I ran across two more giant elephants on the drive up to Connecticut this spring.  They decorate the front of a fireworks outlet located in a former gas station in Hardeeville, SC.  The pump islands are still there and the elephants fit nicely under the roof that once sheltered motorists filling up their tanks.

Hardeeville, settled by Isaac Hardee in the 1800s, became the state’s fastest growing area in 2015 as nearby Hilton Head grew and developers took over vacant property from a declining timber industry to erect massive planned communities.

I’ve been passing through Hardeeville for years, of course, as my annual trips between Florida and Connecticut take me up and down Interstate 95.  In the back of my mind I always figured I’d do a bit of research on it and find it to be the home of Hardee’s Hamburgers.

Not so, it turns out.  That honor goes to Greenville, NC, where Wilber Hardee opened his first restaurant in 1960. The menu in 1964 included hamburgers for 15 cents, cheeseburgers for 20 cents, french fries for 10 cents, apple turnovers for 15 cents, milk for 12 cents, coffee for 10 cents, soft drinks for 10 cents, and milkshakes (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla) for 20 cents.

I fondly recall the tastiness of the hamburgers from my days in Davenport, Iowa.  As a reporter covering a multitude of events in the area I had a lot of meals in my car. They became a staple for a while.  I haven’t had one in years, as there are no outlets near me in either Florida or Connecticut. 

If you want to see more of my recycled gas stations, you know where to go.  For more on large elephants, go here, or here, or here. 

And speaking of those things, do any of you know where to buy one of these huge critters?  I’ve been doing some research and cannot find them on sale anywhere.