Roadside USA
I picked two random "Roadside USA" scans for you today, hopefully they will be fun!
First up: this giant wheel of cheese - The Cheese House (scan from August, 1971). Kind of eye-catching, I'd say. And the giant mouse on the roof is the *chef's kiss*. At first I did a little research and thought that this example of "programmatic architecture" was in Meredith, New Hampshire. BUT... it turns out that there was a chain of 18 Cheese Houses in the New England area. Well, dang!
Another postcard, supposedly from Arlington, Vermont. I don't trust you anymore, Cheese House.
Next is this scan from a slide date-stamped "January, 1960". There are some old houses, and some patriotic bunting, but what's the deal? Where am I? Are you my mother?
Zooming in to that sign in the background, we can see that it is the "Lincoln Inn Cafe". Home cooked food! So it wasn't a big leap to assume that the white clapboard house next door had something to do with our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. Maybe you've heard of him?
Meanwhile, I wonder if the cafe served Abe's favorites, such as Beefaroni, or a tuna sandwich with potato chips and a pudding cup?
Why, it's the Lincoln Museum, in Springfield, Illinois! Here's a vintage postcard. I tried to find a contemporary view of this building on Google Maps, but had no luck. In 2004, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum was opened in Springfield, it's massive. You can find the home that Abe lived in during his time in Springfield, but it is not the building pictured above. Maybe this was torn down? Seems hard to believe.
24 comments:
Major-
Suddenly I have a hankerin' for a nice Bleu de Basques. That's a 1957 Chevrolet Belair in desperate need of some body work - and wheel covers-! Peeking-in from the right is a 1950 Buick Special Jetback Coupe - probably in Olympic Blue.
(I wonder if the gift shop at the Lincoln Museum has copies of Our American Cousin-?)
Thanks, Major.
Hmmm, is a puzzlement. Well, regardless of where they are, the first two images (your scan and the first postcard) appear to be the same place, judging from the surrounding landscape.
Soooo, I guess these places sold cheese. Cheese, cheese, and more cheese. Lotsa, lotsa cheese. Cheese this, and cheese that. Seems kind of an iffy business proposition. I wonder how long the Cheese House chain lasted? Or if any are still in business. Reminds me of the SNL skit about the store in the mall that sells only scotch tape.
Apparently, the building with the bunting had nothing to do with Lincoln, per se. According to the postcard wording, this museum was across the street from (one of) Lincoln's house(s). Not sure why they made a postcard of the museum and not the actual house. Maybe they did.
Beefaroni, tuna sandwich, potato chips, pudding cup... Honest Abe was quite a gourmand. One might even say that he was ahead of his time. I love these travelogues, Major. Thanks.
There is a very specific reason this location was chosen to house the Lincoln Museum. It's because Lincoln would frequently sneak across the street to this house, hide in one of the upstairs windows, and flick spoonfuls of Beefaroni down on the passersby.
Nanook, Lincoln was nothing if not a practical joker!
I wonder if the gift shop at the Lincoln Museum has copies of Our American Cousin-?
On Blu-ray? Betamax? Kinetoscope?
Major I’m glad you were able to Muenster enough energy to scan and post the HOUSE OF CHEESE images ….. its’s Gouda thing too, as I had heard about such places . I hope sone still exist as I Cheddar thought of losing this kinda of Americana …
I wonder exactly why this spot is an Abraham Lincoln museum … the house appears to be post 1860’s in design … maybe it was of an older vintage and it had been “modernized” so many times it no longer longer looks Lincoln period …
Ok .. I just saw the Lincoln museum postcard and read it - I have a paper /cardstock model
Kit of Lincoln’s Springfield home I bought at the Heritage House in
Walt Disney World’s LIBERTY SQUARE when the ship still American historical items … then it became a typical Cel phone charger center of the 1780’s ….. and now it’s the Dumb-Down Muppet American History Revue. I used to love the muppets … now I want them all sent to The Cornfield!!
About a decade ago I was contacted by the Vandalia, Illinois’s museum about creating a scale model diorama of Lincoln’s Vandalia of the 1830’s when it was the State Capitol . I had to turn down the project because I had several other commissions …. And I was a little nervous about dealing with such a large project and clients so far away.
Welcome to Dr. Tongue's 3-D House of Cheese! Bruno, fetch me some more fromage!
I love that you enter the Cheese House through the wedge. Now that's clever design.
Another thing I love is how the Major always goes the extra mile with the research.
Mike, thank you for getting the cheese puns out of the way. I'm Edamned if I can think of any more.
I bet President Lincoln was also a big Lunchables fan. Typing that out made me remember that Mom often put cans of Lincoln brand apple juice in our lunchboxes. Everything's related!
"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the Beefaroni?"
