From the desk of Alison Gibson, Director
The Jerry’s postcard was a big hit last week, so we thought we’d delve in a little further. We love the menu (and the prices!) from their first year. In the Ripley Bee May 14, 1959, there is more detail on the beginning of the Aberdeen icon. The franchise was acquired by Ohioways, Inc., formed by Charles L. Clift of Aberdeen (General Manager) and J. Robert Hutchinson of Maysville (President). They had the Terrace Club building torn down and built new—touting the new restaurant would feature curb service for up to 40 cars and a dining room that could hold 80 people. Made of Indiana limestone, terrazzo floors, air conditioning, and the most modern equipment. J. Robert Hutchinson was in the masonry business, and along with his father-in-law J. D. Collins, was involved with the Thoroughbred Grill in May’s Lick, Ky. ( We don’t have a postcard or picture of the Terrace Club, but have seen a matchbook cover.) The Aberdeen Jerry’s Drive-in was the 21st in the Ohio and Kentucky area.
In the edition that the ad/menu was printed, there are lots of ads that bring memories back—it was the time to tempt tobacco sellers and buyers to spend a bit of their money in Ripley. The Riviera Cafe offered free coffee to the ‘Burley boys’ as well as the tenderest steaks in town. The Mecca had plate lunches every day, with the ad line ‘Sell your tobacco in Ripley, meet your friends at the Mecca’. The Dari-Delite had closed for the winter, Brookbank Oil Co. was selling Firestone tires for $16.95, Mains’ Furniture Warehouse was having a big sale, Ripley Community Locker Plant was selling the 1960 Philco refrigerator for $249.95, Richey’s Village Mart was selling sorghum molasses for $1.79 a gallon, Greenwood Restaurant enticed with choice steaks and home-made pie and Carpenter’s Dot Food Store at 301 N. Second Street was celebrating their first anniversary giving away multiple baskets of food. This is just a small sampling of ads in the November 19, 1959 issue. If you want to go down memory lane for advertisements, the tobacco selling season is usually the best.
