4 Way Lunch

Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston

4 Way Lunch

Cartersville, Georgia

Located in Cartersville, Georgia, at the corner of East Main Street (Hwy 41) and Gilmer Street, the  “4-Way”, as the locals called it, has been there since 1931. I painted the painting in about 1984, when I was exhibiting in art shows in the area.  It was one of my most popular paintings of the time.

The 4-Way was small, but it had front doors and a side door.  As you entered through the front doors, you noticed there were no tables, just 8 stools across the front of the counter. They may have had 2 or 3 at the end of the counter, but they were always  full. As soon as you finished eating, they asked you to get up, pay and go on about your day. Their menu was simple with hot dogs, hamburgers and fried chicken.  Their gravy burgers, you had to eat with a fork.  I enjoyed watching them make the chili dogs,  The cook lined up all the hot dogs up and down his arm and look a ladle and filled them with the chili. The health department would not allow such a thing in todays world!

The 4-way was not a place for a leisure lunch with friends and conversation.  When you finished eating, you had to leave, to let the next person come in and have a place to sit.  It was quite an experience.

It is located just off I-75 about 40 miles north of Atlanta.  It’s well worth the experience.

I painted several Cartersville places, and some really close by, here are the links…

Cartersville Depot

Ross Diner

Roselawn, Sam Jones Home

Euharlee Covered Bridge

Euharlee Covered Bridge in the Spring

Valley View

Tilley Park

Tilley Trolley

4 Way

Big Chicken

 

Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston

“The Big Chicken”

Marietta, Georgia

I was told by an Eastern Airlines Pilot, many years ago, that when flying into Atlanta, Georgia, when he saw the big chicken, he knew when to start his descent into Hartsfield Airport.  The Big Chicken was 68 feet high.  The eye rolled around and the tail feather on the back of its head went up and down. It was called “Johnny Rebs, Chick, Chuck and Shake.” You can just about guess what they served.

When I arrived in Marietta, in 1983, the building was occupied by Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Many years later, when the mechanisms no longer worked, they decided to tear the building down, but the community response convinced them to rebuild the chicken.  The building now is just slightly shorter, but now everything has been rebuilt and updated into working order.  They even have a spiked roof, so the birds wouldn’t perch on top of it. You can see the building at the corner of Hwy 41 and Roswell Road, in Marietta, Georgia.

When I painted the picture, I had already taken photos of the original Big Chicken, so I decided to use that version to paint.

Prints:
 
ALL PRINTS are printed on canvas and stretched on wooden stretcher bars and prices vary according to size ordered. Most are 2:3 proportion
 
Options:
 
wrapped print- part of the image is wrapped
around the sides of the wood.
 
 
Non-wrapped print- The full image is on the face, with white or black edges
 
 
(frames and hardware are not included)

11″ x 14″………. $148.82

16″ x 20″ ………. $204.72

16″ x 20″ ………. $375.00 Original painting on stretched canvas