Copyright Larry Johnston

 A&W Root Beer Barrel

South Bend – Elkhart, Indiana

There was a time when building designs were used to attract customers, as well as Signs and other types of advertising.  The Barrel became a popular design for Root Beer, as they buildings resembled the Barrel.

The Root Beer barrel I painted here was in the South Bend – Elkhart area.  There were barrels located at 3 locations in South Bend, on Lincolnway, across the river from the Farmers Market , State Road 23 & Ironwood and at Mayflower and Western area. Elkhart had a barrel located on North Main Street. There were a few others located in the Michiana area. I painted it to look like as if it could have been any one of those locations.  Of course, as usual, I surrounded the building with cars that could have been there during the 1950s.

I lived on North Ironwood, so it was just a short bicycle ride to the Barrel at Ironwood and State Road 23.  There is a supermarket at that location now and all of the other A & W Root Beer Barrels have since disappeared, replaced with more modern buildings and equipment.

Other A & W paintings that I have done:  A & W Rootbeer Drive-in, Taylor, MI