Excuse me, do you have any Stilton? No? Bugger. I asked my Dad if he remembers ever stopping at The Cheese House in Arlington and he didn't remember ever doing so. I think you'd remember stopping at a big wheel of cheese. Anyway, I bet my Grandparents did. I'm not sure, but I've included a Google Maps location that may be the store today. The mountain in the back matches. It looked like Vermont in the postcard, so I don't think they were trying to trick you Major! Great pics!
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0899682,-73.1411182,3a,67.2y,290.85h,87.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sM0mL0cjVGOPy5HT0xyCHDw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Here is the Lincoln Museum house today. The cafe was sandwiched between the brown house, then white, and the other home on the right. It's now part of the historical area and apparently not accessible by car.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7974467,-89.645149,2a,75y,321.69h,97.35t,354.12r/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1VYd01EkaWSl2CKU0CD2jA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Programmatic Architecture is the best architecture. Either use archetypal forms that observers can relate to, or jump right in and put giant rodents on the roof, but don’t fool around with modern style where a bank might be a church, a school, a dry cleaning shop, or a drive thru restaurant.
Lincoln’s house should have a giant Lincoln on the roof, like those Paul Bunyan figures in the northwest, that should help us sort it out. Maybe make the Pennsylvania street numbers really big to show off it’s Gettysburg Address.
I love the Cheese House and I can mourn its passing, even while deploring it’s deceptive re-use of expensive professional photography and marveling at the erudition of my fellow Junior Gorillas’ cheesy puns. It reminds me of the Very Clean Cheese Shop described by Monty Python as “totally uncontaminated by cheese”. I wonder if they stocked Venezuelan Beaver Cheese?
Also wondering if Lincoln put cheese on his Beefaroni, and if so, what kind? Probably Cheddar, the Single Most Popular Cheese in the World, even though it’s not American, no matter how you slice it.
Now I want Beefaroni, and I don’t even like it, not fondue it.
Gojira, thanks for the research! I love that follow up.
Thanks Major!
JG
When my get-up-and-go has got up and went
I hanker for a hunk of cheese!
When I’m dancin’ a hoedown and my boots kinda slow down,
Or anytime I’m weak in the knees,
I hanker for a hunk of,
A slab or slice or chunk of,
I hanker for a hunk of cheese!
Never knew about The Cheese House. What fun architecture. Very cool.
Also, didn't know Ettore Boiardi got his start cooking for the Lincolns.
Programmatic Architecture, also commonly referred to in some cases as "Duck Architecture" (after the "Big Duck" in Flanders LI.) is a huge favorite of mine. I marvel sometimes at the engineering to create gigantic structures such as the Colossus of Rhodes, or the Pyramids of Giza, or the Cheese House...and other places of antiquity. The cheese house looks rather temporary, like it was pre-fab and not really built on a proper foundation. Perhaps it's me, and my judgy-judy attitude these days. There is a place called Mars Cheese Castle on the way from Chicago to Milwaukee: home of the Shotz brewery. I was expecting a road size attraction made completely of cheese...instead, it's pretty much a 7-11 that sells cheese, and gummy bears, and wiper blades and such. Lincoln and cheese...a fascinating collaboration. Is there a "Lincoln Cheese"? I know there is a Lincoln Rose and it is quite popular for all the good reasons of a rose. There is a "Lincoln Log Cheese". Look it up. I was doing an install on a huge building next door to a Cheesecake factory that had been closed. We used it as a staging area. We referred to it as "Cheese Box"...."Go over to the Cheese Box and get me a hammer!" After seeing the defuct "Cheese Box" I will never set foot in a Cheesecake Factory ever again. I really never "got it" when they went global after my visits to the original location in Beverly Hills. People still go in droves, so I see the cheese box legacy continuing. I did not know that New England was such a cheese paradise, and I definitely am missing out...time to scout out the cheese! I love cheese of all types and never met one I didn't like. I had to be a cheese head in a commercial once and that is for another time. GO CHEESE! Thanks Major.
Nanook, how about a nice Kraft singles slice? Aged in my refrigerator! Yes, that poor Chevy Belair is quite a sight. And yes, the Lincoln Museum sold copies of Our American Cousin on DVD (only back then DVDs were made of Bakelite).
JB, I agree, the first two appear to be the same place. I want to live in a house shaped like my favorite food… a pizza. We’ll work out the logistics later. I believe that all the Cheese Houses are gone, but I am all for any little weird specialized shops like these. Abe was not the gourmand that Walt Disney was (Walt would mix TWO kinds of canned chili together!), but he did his best.
TokyoMagic!, my guess is that John Wilkes Booth got hit by some Beefaroni. The rest (as they say) is history.
TokyoMagic!, it was a dusty box filled with hand puppets.
