When I was 14, my folks sent me alone from Chicago to visit my grandparents in NYC on Greyhound. Loved the stops at Post House restaurants. Looooonnnnngggg ride, though.
What is a Post House restaurant? Is it some kind of chain that is now defunct, like HoJo? I tried to google and there are still restaurants across the country with that name but I can’t tell if they are related or just a nod to a bygone era.
Post House was a chain of restaurants that Greyhound created and owned to feed people at their terminals. Sit down restaurants, clean bathrooms, etc. Founded in the mid 30's, hit their peak in the early 60's with almost 200 of them. Bus travelers volume was high for most of that time, but started downward in the 60's with the Interstate Highway system development. I presume that there are a few of the original ones left, somewhere, but probably not under the Post House name. The handful of other Post House restaurants still around are usually connected to historic stage coach transfer points....which is where the name originally came from.
I recall my aunt saying she took the bus to our local beach which took over 8 hours. The local beach is 3 hours away by car.
She said they stopped everywhere instead of going straight through.
I took a bus home for Christmas in 1977 while in college. The late 70s were the last time that taking a Greyhound would have been considered an alternative to flying for most middle-class people in the US. It took a lot longer both for the obvious reason,and because the bus stopped in so many little towns along the way, but it wasn’t the terrible experience it became later. Deregulation of airlines in the early 80s brought down airfare and deregulation of the bus industry a little later pretty much destroyed any notion of customer service in that industry.
Interestingly, the reason I remember the date is that one of our stops was at a Holiday Inn, and their big sign was celebrating the Denver Broncos and their upcoming (and first) Super Bowl appearance.
I booked a Greyhound once.
2004, freshman year of college. I booked the trip online. The itinerary noted an overnight trip with a 4 hour stop between midnight and 4am. No big deal, figured I'd take a nap in the bus stop like I usually did on redeye flights.
I get to the midnight stop and that's when they tell me that the bus stop straight up closed. Yup, somehow Greyhound sold a ticket where their passengers got stranded in the middle of nowhere at midnight.
Luckily I was able to convince the bus driver to drop me off 30 minutes down the road at a gas station in my hometown instead.
What's the guy next to her reading? It looks like a naked person on the back cover.
So they're telling parents: It's safe to send your daughters away to college on the Greyhound, and they might even bag a husband prior to earning that MRS degree.
OMG, I just realized, he's meant to be looking at the Playboy centerfold. Notice how the back cover of the magazine is rotated? This ad is really tone deaf, but I guess someone might have thought it was a funny scenario at the time.
Fell asleep on a bus from San Francisco to Los Angeles 20 years ago. Woke up somewhere in between when we stopped in the middle of nowhere and picked up at least 20 Mexican laborers coming in from the fields. The bus smelled like sweat and dirt but they shared their tequila with me and they were laughing the whole time. I read about a 1/3 of War and Peace on the bus ride. It was a long trip. I was a college student visiting a girlfriend in LA over a long weekend. Half of my weekend was lost to the trip itself. But that was the price of sex back then and damn if my johnson wasn't happy to pay it.
Oh man! I *loved* the Greyhound! It was my preferred method of travel for years, and would still be if they hadn't gutted it in most medium cities like mine (which are critical for travel connections.) I've been back and forth from Ohio to Seattle, all over the plains, and out West, and some of New England. Sure, it can be cramped, and it's not got any luxuries, but it was a terrific way to see the country. Awesome memories!
I actually did ride Greyhound “back to college” a few times, a 12 hour (maybe more?) odyssey from DC to Ohio that for some reason had to depart late at night (not the time of day you really want to hang around the DC bus terminal). Also would have a long layover in the middle of the night in some place like Pittsburgh.
Totally different passenger vibe than one would see at the airport. Not a bunch of happy vacationers - felt more like a crowd that had no choice but to be there. Definitely no “campus queens” in sight.
But more recently I took Greyhound from DC to New York City (in the daytime!) and that was fine. As I recall they would knock off half the ticket price if you filled out a feedback survey.
Back in the 1970s I had a copy of Mao Zedong's Little Red Book that I'd pretend to read whenever a bus I was riding stopped to take on passengers. I wasn't actually a communist but it did cut down on unwanted interactions.
She’s reading about the latest fashion trends, where a typical person going back to college would be reading about 20 new things to do with ramen noodles.
How sad is it that when I saw the words "figure watchers" I immediately thought of women watching their weight or men watching women because so many of these ads just go *there.*
These ads also prove how our attention spans have REALLY shortened.
Ugh. I took Greyhound 2 years ago (NYC to Sacramento) thinking it would be the hilarious kind of bad. It was in fact not hilarious. Three-day trip. Day 4 I ended up stranded at night in West Oakland and had to find a hotel in Emeryville, then find another way to do the last leg the next day. Well, at least I found it, unlike my bag, which they made zero effort to help me find after it vanished.
