Sandy's Thrift & Swift Drive-in opened on July 13th, 1967 and was Sandy's number 130 in the chain's history. The city directory listed the location as 2102 Camanche but the actual location was 2101 Camanche Avenue which is across the street. Camanche Avenue is the main artery traveling through the city of Clinton. Camanche is actually both Highway 30 and 61 (The Great River Road {Mississippi River}). This particular stretch is part of the business "miracle mile" which is a heavily industrialized area plus an old residential section. Once again, Sandy's had picked an excellent location.
The manager on opening day was John Carrier, formerly with Sandy's of Lasalle-Peru, Illinois. Sandy's employeed 20 to 30 people as was typical for each location. Here in this grainy newspaper clipping, one can see a picture of the new Sandy's which is now enclosed yet still retaining its classic Sandy's sign out front with the dancing Scottish lass spinning on top! A clear picture of what this Sandy's looked like can be seen on the Moline, Illinois location page. Sandy's was proud to announce that Clinton Sandy's was built to accomodate restaurant style sit down dining as apposed to the classic Sandy's walk-up drive-in experience which Sandy's customers were accustomed to. Weather, especially in the northern Sandy's markets demanded that sit inside eat dining be provided for customers in particular because unlike some other fast food restaurants at the time, Sandy's was open twelve months a year!
Clinton Sandy's opened with orchids for the ladies, hot specials on Sandy's incredible food, over 1,000 free Sandy's glasses given away and a very special three day visit by little Miss Sandy herself!
For those who remember Sandy's tenderloin, it was one of the greatest sandwiches ever made. The meat itself was twice as big as the bun and became a giant hit at Sandy's. Here, in 1967, Sandy's ran this ad one month after opening. It pronounced "tenderloin - a meal in itself. big jumbosize! enough to satisfy the heartiest of appetites!" How correct that definition was! This ad featured Sandy's famous double decker Hi-Lo burger, incredible fish sandwich and the soon to be popular tenderloin!
This ad clipping appeared in the Clinton Herald newspaper and Sandy's was well on its way to becoming Clinton, Iowa's favorite fast food drive-in! Along with its sister locations in the Quad Cities, Clinton Sandy's switched to Hardees in April of 1973. Sandy's original building was torn down and built in its place was a new prototype Hardees which later closed and today serves as a local family restaurant.
For 9 mad hours on July 13th, 1967, you could get five shakes, five golden fries and five delicious Hi-Lo double cheeseburgers for three bucks. Hi-Lo "with the cheese in the middle and the pick-le on top!"
If you have any memorabilia, pictures or stories of Sandy's in Clinton, Iowa or elsewhere, please email me!