Mike Cozart, those cheese puns are so bad that I have a cold cloth on my head. I guess I’m just disappointed that you don’t have an EXINWEST model of the Lincoln Museum, because that would be kind of beautiful. “The Dumb-Down Muppet American History Revue”, I don’t even know what you are referring to! Is there really a Muppet history revue?? Aw, it would have been neat if you could have done that diorama project, but I understand that you can’t do everything, as cool as it might have been.
Melissa, I didn’t know you spoke French! The Cheese House’s t-shirts should have said “Enter The Wedge!”. I wanted to make a gorgonzola cheese pun, but nothing came to mind. Abe Lincoln loved to eat pieces of wood, if I remember my history correctly. Hickory especially.
Melissa, your comment is funny, because of COURSE the Beefaroni was delicious. How could it be anything but?
Gojira, yes, I would that going to a store shaped like a giant cheese would be something a person would remember. I did not even consider looking for the remains of the Vermont Cheese House, but I agree, that building is likely the (heavily altered) shop! It sure looks cold and wintery in that Google image. Good detective work!
Gojira, I actually “walked” around that Google Maps area (months ago), and must have gone right past the house without recognizing it. But I think you got it!
JG, I agree with you about programmatic architecture. Now all we need is 100-story skyscrapers that look like pencils, or something. I guess the old Philip Johnson AT&T building (no longer called that) with its “Chipendale” pediment might be considered “programmatic”? Also, JG, what if that bank that might be a church had a giant rodent on top of it? Huh? HUH? Makes you think, doesn’t it? I like your idea of a giant Lincoln, maybe a repurposed “muffler man” figure. Of course he would be holding an axe (or a rolled up Gettysburg Address?). I knew that Monty Python sketch would get a mention! Cheddar might be “the single most popular cheese in the world” (thank you, John Cleese), but I don’t buy it like I used to. Gorgonzola, havarti, pepper jack… there are so many to choose from. My brother still buys Beefaroni, and I tried a can out of nostalgia. It left much to be desired (though parmesan helped).
K. Martinez, oh boy, that brings back memories! And those little TV spots DID make me hanker for a hunk of cheese.
Bu, I’m afraid I don’t know the “Big Duck”, but I do know the building that looks like a giant basket. I used to love seeing a water tower that looked like a corn cob (somewhere in the midwest, maybe there’s more than one). Don’t be so judgy-judgy, Bu! Give a cheese shop a break. They don’t have “Disney money”. “Mars Cheese Castle” should definitely be an exciting place, but it sounds like it disappoints, just like Beefaroni. There is a Lincoln Cheese, but it is named after Elmo Lincoln, the first Tarzan of the movies. Before the Oscars, actors had cheeses named after them. IT’S TRUE. So what was wrong with the Cheesecake Factory? I used to like to go to one near me with friends. I know, not classy, but they had everything. I’ve still never tried Limburger cheese, though I wonder if it is as truly stinky as everyone says.
I love cheese, I'd stop at the Cheese House for sure! Wonder if all the gifts were cheese-related, and you got cheese candy? The building looks so tiny but you can see a person standing at the counter in the Vermont postcard. Did someone abandon a stroller at the Lincoln Museum (far left)? Maybe that Belair got hit by the bucket of bricks behind it. I'm glad the Lincoln Inn Café sells the President's favorite beverage, 7Up, right outside. Thanks for the slices of life, Major.
I remember touring the Lincoln museum as a child in the early 60s and seeing a scarf and top hat hanging in the hall, wondered if old Abe actually wore those things and if he just stepped out and left them there.
I know I’ve been in the house that was the Lincoln Museum when this photo was taken, but for the life of me I can’t remember what’s inside it. I think maybe we walked through it as part of a guided tour en route to Lincoln’s home. It’s been 11 years. Maybe I have pictures…
There’s now a modern visitors’ center behind that building, so it no longer serves as the museum, although the entire block is a museum of sorts.
Mike, I have been meaning to visit Vandalia for 14 years now. I see signs for the museum every time we drive to see my parents in Ohio. But now that I know you didn’t do the model, there’s really no point.
I found a few photos from our 2011 visit to jog my memory, and the ground floor of the former Lincoln Museum contained several displays that served to set the scene before touring the Lincoln Home. The only interior photo I took shows the Lincoln Home as it looked after they remodeled it in 1855-56, but I believe there was at least one other model that showed it as it appeared before it the Lincolns enlarged it. That's also where we met the National Park Service ranger who walked our tour group across the street and through the Lincoln Home.
The building that was the Lincoln Inn Cafe is still standing, but that incongruous brick diner addition is gone and the house has been restored to look like it belongs in the 1850-60s (although I'm not 100% sure it was actually there when Lincoln lived across the street).
