I always admired of Russel Lee's pictures, and "Boo Koo Burgers" is one of those which I like more...

So much for the idea that there were no obese people in the olden days.

This is reminiscent of the shop where John ate a burger and got into a passionate, murderous relationship with Lana Turner in "The Postman Always Rings Twice." Didn't Preston Sturges also use it in "Sullivan's Travels"?

There use to be a small "burger grove" restaurant where my parents brought all of us five children for a cheap treat. The burgers were beefy and real, the french fries were the crispy-outside-melting-inside that you can't get anymore, and the fields around the stand were full of picnic tables and running children.

All gone now, though there are 2 McDonald's and Burger Kings within a mile radius of the old spot (now occupied by a bank.)

I notice that the stool on the far left seems to have been added to the counter at a later date. The first six stools (from right to left) sit on a square post and run the length of the footrest. The seventh stool is on an ornate post and the poor soul sitting there has place to rest weary feet! Business must of been booming for them to add additional seating!

Sharp eye there, Ice gang. Or should I say, shorp eye?

What in the WORLD film and light must he have been dealing with here? That's an incredibly grainy print for a Russell Lee. Looks something like pushed Tri-X on a cloudy day.

[This is imaged from the negative, not a print, made during the early years of 35mm photography, long before there was 35mm Tri-X. -Dave]

[There was, however, 35mm Super-XX, introduced c.1938, rated as Weston 80, equivalent to 100 ASA (as opposed to the 400 of Tri-X). Also, note how the graininess is most apparent in the darker areas, typical of thin negatives. - tterrace]

I suppose with such low overhead, only seven can sit down at once but there was still room for one more to sit at the time this was taken. With the popularity of fried onion burgers in the Southwest, I'm sure the aroma of that particular dish was tantalizing to all who came near this alfresco eatery. I have heard that when state fair vendors feel their food sales are slipping, they put chopped or sliced onions on the grill to lure people in.

I remember getting bags of hamburgers at ten for a dollar. They were tiny though, like the McDonald's original size hamburger that sells for a dollar now. I'll bet the burgers sold at this stand for five cents were the size of most of the ones in those bags put together.

And, nothing is ersatz.

Boo Koo likely a play on the french sounding of beaucoup ... meaning a lot.
Most commonly heard in the phrase 'merci beaucoup' meaning 'thanks very much'.

If you need to use the restroom it's to your left and up about twenty feet on that pole.

None of that "FAKE" 7up sold here, and notice eight bubbles on the sign instead of seven.

"Health inspectors? We don' need no steenking health inspectors!"