I love Wikipedia, fallible, as it has to be simply because
of its democratic nature. Time also
makes it favorable to fresher information readily available digitally or the
already ensconced subject is followed faithfully by legions devoted to established
icons. This is true of Google as well.
I had occasion to look up the entry about the family
business in Indianapolis — Laughner’s Cafeterias, the birth of which is fixed
at 1888. It continued well into my
lifetime as well as into my life. I
marvel at the history, which is far richer than the entry. The Laughners were candy makers — chocolate,
taffy, peanut brittle, hard-ribbon candy.
And while there are other claims, it’s quite possible that the Laughners
invented the “cafeteria” when they opened the Dairy Bar with a tray rail and a
steam table in the 19th Century and smoothing out the wrinkles in the 1920s.
The family also sold food and fruit drinks at fairs, carnivals, Riverside
Amusement Park and the Indianapolis 500. Generations were involved. The family
was embedded in the work and play of the city.
Me too, later. One couldn’t
escape it. It was the family business
and if the family needed you, you went
 |
| Flora May Laughner-Brock, Claude F. Laughner |
Claude Laughner, the founder’s son, was the dreamer,
schemer, entrepreneur. He didn’t get
much credit for his participation in the city’s restaurant history. And we will
always regret his answer to an invitation to invest in Coca Cola. He spit it out and said, ”this stuff will
never sell.” I could be writing this from my private deck on the Riviera. However,
he kept things going, and pretty well at that, until bankers started jumping
out of windows.
What bothered me most when I read the Wiki entry was that
one of the most important contributors to the legend, such as it is, or to its
longevity, which is at least notable, was a woman, though like most such
histories, we are exposed to the noble lineage of the male children. What happened was the Depression destroyed
everything. The restaurants fell on hard times. The family could barely scrape
by. The Laughner heritage was about to be shattered. Claude’s wife, a smart, determined,
hard-working person ended up starting three cafeterias on her own, when not
only were the times not favorable for business in general, but when most women
would simply not have undertaken the challenge because they were women.
It is true these were not cutting-edge destinations. They were essential bridges in the legacy only
she could manage. And it is true that there was an exciting (The story of which
merited a long New Yorker piece)
renaissance for Laughners that was built on the foundation she put back in
place, admittedly inspired by more than a little creative genius from the next
generation. But Flora May Laughner-Brock is a key figure largely ignored by
those who benefitted by her business savvy and her desire to support her family. Without her, the Laughner history would have
ended earlier and, quite possibly, with far less accomplishment, certainly
without the continuity. Bless them all,
but it wasn’t all about the boys.
Sadly, much of it is lost now. Harold’ Steer-In, originally Laughner’s
Steer-Inn, is a hot spot on the city’s East Side. Down the street from the seedy, legendary Al
Green’s Drive-In on Washington Street, was the slicker, but far less scandalous
Laughner’s Double L. The super deluxe
Laughner cafeterias are all gone now, as is Jonathans, a fine dining restaurant
named after the founder. MCL, which
possesses a snippet of Laughner DNA from the 1950s, still exists.
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