Gertie's Drive-Inn
46°35'50.95"N
112° 1'57.12"W
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On May
18 1949, Jean and John Martello opened the Richardson Root
Beer franchise "Martello's Drive-Inn" at 1000 N.
Main. They sold out in 1952 to
Gertrude "Gertie" Richeson (1914-2004), and
her husband Bob. Gertie's became a mainstay in Helena for
decades, and she became known as "The Hamburger Queen".
Richeson sold the business, and the "Gertie's" name,
in 1961.
The original
Drive-in looked very much like the illustration in the ad
above. The existing brick structure (now Carlson-Wagonlit
Travel) was opened by new Gertie's Owner Ralph A. Hahn on
May 23, 1962.
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| Ad
for Martello's grand opening, May 18 1949. |
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|
Ad for Gertie's
grand openng, April 12 1952.
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| Said "Gertie"
in a 2001 Independent Record newspaper feature: “My
mother cooked a 33-pound turkey every day and a roast and a
great big ham, and I would cook a big kettle of chili and all
of it would be gone by the end of the day. We made everything
ourselves and we dipped our own ice cream — no packaged
stuff at our place, not us, course there wasn’t any back
then really.” |
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An illustration of what the original Gertoe's sign looked like.
Gertie's seasonal
closing ad, 1952.
| Gertie
sold out to Ralph A. Hahn about 1961, but her name and reputation
continued for the life of the drive-in. |
Ralph
A. Hahn, 1956
| Matchbook
from Gertie's Drive-in, 1960s, with the cryptic legend "Recommended
by Ralph A. Hahn". Hahn (1923-1985) was the owner then;
he also jointly owned the Sky-Hi Drive-in Theatre east of Helena.
Hahn was a real estate broker who had interests in other enterprises
in the Helena and Lincoln areas, including the Hofbrau on Euclid
Ave. |
Grand
Opening of the New Gertie's, May 22 1962
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back to RESTAURANTS & BARS
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