McDonnell's Drive-in, Los Angeles, 1940s

"Rusty" McDonnell operated a chain of drive-ins in the Los Angeles area during the 30s and 40s, long before the fast food behemoth McDonalds came on the scene. His restaurants, designed by the revered architect Wayne McAllister, were fabulously kitsch and garish and customers could spot their huge neon signs from miles away. McDonnell employed a local artist to sketch whimsical interpretations of the car-hops or waiters that served cokes, hamburgers and fries to customers for its menus and this is one of the earlier examples. The restaurant also served some of the best fried chicken in the state, raising its own chickens on a 200 acre ranch at Daggett, California. McDonnell's survived until the 50s before sadly closing down.

Courtesy Private Collection.

Each print is accompanied by a copy of the interior menu where available.

We make our prints with archival-quality fine art paper, using professional pigment inks. Properly framed or stored, our prints will last 70+ years without fading or discolouring.

All our prints up to A2 size are made in-house in the UK. For larger prints, we work with the best commercial giclée printers in the UK. Learn more about our printing process, borders and custom orders here.