Books by
Michael Barr
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Walter
and Mary Hollmig probably didn't know they were shaping American culture
when they opened Sunny Side Hut at 204 W. Main Street in Fredericksburg.
They were just trying to sell a few hamburgers.
At first glance the year 1933 may not seem like an ideal time to start
a business. The Great Depression had just hit small town America right
between the eyes. Both Fredericksburg
banks defaulted in 1932. The economy was a mess. Money was scarce.
But the Hollmigs believed better times were just around the corner,
so they opened a restaurant in the middle of the worst financial crisis
in history. To survive they learned to be thrifty and creative in
attracting customers.
Mary Hollmig named the business Sunny Side Hut. The name expressed
her optimism and cheery disposition. |
Sunny Side Hut
Photo courtesy Pioneer Museum |
Walter and Mary's
business model took advantage of 3 trends in American society: the
end of prohibition, the country's growing fondness for convenience
food and Americans' love affair with the automobile.
At least two large businesses were already catering to Americans'
affection for automobiles and fast food. National restaurant chains
A&W and The
Pig Stand delivered burgers, sandwiches and fries to customers
who preferred to eat in their cars. Both companies claimed to be the
first to use car hops (a variation of "bell hop") since the1920s.
Walter and Mary Hollmig were travelers. It is likely they saw the
"drive-in" concept on one of their journeys and brought it back to
the Texas Hill Country.
The original Sunny Side Hut, a small wooden building where Broadway
Bank stands today, had no indoor dining. Customers walked up or drove
up and ordered through the window. Then in 1941 the Hollmigs added
on to the building providing space for a small indoor dining area,
restrooms and storage. Sometime in the evolutionary process, Walter
and Mary hired car hops for the convenience of the drive up customers.
After World War
II the dining area had a few tables, a Wurlitzer Juke Box and
a Skee-Ball game. Adults played dominoes in the back of the building
by the walk-in cooler.
But drive up customers were the heart of the business. Cars would
pull up in front of the building in the shade of a large canvas awning.
Car hops would take orders and deliver the food to the driver in his
car.
Sunny Side Hut served what has become standard fast food fare including
burgers, fries, hot dogs, sandwiches, enchiladas, fountain drinks
and ice cream. Walter Hollmig created the ice cream in a room in back
of the building that today houses the Nevins Law Firm. Sunny Side
Hut offered a variation of a Coney Island hotdog after Mary Hollmig
had a Coney for lunch on a trip to New York.
In addition to standard fast food fare, the kitchen turned out a mean
T-Bone steak, and the bar served ice cold beer on tap or in the bottle.
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Sunny Side Hut
Menu
Photo courtesy Pioneer Museum |
Sunny Side
Hut was ahead of the curve in other ways. Customers could phone in
their orders and have their food delivered to their homes or businesses
free of charge.
Walter and Mary treated their employees like family. Every night after
work the Hollmigs drove the car hops home in the Walter's baby blue
Lincoln Continental.
Until it closed in 1961, Sunny Side Hut was an important hub of community
life in Fredericksburg.
Teenagers gathered there after home football games, dances or the
movies. Teens were always welcome at Sunny Side although there was
that annoying adolescent fad of stealing salt and pepper shakers.
Parents took younger children there to celebrate special events and
as bribery for good behavior. If children showed good manners at church
or at Oma's house, parents took them to Sunny Side Hut for ice cream.
Sunny Side Hut was a cool oasis on a hot Texas day at a time when
air-conditioning was just catching on. "The Frosty Root Beer at Sunny
Side was sugar sweet and ice cold," a former Fredericksburg teenager
told me, "and the beer was the coldest in town."
I get a brain freeze just thinking about it. |
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