When egg and chips was the fuel of choice
For hungry drivers, the arrival of Little Chef in the Fifties was a big deal, says Andrew Roberts
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Your support makes all the difference.Ever since the late 1950s, the great British lorry- drivers' pull-in has been in a state of decline. Largely thanks to the advent of mass motoring in the Macmillan era, when the relaxation of credit controls allowed thousands of Brits to hire-purchase their first-ever Morris Minor 1000 De Luxe.
Sadly, if images of Stanley Baker, Patrick McGoohan, Sean Connery and Sid James enjoying their chips, fried egg and Spam in the 1957 British trucking classic Hell Drivers weren't enough of a deterrent, there was the additional prospect of dining alongside Teddy boys, bikers and the occasional hungover National Serviceman. The food in such establishments as the North Circular's Ace Café may have been tasty, but how could the respectable Prefect owner ever think of consorting with Eddie Cochran-obsessed bikers who thought nothing of overtaking police cars at a terrifying 80mph.
Today, such eateries are almost unknown to motorists under 40, a vision glimpsed only in black and-white films. Five decades ago, the last vestiges of rationing had only just ended, and opportunities for affordable roadside dining were limited for the average family. The first British burger bar, the Wimpy, opened in 1954, but it remained an urban phenomenon for several years.
However, in 1958, Sam Alper (of Sprite Caravan fame) came to the rescue with the first Little Chef, which proved to be the ideal English compromise to roadside dining. The Little Chef may have been inspired by Alper's experience of American diners, but such exoticism was balanced by proper cutlery and exceedingly vibrant curtains. Equally importantly, there was no jukebox and therefore absolutely no prospect of crazed youths jiving to Lonnie Donegan.
The Little Chef became synonymous with A-road eating and even if the average Little Chef reeked of Benson & Hedges and stale cooking fat, it was still the nearest that the most of its patrons would ever come to experiencing the great American diner. After 30 miles in a Morris Marina 1300 De Luxe in the 1976 heat wave, who could resist a Sundae dripping with the finest of artificial ingredients?
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