Jack's No. 1
Jack's No. 1. also called Jack's Birmingham, was the original Jack's drive-in hamburger stand opened by Jack Caddell in downtown Homewood in 1960.
The original stand was located at 1827 29th Avenue South, on the corner of at 19th Street and across from the Homewood Fire Station. The building, designed by architect Edward Bondurant, was clad in orange and yellow enameled metal panels, arranged as vertical stripes under a slanted, overhanging roof.
The kitchen fixtures, per Caddell's specifications, featured heated work tables, a 500-cup per hour automated coffee maker, milkshake machines capable of turning out 36 shakes every three minutes, and modern electronic cash registers.
The original signs featured "Jack's" in five individual white rectangles with the word "Hamburgers" on a separate sign underneath.
The building was erected by Marks Construction Co. with cladding from the Porcelain Engineering Company of Homewood. In October a construction foreman and laborer at the site were placed under arrest for cutting the curb on 29th Avenue in defiance of the City Council's prohibition. Caddell's attorney, Ray Acton, was successful in convincing the Council that the cut was necessary for egress.
The first location opened on November 21, 1960. A formal grand opening followed that Friday, November 25 with appearances by Santa Claus and "Cousin Cliff" Holman. The original menu featured items such as fifteen cent hamburgers and fries, twenty cent shakes, and a twenty cent "Fish-On-A-Bun."
Relocation
Jack's No. 1 moved from its original site to a larger dine-in location at its present site at 2831 19th Street South in the mid 1970s, to make room for the new Homewood Police Station that was built in 1979.
When the City of Homewood built a new Homewood City Hall at SoHo Square, Jack's found itself prominently located directly opposite the front courtyard entrance.
Jack's Family Restaurants rebuilt that store on the same site in summer 2019. The new prototype store was designed by Tesser of San Francisco, California. It features a wraparound porch with rocking chairs, an "old-school" ice cream counter, and an interior window from the dining area to the biscuit-making station in the kitchen.
References
- Lowry, Walton (October 20, 1960) "Councilmen called– Cut curb case to cause conflagration in court." The Birmingham News, p. 2
- Lowry, Walton (October 25, 1960) "Does about face– Curb case rescinded by Homewood Council." The Birmingham News, p. 12
- "Santa and Uncle Cliff [sic] to help open Jack's Hamburger Drive-in" (November 23, 1960) Shades Valley Sun - via Birmingham Rewound
- Hollis, Tim (2008) Vintage Birmingham Signs. Images of America series. Arcadia Publishing ISBN 073855376X
![Santa and Uncle Cliff [sic] to help open Jack's Hamburger Drive-in](http://www.birminghamrewound.com/features/JacksCliff(11-60).jpg){kind=link}
- Thornton, William (September 6, 2019) "Flagship Jack’s location to reopen Monday in Homewood." The Birmingham News
External links
- Jack's Birmingham at eatatjacks.com