As I went through the busy drive-through at Sherway Gardens this morning, I marvelled at what a success this franchise based business has become. I tried to remember the first time I went to Tim Horton’s and couldn’t. Can you?

I did some quick research and discovered the chain has been around since 1964. The first franchise opened in Hamilton, Ontario. Along with their brand of coffee, their unique offering was the apple fritter and dutchie. They started as coffee and doughnuts only and their current menu evolved with time. 

The next question. When was the first time I used a drive-through? I remember my first drive-in at an A&W in Moncton, New Brunswick. I remember the first bank with a drive-through when I was visiting family near St Louis, twenty years ago. But, I can’t remember when or where I went through one for the first time, for fast food of some description. You think it would be a memorable moment in time. I haven’t got a clue. How about you?

So again, I did some quick research. It appears the U.S. banks invented the phenomenon in 1928 and the first drive-through restaurant was created in 1947 by Sheldon “Red” Chaney, operator of Red’s Giant Hamburg in Springfield, Missouri. McDonalds didn’t follow until 1975.

While I was researching the drive-through history, I found a Canadian first. It seems Thunder Bay, Ontario boasts the first sex-shop drive-through. I wonder what the line-ups are like there at 7 AM, Monday morning?

Lee’s Quote for the day

“As much as we resist change, it comes and we adapt. We adapt so completely, that we might even forget where and when the change actually took place.”