I think Illinois is too Eastern for EXINWEST…. It’s funny I belong to an online group of EXINWEST fans and collectors all about my age … mostly from Europe ( EXIN was a Spanish toy company - biggest in Europe ) about a dozen are from America .. interestingly we all became architects or engineers or in that field of sone kind!! One is a model maker for Lego! Anyway , the Europeans are always trying to find the prototypes the EXINWEST kits were based on … and the Americans try to explain that they are very “American Wild West” but probably based on movies and tv shows not historical reality … ( the horse drawn wagon kits however are based on sone real prototypes however !)
MAJOR: I’m afraid there really is a LIBERTY SQUARE muppet show!!!! It’s so awful!! A human Town Cryer rings a bell and gets guests attention then the windows of the upper floor of the Heritage House building open up with black drapes behind them … then audio animatronic muppets appear in Colonial costumes of sorts … and the human has banter with the robot muppets .. then firework effects go off and out if control… a muppet also pops out of a recently added medallion vent of Liberty Hall !!!
This makes Motorboat Cruise Thru Gumi Glen look BRILLIANT!!!!
Kathy!, anybody who doesn’t like cheese should be put under close surveillance. They are probably aliens! Everyone knows that aliens are lactose intolerant. Cheese candy, I’ll bet there is such a thing. I’ll bet strollers were not allowed in the Lincoln Museum. Somebody could put Abe’s yo yo in the stroller, and walk out with it as easy as pie. Hmm, 7-Up, it’s the Uncola with a refreshing lemon lime flavor. As you know.
Bryce, maybe the GHOST of Abe Lincoln put on that hat and scarf every night when the clock struck twelve! Ghosts love hats.
Chuck, you were in the house when that photo was taken?? What are the odds? I would love to take a guided tour of Lincoln’s home so that I could ask lots of stupid questions (in other words, the questions I always ask). “So, did Abe like hotdogs? Is it true he was afraid of chipmunks? Why didn’t he wear bright yellow suits?”. I’m ashamed to confess that I knew (know) nothing about Vandalia, and now I need to look on Wikipedia.
Chuck, those photos are fun, I wish others could see that park ranger. “Go ahead, make my day”, he’s thinking to himself. Sorry, it’s mean to discuss pictures that others can’t see. But that’s just how cruel and rude I am. I’m kind of sorry that the brick diner is gone to be honest, though I understand why they wanted to return the neighborhood to a more authentic “look”. They removed the Abe Lincoln Video Arcade too.
Mike Cozart, wow, only a dozen American EXINWEST collectors are on that forum? I’d expect a lot more! I can totally see folks who love building models (intricate and detailed) going on to be architects. When I was in grade school we did dioramas based on the Panama Canal, and one kid brought in a model that his dad build, it even had clear plexi and the locks would fill with water. I’m sure the kid helped! He helped by leaving dad alone. I’m stunned that I was not even aware of the Muppet show in Liberty Square. I feel like I am generally at least a little bit up on what’s going on at WDW. I love the Muppets when they are used correctly, but so often Disney doesn’t seem to know what to do with them. From what I understand, “Muppet Vision 3D” was a lot of fun. It makes me feel bad that the Muppets are used so poorly that people resent them.
I thought the postcards whoed the Cheese House in the land of the Windows XP background.
I think the "Great Moments in History... but just the American Parts" Muppets show at WDW has been cancelled. The Muppets were puppets not animatronics, and the castmembers were laid off in the 2019 budget cuts. I doubt they brought them back. I was indifferent to the show. At least it was a historical show roughly appropriate to the land, unlike the dance parties in Tomorrowland and thematically unrelated shows in Epcot. I'd prefer they brought back the colonial fife & drum band and Daughter and Son of Liberty presentation, but I know that's not happening.
Dean Finder, it does look like that classic Windows XP background! I'm always sorry to hear when cast members are laid off; presumably they had some real talent as puppeteers. Since I'd never heard of the show, I guess I can't be too surprised that it was not that popular. Thanks for the info!
This particular EXINWEST and EXIN CASTILLOS group has lots of Europeans … but not too many Americans because the postings are done in Spanish so anything typed by the Americans is translated to Spanish … and reading posts takes a little doing … so it really is for die hard EXIN people .
There are bigger general groups that include EXINWEST and the EXIN CASTLES … but in Europe there are conventions and stuff and building competitions … custom builds are also very popular. In Europe they were generally available … in Europe on at high end specialty gift shops and import toy shops … EXIN wasn’t something you’d find at a Toys R Us so for Americans to participate in the custom build competitions etc is very pricy … considering a wagon or townspeople accessory set that sold for 6.99 - 9.99 in the early 80’s can now sell sealed for 1,000.00!! So parts can be pricey if you are kitbashing your own models … in Europe they seem to be easier to find .
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