Fast Food, 1949
The sign atop this suburban Los Angeles restaurant says it all. Suburbanization laid the foundation for a unique postwar phenomenon that would forever change American life: the rise of fast food. Cheap, convenient, and “fast,” the food served in the new restaurants, modeled after the industry’s pioneer, McDonald’s, was not necessarily nutritious, but its chief advantage was portability. Loomis Dean/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images.