For people who attended Crawford High School or would have attended if they hadn't
moved -- or just have fond memories of San Diego in the '40s, '50s and '60s.

Check out the Crawford High web site.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Original Jack in the Box

The Jack in the Box web site shows this photo and talks about their first restaurant. I also have another photo from the Foodmaker archives and IT claims to be the first Jack in the Box. I'm pretty sure the photo at left is the 63rd and El Cajon site. I'm not sure about the other one. Click HERE to check them both out. Let me know what you think.

9 comments:

  1. I remember this one on 63rd. All of us used to hang out there and some of the "rods" used to park across the street on 63rd to show off there wheels. I was a great hangout.

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  2. The bottom picture looks like the one on El Cajon much farther west near Oregon or one of the state streets...just a few blocks east of the original Coca Cola plant that used to be on El Cajon going west towards Park Ave. In fact, this Jack-in-the-Box was about 3 or 4 blocks east of the Coke plant.

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  3. I recall regularly visiting one on Mission Gorge Road in around 1958. My brother was an infant and my Mom would order a vanilla shake and transfer the contents into his baby bottle (I won't comment here on those parenting skills). This would have been in 1958 or 1959. My brother, Steve, still loves vanilla shakes...no wonder. The Jack in the Box is still in the same location but with numerous updates.

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  4. In the early to mid 50's, my mom and dad would go to one on or near Harbor Dr. which looked a lot like the one in the bottom picture. But I was under ten years old then and the sun has set and risen several times since then.

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  5. The first photo is the Jack In the Box at 63rd and El Cajon.I remember being told many times that it was the first one in the chain. We lived near 67th & El Cajon and this place was a godsend to my grandmother who had hungry grandkids and hated to cook. We were regulars. When it first opened the hamburgers were 15 cents, but quickly rose to 18 cents which made my grandmother mad. She didn't stop taking us though. I loved Jack's Secret Sauce which I now know was mayo, ketchup and mustard mixed together. When I got older and my tastes were more "sophisticated," I grew to love their tacos which were really incredibly spicy. I'm sure they didn't stay that way when JIB turned into a national chain.

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  6. I agree with Mrs. U. In the lower picture, you can see the SD Unified Education Center and the old Normal School above the J-in-Box roof.

    My family moved near the 63rd St. J-in-B in 1955. The upper picture looks like what I remember. They were easily the worst tasting hamburgers I ever had.

    Mike Fry.

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  7. OMG! The 1st pic is the Jack's at 63rd & El Cajon Blvd. This is where we took my mom's yellow Dodge Dart Swinger thru the Drive Thru and took the turn to order and took out the side of her car. Poor Jack, we really nailed him. I remember we told her someone hit us in the "Food Basket" AKA Alberton's parking lot at College and El Cajon Blvd. Ha! Lot's of FOND memories at this Jack's. Remember hamburgers for .18 up to .29 but a meal was like under a dollar. LOVE IT!! BTW, come on, Jack's SECRET SAUCE was the BEST!! Until I became a Vegetarian I still ate the hamburger with extra secret sauce and pickles. Now I'm a raw foodist and don't eat ANY of it!! LOL!!

    Rosemarie Lynne Guild Savary

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  8. Practically lived at this JB at 63rd & El Cajon Blvd. There was a time they served fried chicken and shrimp there.

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  9. I was thrilled in 4th grade ('52-'53) to take Iris Jean Wilson on dates here several times. We'd bike from her house on Mary Lane at Rockford, just over half a mile. The sky was the limit--we'd both get a burger, fries, and a coke, my treat. I think it was 37 cents each. I thought the food was great, not to mention the ambience, and my date was cute as could be.

    --Bob Richardson '61

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