Putt Putt to the Pizza Hut

In my last post, There is No Place Like Home, I talked about the Nu-Way Cafe. In talking to a friend in Florida, it seems that the Big Bun at Oliver and Central also had a loose meat sandwich much like Nu-Way. I never knew that Big Bun was also a teen hangout and very popular. My hangouts were Sandys and Griffs for burgers. Dragging Douglas on Friday nights always included burgers and fries. We could drive hours on 50 cents worth of gas.

There have been many famous companies founded in Wichita: White Castle, Coleman, Cessna, Beech, Lear Jet and Mentholatum to name a few. Perhaps the most well known company born in Wichita would be Pizza Hut.

In 1958 two brothers, Frank and Dan Carney borrowed $600 from their Mother, bought some second hand equipment and opened the first Pizza Hut. The rest is history. The first TV commercial for Pizza Hut aired in 1965. The catchy theme song went something like this: "Putt Putt to the Pizza Hut......." I am singing it right now and luckily no one can hear me. As for the name, one account is that the boys wanted the word "pizza" in the title and there was only room for 9 letters on the sign. Someone thought the tiny original building looked like a hut and there you go!

Pizza Hut pizza was a must at parties and slumber parties when I was in high school in the early 1960s. We loved it hot and even cold for breakfast! My friends and I hung out at the Pizza Hut by the University because the cutest boys worked there. The original building, shown above, has been moved to the Wichita State University campus.