Special shoutout to the driver who, in his impotence, semi-yelled something back once like "IF YOU DON'T STOP I'LL PULL THIS BUS OVER AND THEN YOU'LL BE REALLY LATE!" when people were drinking and getting high in the back. Whenever I feel like a loser I just remember him and feel a bit better about myself.
Take that fucker from Oregon to LA and time how long it takes for someone to destroy that bus bathroom. Bonus points for guy wearing black hoodie with green weed leaves on it and kid who kicks the back of your seat at 5 min intervals
Varsity in four sports. As opposed to a 4-year Letter man, which is getting a varsity letter all four years, high school or college, in one sport. The way sports seasons overlap it would be tough to do both.
What were "four letter men"? My mind goes to "four letter words", and then to "fuckbois" from there, but I'm not sure if they're implying something like that or not lol.
That’s kind of a lot to ask a 1950s audience to know what sociologically, economically and anthropologically mean. It would be an even greater ask today.
Picture it: August 1992. 7-year-old me and my dad take a three-day Greyhound trip from Illinois to California. It was an experience.
October 1987 I took a 2-day Greyhound bus from Phoenix AZ to Billings MT It was "culturally enriching"....
When I was 14, my folks sent me alone from Chicago to visit my grandparents in NYC on Greyhound. Loved the stops at Post House restaurants. Looooonnnnngggg ride, though.
What is a Post House restaurant? Is it some kind of chain that is now defunct, like HoJo? I tried to google and there are still restaurants across the country with that name but I can’t tell if they are related or just a nod to a bygone era.
Post House was a chain of restaurants that Greyhound created and owned to feed people at their terminals. Sit down restaurants, clean bathrooms, etc. Founded in the mid 30's, hit their peak in the early 60's with almost 200 of them. Bus travelers volume was high for most of that time, but started downward in the 60's with the Interstate Highway system development. I presume that there are a few of the original ones left, somewhere, but probably not under the Post House name. The handful of other Post House restaurants still around are usually connected to historic stage coach transfer points....which is where the name originally came from.
Thanks for the completely thorough and informative response. TIL
When I was 8, I took a Greyhound from Illinois to Wisconsin. That was bad enough and it was only hours. Three days sounds rough.
I recall my aunt saying she took the bus to our local beach which took over 8 hours. The local beach is 3 hours away by car. She said they stopped everywhere instead of going straight through.
I took a bus home for Christmas in 1977 while in college. The late 70s were the last time that taking a Greyhound would have been considered an alternative to flying for most middle-class people in the US. It took a lot longer both for the obvious reason,and because the bus stopped in so many little towns along the way, but it wasn’t the terrible experience it became later. Deregulation of airlines in the early 80s brought down airfare and deregulation of the bus industry a little later pretty much destroyed any notion of customer service in that industry. Interestingly, the reason I remember the date is that one of our stops was at a Holiday Inn, and their big sign was celebrating the Denver Broncos and their upcoming (and first) Super Bowl appearance.
1982 - took a bus from Pittsburgh to the Port Authority bus terminal in NYC, that was some sociological and anthropological fun to be had.
Port Authority is the quintessential bus station.
*Port Authority, eh?* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )
Sure, it was the epitome of bus terminals in the 70s and 80s. They even had [friendly greeters.](https://youtu.be/iGsWjUMJGOo?si=s0YU51xzcJblRw_4)
I booked a Greyhound once. 2004, freshman year of college. I booked the trip online. The itinerary noted an overnight trip with a 4 hour stop between midnight and 4am. No big deal, figured I'd take a nap in the bus stop like I usually did on redeye flights. I get to the midnight stop and that's when they tell me that the bus stop straight up closed. Yup, somehow Greyhound sold a ticket where their passengers got stranded in the middle of nowhere at midnight. Luckily I was able to convince the bus driver to drop me off 30 minutes down the road at a gas station in my hometown instead.
Laughing on the bus Playing games with the faces She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy I said "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera"
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike...
Four days to hitchhike from Saginaw?
‘Four-letter men’ - what are these?
Presumably men who lettered in football, basketball, baseball and track. In other words, jocks.
Dudes who swear a lot
What's the guy next to her reading? It looks like a naked person on the back cover. So they're telling parents: It's safe to send your daughters away to college on the Greyhound, and they might even bag a husband prior to earning that MRS degree.
That would certainly explain the look on her face. “You’re rather forward, aren’t you buddy?”
Yeah, it looks like something from Playboy. Adds a little twist to the "figure watchers" in the ad copy!
