Hardee's Ad – Sept. 5, 1973

Sandy's became Hardee's in Lorain in May 1973 (which I wrote about here). The Sandy's sign at the hamburger restaurant at Oberlin Ave. and Meister Road came down, and gone forever was the lovely, tam-o-shanter-wearing 'Miss Sandy' mascot.

But who or what was a Hardee? 

According to its Wikipedia page, it was the name of the man who, in 1960 in Greenville, North Carolina, launched the chain: Wilber Hardee. (I think they should have gone with the more memorable "Wilber's.")

The funny thing is that Hardee himself was out of the picture early in the game, when there were only a few restaurants. But by the end of the 1960s, the company had expanded to hundreds of locations; it bought Sandy's in 1972.

In an apparent effort to mimic McDonald's, Hardee's introduced its own advertising characters designed to appeal to children. Gilbert Giddyup was a mustachioed, tin-star-wearing cartoon cowboy with two bullet holes in his ten-gallon hat. His nemesis was Speedy McGreedy, the 'burger rustler" who was dressed more like a gangster. (Hey, wasn't McDonald's original mascot also called Speedy?)

Anyway, I'm not sure how well known Gilbert Giddyup was at the time of the Hardee's ad below, which ran in the Journal back on September 5, 1973. Nevertheless, his face was emblazoned on the 'back sack' mentioned in the ad and sold for a buck.

By George, maybe Hardee's originated the whole backpack phenomena for schoolkids, fifty years ago.

Amazingly, several of these Gilbert Giddyup Back Sacks have survived and are for sale on eBay right now.

Other Gilbert Giddyup promotional items are out there as well, no doubt triggering (no pun intended) much head scratching over his identity.

The flicker ring is kinda cool.

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UPDATE (Sept. 10, 2023)

I stopped at the Blue Heron Service Plaza (eastbound) on the Ohio Turnpike over the weekend, and decided to do a little follow-up to this post by grabbing a burger at the Hardee's there. I was prepared for it to be not-so-good, seeing as it was a Turnpike outlet and, well, I couldn't remember the last time I ever ate a Hardee's (the last one I ate at was in Burbank, Ohio near I-71, decades ago).

Amazingly, my Big Cheeseburger was one of the best burgers I've had anywhere – superior to McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's! The 1/4 pound of burger meat was top-quality, the combination of sliced onions, pickles and a very flavorful ketchup was great, and the egg bun enhanced the whole taste experience. It was prepared quickly and was less than five bucks. I was in a state of blissful shock.

I couldn't tell you if it was charco-broiled or not, but it didn't matter – it was delicious.

Sad to say, though – no sign of Gilbert Giddyup anywhere! Guess he rode off into the sunset to the Retired Ad Mascots Ranch.