! Some drive-in!
(credit: www.route66roadfood.com)
A prize was even offered for sending postcards to Beverly’s main office in Okc which were postmarked from enough cities (though the terms of the offer varied – according to postcards on the web – from $100 to $250 – and either “all” or “25” cities).
Here are a few more pics - the 1st shows the "drive-in" as well as 2 other Beverly's in Oklahoma City, Beverly's Grill (downtown, 209 W. Grand ... now Sheridan, the original Beverly's) and Beverly's Gridiron, 1207 N. Walker, which has now become the 1492 Restaurant:
(credit: Vanished Splendor II, Edwards and Ottaway, above)
The "Gridiron" on North Walker, Today the 1492
From my Photo Collection A Real Pic of the Downtown Beverly's Grill in 1957
Cropped View Just Showing the Grill
Showing Context Next to the Warner Theater
A postcard from Charles G. Hill's Dustbury shows that the corporate office was once located downtown at 209 W. Grand.
In one of the comments at the end of this article, Dustbury's Charles G. Hill recalled that another Beverly's may have been located on North May, near the old May Theater which is now an antique shop, and that the current occupant of the old building may be Jimmie's Egg ... Doug Dawg doesn't know, but here's a pic I took on 2/21/2008 of that location ...
Another Oklahoma City Beverly's was located one block west of Classen Boulevard on NW 23rd. It became another restaurant several years back but was later demolished when the Walgreens Pharmacy was built at that location.
Beverlys were spread throughout the nation ... and one or a few in Europe, even. The early image below shows some of the locations.
(credit: www.route66roadfood.com)
The remaining remnant of Chicken-In-The-Rough was Beverly’s Pancake Corner at the northwest corner of Northwest Expressway & Pennsylvania, but the building was razed a few months ago and is no longer standing. However, the owner moved the restaurant to a "modern" building located immediately north of Integris Baptist Hospital at the northwest corner of Northwest Expressway and Independence. The old sign is gone, but you can still go there and eat some Chicken-in-the-Rough or a Big Bev Burger, as well as to see lots of old pics.
(credit: www.route66roadfood.com)
Remnant of the Old Location 2/21/2008
New Location
According to http://chickenintherough.com/History.html, members of the Carroll family purchased the Chicken in the Rough rights from Beverly Osborne when he was 84. Maybe so. But, not today, according to http://www.wileypost.com/links/cir.html, Renaee Khosravani is the present enthusiastic owner (now at the "new" location at NW Expressway & Independence, shown above).
Updated Note: On March 20, 2008, I was nearby and decided to have a Big Bev Burger in the new digs ... while there, I asked Ms. Khosravani whether the "old" sign would be used for the new restaurant ... she said, "The round part will be," but I didn't then remember what the "round part" was ... and, I asked, "What about the chicken?"
Well, of course, the "round part" IS the chicken!
So, expect to see the round-part-chicken out front before too long.
The Big Bev & Fries were just as good as always. Here are a few inside pics ...
As you can see, though, it's a bit more "modern" than one might expect a Beverly's to be, but ... there was a decent crowd there around 2:30 p.m., so it must be O.K.
Beverly Osborne was one of Wiley Post’s sponsors in his 1st round-the-world trip – a Beverly’s logo is even on the Winnie Mae!
(credit: www.wileypost.com) (the pic from the other-website no longer exists -- I'll leave a light on in case I find a duplicate somewhere else)
Now, how this, and the post about Wiley Post (above) come together is that Ms. Khosravani may come to be operating a NEW Chicken-In-The-Rough in the diner at the new Wiley Post Heritage of Flight Center!
(credit: www.wileypost.com) (the pic from the other-website no longer exists -- I'll leave a light on in case I find a duplicate somewhere else)
ARTIFACTS. According to a May 24, 2006, Journal Record article, the Oklahoma Historical Society includes a Beverly's collection of memorabilia which are also easily found on the internet. When this section was added a few months ago, I'd only gotten one of them -- the finger cup shown below -- but since then I've fared better.
FINGER CUPS. Some call 'em "finger bowls" but they look like "cups" to me. Yep, that's the only physical artifact that I had when this article was modified in April 2010 and it's probably not even an original piece but is more likely a replica ... you probably wouldn't find any DNA on it save for what my own grubby fingerprints might have left behind. That's OK, you take 'em as you find 'em and then you say thank you very much. I picked this item up at an antique shop on North Western about four-six months ago (from April 2010). The cup below is 3 ½" high, 4" diameter at the top and 2 ¾" diameter at the bottom. Click on each of the small pics below to open a much larger view.
But what were they for, some youngsters reasonably inquire? [At this point in the conversation, we older guys and gals have an unusual opportunity to be creative, but I'll not go further with that right now.] Remember ... there was no silverware, you picked up the chicken with your fingers and chowed down ... and then you cleaned up your fingers at the end of the meal in a water-filled finger bowl (today we'd probably want to add a lemon slice) instead of wiping your hands on your trousers or your shirt. See ... we Okies know what we need to do ... we spread that knowledge across the nation ... Miss Manners knows that we use the finger bowl and a napkin, and there you have it.
MENU. From the great new Oklahoma City history venue, Retro Metro OKC, the following Beverly's 1937 menu is provided, courtesy the Oklahoma Historical Society (click on the menu for a readable view):
MIKE ANDERSON COLLECTION. A new good friend that I formed during the MAPS 3 wars last year, Mike Anderson, former president of the local firefighters union ... and even though we were, quite respectfully, on different sides of some issues during that time ... has graciously shared with me his and his mother's collection of Beverly's artifacts. He also said that he would write a sub-article right here which describes his family's connection with Beverly's ... but I don't have that article yet so I'm going ahead with the posting of photos taken in May 2010 of that collection.
Mike relates that one of his grandparents, I can't recall which, worked at the Beverly's warehouse or some such name which was located a block or so south of the Biltmore Hotel, probably on Harvey. Mike will hopefully fill in the details about that. As I understand it from him, Beverly's would store and ship its hardware (e.g., plates, glasses, etc.) to the various Beverly's restaurants in the country from that location and, probably, the items shown below were originally located in that warehouse which accounts for their pristine condition.
Enjoy the photos. Click on any image for a 1024px wide view.
Mike Anderson's Collection
From this collection, Mike made a wonderfully generous gift to me of the items shown below:
Operation Scissortail - Our Latest Book!
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[image: devon book cover]
We are very happy to announce the release of our latest book, "Operation
Scissortail," a narative history of the construction o...
Saturday in the Park..on a 113 degree day
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For those who don't know, there is a reason I've gone very quiet at such a
pivotal moment for Downtown OKC. I accepted a position in Cleveland, Ohio
and I...
And here is yet another video, this one featuring the Oklahoma Railway Museum's Chuck Shinn and RetroMetro's web designer and one of RetroMetro's founding members, Justin Tyler Moore (of Abandoned Oklahoma), shown on Fox News 25 on July 20, 2010. This video shows how Retro Metro OKC is working with existing Okc historical organizations to further our mutual purposes.
RETRO METRO OKC DEBUT PARTY. From 6pm - 8:30pm on July 15, Retro Metro held its coming out party. Where better a place to host the event than the restored Sieber Hotel at 1305 North Hudson and what better a hostess than Marva Ellard who did the restoration.
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