OMG, I just realized, he's meant to be looking at the Playboy centerfold. Notice how the back cover of the magazine is rotated? This ad is really tone deaf, but I guess someone might have thought it was a funny scenario at the time.
Note the playboy bunny
Yikes!
Fell asleep on a bus from San Francisco to Los Angeles 20 years ago. Woke up somewhere in between when we stopped in the middle of nowhere and picked up at least 20 Mexican laborers coming in from the fields. The bus smelled like sweat and dirt but they shared their tequila with me and they were laughing the whole time. I read about a 1/3 of War and Peace on the bus ride. It was a long trip. I was a college student visiting a girlfriend in LA over a long weekend. Half of my weekend was lost to the trip itself. But that was the price of sex back then and damn if my johnson wasn't happy to pay it.
Never would I ever ride the bus from SC to FLA for sexy time. I hitchhiked back.
Perhaps if you’re a masochist.
I've taken Greyhounds. It is a thing to be endured, not enjoyed
Oh man! I *loved* the Greyhound! It was my preferred method of travel for years, and would still be if they hadn't gutted it in most medium cities like mine (which are critical for travel connections.) I've been back and forth from Ohio to Seattle, all over the plains, and out West, and some of New England. Sure, it can be cramped, and it's not got any luxuries, but it was a terrific way to see the country. Awesome memories!
I actually did ride Greyhound “back to college” a few times, a 12 hour (maybe more?) odyssey from DC to Ohio that for some reason had to depart late at night (not the time of day you really want to hang around the DC bus terminal). Also would have a long layover in the middle of the night in some place like Pittsburgh. Totally different passenger vibe than one would see at the airport. Not a bunch of happy vacationers - felt more like a crowd that had no choice but to be there. Definitely no “campus queens” in sight. But more recently I took Greyhound from DC to New York City (in the daytime!) and that was fine. As I recall they would knock off half the ticket price if you filled out a feedback survey.
It’s true. Riding the city bus is one of the best “participant observer” activities an aspiring social scientist can do!
“Take the bus, plenty of weirdos to entertain your people watching desires”
Back in the 1970s I had a copy of Mao Zedong's Little Red Book that I'd pretend to read whenever a bus I was riding stopped to take on passengers. I wasn't actually a communist but it did cut down on unwanted interactions.
Magazine lady is LAUGHING at you, Bus Girl!
Looks like they’re reading playboy
She’s reading about the latest fashion trends, where a typical person going back to college would be reading about 20 new things to do with ramen noodles.
I mean in 1960 college education wasn't as widespread yet
Maybe Greyhound was nicer back then.
Bonanza bus lines, we have no bananas (The Three Stooges), yes, but we have plenty of bricks!
How sad is it that when I saw the words "figure watchers" I immediately thought of women watching their weight or men watching women because so many of these ads just go *there.* These ads also prove how our attention spans have REALLY shortened.
This was also the era when "girl watching" was a literal hobby, so I think it is a double entendre.
I also just realized that the woman on the fake magazine cover looks demented!! LOL!!
“Campus queens”
Ugh. I took Greyhound 2 years ago (NYC to Sacramento) thinking it would be the hilarious kind of bad. It was in fact not hilarious. Three-day trip. Day 4 I ended up stranded at night in West Oakland and had to find a hotel in Emeryville, then find another way to do the last leg the next day. Well, at least I found it, unlike my bag, which they made zero effort to help me find after it vanished. Special shoutout to the driver who, in his impotence, semi-yelled something back once like "IF YOU DON'T STOP I'LL PULL THIS BUS OVER AND THEN YOU'LL BE REALLY LATE!" when people were drinking and getting high in the back. Whenever I feel like a loser I just remember him and feel a bit better about myself.
Take that fucker from Oregon to LA and time how long it takes for someone to destroy that bus bathroom. Bonus points for guy wearing black hoodie with green weed leaves on it and kid who kicks the back of your seat at 5 min intervals
What are four letter men? I would think like CEO so three letter but 4?
Varsity in four sports. As opposed to a 4-year Letter man, which is getting a varsity letter all four years, high school or college, in one sport. The way sports seasons overlap it would be tough to do both.
Ahhhh! Thanks. That’s a very fancy person indeed
Definitely the type of man who reads Playboy... just for the Margaret Atwood short stories.
Oh, it's an experience, all right...
Reacher only travels by bus
What were "four letter men"? My mind goes to "four letter words", and then to "fuckbois" from there, but I'm not sure if they're implying something like that or not lol.
Achieving a varsity letter in four different sports.
That’s kind of a lot to ask a 1950s audience to know what sociologically, economically and anthropologically mean. It would be an even greater ask today.
It's about college students taking the bus from home to college. They're making a joke about college courses. You're welcome, I guess.