Yaws Top Notch!

Yaws Top Notch “car service” restaurant served Portlanders from 1926 to 1982.  G.P and Grace Yaw opened the first Yaws in Portland’s Hollywood district in 1926.  Soon after they engaged Englebert Franz (Franz Bakery) to create a hamburger bun purported to be the nation’s first but this is disputed in Texas and Oklahoma. 

   

You can read more here: Portland History - Yaws Top Notch

 

Mimicking a national pattern - Yaws started as a family restaurant that evolved into a drive-in diner. They started with a small location, then a larger one next door (1936) AND finally an even larger location (1955) also nearby. 

Yaws, like all drive-in diners of this era, evolved with the accession of the automobile.  As cars became more affordable - they became more plentiful and popular.  They moved beyond functional family transportation.  For many Americans cars were an opportunity for identity and status.  This  especially resonated with young people anxious to define and separate themselves.  AND they suddenly needed places to drive, park, and hang-out.  Yaws was one of thousands of diners nationwide to leverage the power of this new post WW2 phenomenon.

   

Decades later - Americans became more accustomed to car ownership and the passion for drive-ins and diners waned.  Our love affair with cars continued but culture continued its unalterable path of change. Fast food chains with predictable menus became a better fit for busier Americans distracted by increasing entertainment options.  Technology advancement is inevitable and has always carried unintended consequences both good and bad.  Wisdom dropped from a guy who remembers “dialing” from a stationary phone inconveniently located too far from our 400lb black and white TV set.  

 

Yaws is long gone but the memories of Portland's and America's past live on.  I painted Yaws “new” location which opened in 1955.  It’s 24”x 48” acrylic medium on canvas.  This is a wedding gift for dear friends who just happen to be in my age demographic and know of which I speak.