Red's Giant Hamburg opened shortly after World War II and closed in 1984.

The classic diner was said to be the first drive-thru restaurant in the United States.

A vibrant range of human emotion was on display Monday morning as the revived Red's Giant Hamburg had its first day of business, serving Springfield a "sooper"-size portion of Route 66 culture.

Two dozen people gathered in front of the new white building on West Sunshine Street to be among the first to try out the new Red's. When co-owner David Campbell opened the doors at 10:03 a.m., they poured inside. Two men got into a minor shouting match when one tried to cut in line.

In a city steeped in nostalgia for its vanished restaurants, a revival is serious business.

Campbell said the new Red's can fit 122 people and has 50 employees. The new building is eight times larger than the Route 66 hamburger stand that inspired it, said to be the first diner in the United States to offer a drive-up window using an intercom speaker. (A San Diego native among the people lined up out front disputed this account, citing a common California belief that Jack In The Box had the first drive-thrus.)

The name contains "hamburg," not "hamburger," because a vertical sign carrying the whole word would have been too tall to accommodate nearby utility wires when founder Sheldon "Red" Chaney opened the old place in the years following World War II.

("Didn't have room for the E-R," Chaney told the News-Leader in the summer of 1982, two years before he retired after almost four decades in business. "Woulda had to laid on the ground.")

The old Red's building on Route 66 was demolished in May 1997; Chaney died a few weeks later. Campbell said he bought the brand rights more than 20 years ago from Chaney's widow, Julia Chaney, who died in 2006.

Campbell told of how he'd dreamed of opening a new Red's ever since. "I had the dream and Greg made it a reality," he said, referring to business partner Greg Iott.

After registering their Hamburg Properties company five years ago, Campbell and Iott engaged in a painstaking process to create a new Red's menu that's "95 percent" the same as the classic one, Iott said, with some changes.

Diners can fill up on a Sooper Redburg topped with bacon and ham. The sandwich is intended to mimic Chaney's ground-beef mix as closely as today's health codes will allow — but now diners can also get a gluten-free vegan burger, if they want.

Campbell said he and Iott own Julia Chaney's original hamburger press and had 20 replicas made to ensure the new Redburgs are made the same way as the old ones.

Chaney had the habit of brewing his own root beer with licorice and sassafras, but Campbell said that wouldn't fly under today's brewing regulations, so Springfield Brewing Company provides the root beer that flows from the new Red's tap.

They created a colorful decor scheme with the help of local custom builder Mike Dobbs, who helped them buy chandeliers from San Francisco and atomic-age furnishings from St. Louis. Each table is equipped with a drive-in movie theater speaker.

The soundtrack to the place is rockabilly. Campbell said proudly that he and Iott even own the rights to the classic "Red's" song by celebrated local band the Morells.

Springfield resident Garland Adams was first in line to get into the new Red's, which has been the subject of chatter among Springfield residents and Route 66 enthusiasts for years. Had the 70-year-old Adams ever been to the original?

"Not that I remember," he told the News-Leader. "I just want to try it."

Others did remember. Bunky Long, 79, came in from Walnut Grove for the new Red's opening. He and his wife often dined at Red's when they lived in town during the '60s and '70s, he said, but less often "after we moved to the country."

Long mentioned that he had a daughter working as a server and cashier at the new place. Her boyfriend is a fry cook, he said.

Long said he fondly remembered a vintage Buick that Chaney parked out front of the old Red's. "It was a '52 or '53," Long said. "It was getting rusty. I tried to buy it from Red, but he wouldn't part with it."

Campbell said the Buick was a '55, which Chaney parked near the sign to keep people from backing their cars into it. The new Red's is equipped with a replica, including a sign and a polished red '55 Buick Special. Shortly before the store was to open, Iott unveiled it for the crowd.

Among the first folks to get their hands on a Redburg were Kim and Becky Keith. The Keiths said they live in Ash Grove, and they came to the restaurant opening in a restored 1939 rat rod truck.

They had attended Red's final day of operations, Dec. 14, 1984. Kim Keith said there was a 50-foot line of people out the front doors on that day, everyone waiting for what seemed like their last-ever Redburg opportunity.

The Keiths thought it would be faster to avail themselves of that first-in-the-nation drive-thru. It only took half an hour to get their food.

"The kids were getting testy by the time we got through," Kim Keith remembered.

A hamburger and a pile of hand-cut French fries arrived at their table, and they gave it a taste.

Was the new Redburg as good as the old one?

An expression of wordless bliss came over Becky Keith's face, and she held up her fingers in an OK sign, while her husband excitedly remembered the way the grease dripped at the old place.

Campbell and Iott said they've received national media inquiries about the new Red's, even as they rehashed old stories about Red and Julia Chaney.

"They loved to dance," Iott said. "The only thing Red flipped over more than a burger was Julia."

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