5 Fast Food Chains From The '60s Nobody Remembers Anymore

In life, change is inevitable, which means that nothing can last forever, and that includes restaurant chains. With their uniformity and multiple locations, chain restaurants can seem permanent, but they're not always. Perhaps this is why, when a beloved food establishment closes, there is often a fair amount of nostalgia for a long time afterwards — even today, boomers still miss their favorite shuttered restaurant chains. 

Of course, as time goes by, fewer and fewer people have strong memories associated with a particular shuttered chain. Eventually, no matter how beloved they were in their heyday, a brand eventually falls into obscurity. This is the case with the following fast food chains from the 1960s; they all had multiple locations, with some going into the hundreds, but they were not destined to last in the cultural consciousness. Did you ever have a chance to eat at any of these locations before they disappeared forever? 

Known for its distinctive signage, Geri's Hamburgers first opened in 1962 in Rockford, Illinois, and at its peak operated over a dozen locations in Illinois and Wisconsin. Geri's had a menu with a lot of standard fast food options of the time, including burgers, fish fillets, fries, hot apple pies, and shakes in vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. The company officially folded in 1981, but individual franchise owners kept their locations going until the 90s. Today, however, they are all gone, leaving Geri's particular style of fast food as nothing but a memory. 

The first Winky's opened in 1962 in the town of Sewickley, Pennsylvania. In just over a decade, there were 40 stores across three states. Its slogan was "Winky's makes you happy to be hungry" and the menu, according to an image posted on social media, included a fish sandwich, a hamburger, a cheeseburger, and the double-decker burger known as the Big Wink. There were also some breakfast options, including French toast and waffles, plus shakes and donuts. Despite a good reputation, Winky's had disappeared by 1982, making it just one of many vintage burger chains that never went national. 

Red Barn, the chain known for its barn-shaped restaurants, was founded in 1961 in Springfield, Ohio, and then acquired by vending machine company Servomation in the late 1960s. At its peak, Red Barn had over 400 locations in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, but corporate changes led to the end of the brand, with remaining franchises shuttering in the late '80s. A menu shared on Facebook shows that Red Barn's options included chicken ("so good we guarantee it"), a fish sandwich, a hamburger, a cheeseburger, and a "Big Barney" — a double decker cheeseburger with pickles, lettuce, and special sauce. 

Yankee Doodle Dandy was founded in Bensonville, Illinois, in 1966. As the name implies, the restaurant offered customers a hearty dose of Americana with red, white, and blue decor and paper tri-corner hats for kids to wear. The chain's slogan was "We're more than just hamburgers," and that's borne out by a menu that once included roast beef, chicken, fish sandwiches, hot dogs, and sides in addition to a signature "Dandyburger." Alas, this patriotic-themed chain went out of business in the early 1980s.  

The first Lum's (or possibly "Lums," as the sign shows) location actually opened in 1956 in Miami Beach, but it didn't become a full-fledged chain until 1961, when it grew to include four restaurants in its repertoire. At its peak, Lum's would have 400 locations in the U.S. and Europe, with the last one closing in 2017. The once-popular chain was famous for its beer-steamed franks, but the menu also offered a wide variety of other options, including seafood, sandwiches, burgers, ham steak, potato salad, and beer.